November 26 Advent thoughts

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that thought Him the world might be saved. John 3:16-17

Often we hear how the ‘Christian religion’ is hateful, unloving, white and only for the western mind. But how can this be? It all started with the very poor in the middle east, and even a cursory reading of the Gospel of John shows that it is certainly not a ‘religion’, but a ‘relationship’. As far as hateful-yes, it has ‘rules’. Statutes, might be a better term. Determined by a holy and just God. But how can God be just when He says we will go to hell if we do not follow Him, knowing we can never live up to these laws that He has passed? That is where the love comes in. For how much more love can be shown, when He Himself, knowing that we could never meet the standards He set, instead came down to be with us-to be ONE of us-born just like us, lived just like us and then offered Himself up-sinless and pure as the sacrifice FOR us. Not just for white, middle class western people, but for the whole world, regardless of race, creed, class. How is this not love?

Love was when, God became a man,
locked in time and space,
without rank or place.
Love was God, born of Jewish kin;
just a carpenter with some fishermen.

-Love Was When, written by John Walvoord