When sin entered the world, alienation and hostility began to characterize mankind’s relationship with God. Left to our natural selves, our eyes are blind to true beauty, our minds are hostile to God, and we are dead in our trespasses and sins. This succinctly describes our desperate condition before our hearts are opened to believe.Yet, in Jesus, God has moved to resolve both our alienation from and our hostility to Him. Jesus is born, God in a manger. He is Immanuel – God with us. You and I don’t have to be paralyzed and immobilized by a sense of loneliness. He is with us always!
The cross demonstrates and proves that God is for us. Bottom line: Jesus was not spared so that you would be spared! See Romans 8:32. Therefore, we don’t have to live with an engulfing sense of shame, guilt, or fear.
When the Apostle Paul thinks about this wonderful gospel truth, he argues from the greater to the lesser, saying… If God will meet our ultimate need for forgiveness and acceptance with him, how will he not meet our lesser, day-to-day needs? He will give us everything that is necessary and needful for our salvation – which is our ultimate good.
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