While We Were Still Enemies: or, Unsystematic Thought’s on God’s Love #5

As I continue reflecting and growing in my awareness of God’s love for me, I’m thinking of enemies. Seems Christians on both sides are done with their enemies on the other side, would rather they just disappeared (or were destroyed).

But God demonstrates a different kind of enemy-love.

What Enemies Reveal

Like weakness, the presence of enemies exposes what love is and isn’t, its presence and absence, its reality or simulation.

In the presence of an enemy, will we…

• Attack, or attune?
• Escalate, or empathize?
• War, or reconcile?

It is clear how God responded — “while we enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (Rom. 5:10).

This is the demonstration of God’s love.

While We Were At War…

The Apostle Paul is emphatic!

• While we were in continuing state of war with God…
• While we were passionately hostile toward God…
• While we were actively enemies with God…

…God sought reconciliation.

• God does not attack, but attunes.
• God does not escalate, but offers empathy.
• God does not make war, but offers reconciliation.

This is the demonstration of God’s love.

In the midst of the war, the rebellion, the rejection, it was God who initiated peace, reconciliation, and harmony.

In the midst of the rupture of sin, God stepped in and repaired the relationship, starting from God’s end all the way to ours.

God’s demonstrated his own kind of love for us, not just while we were weak, but even while we were enemies, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).

From Enemies to Abundance

And this death brings abundant life.

For if God reconciled with us through the death of his Son, how much more, “having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10).

This is the demonstration of God’s love, that we might live.

Will we live in this love today?
Will we let it shape how we view our enemies?
Not just in our thoughts and minds, but in our emotions, and in our bodies?

Posts in “Unsystematic Thought’s on God’s Demonstration of Love” Series:

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