The Dying Love of Christ
April 14, 2022 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
One of my favorite Bible verses about God’s love is Romans 5:8. Paul writes, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul magnifies the greatness of God’s love for us by drawing attention to our sinful state. Did you notice, though, the first word in this verse? Yes, it is the adversative conjunction “but.” Paul loves to use the logic of the adversative conjunction to highlight contrasting realities. When we pay attention to the logic and grammar of Scripture (the Holy Spirit inspired those as well), we get to dive deeper into the wonders of God’s love for us.
So, to what contrasting realities does the adversative conjunction at the beginning of Romans 5:8 draw attention? Well, we need to look at verse 7, where Paul writes, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In verse 7, Paul is speaking about the extent to which one would go in sacrificing himself out of love for another. A righteous person in this context is someone who upholds the law and commits to seeking justice for others. The righteous person does no harm to you. Paul says, “one will scarcely die for a righteous person.” While we may be thankful that this person does not harm us, we would not be inclined to give the ultimate sacrifice of our lives for a merely just person.
The “good person” is the one who brings some sort of benefit to us. They not only don’t cause us harm, but they add something positive to our lives, like friendship, companionship, financial sustenance, etc. Paul says, “perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.” The inclination to make the ultimate sacrifice increases, albeit, not much, for the good people in our lives. So, in verse 7 Paul is speaking about the extent of human love for others as illustrated through our willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for others. I image that each of us would have a very short list of “good people” for whom we might be willing to die.
Then comes the adversative conjunction in verse 8. Paul wants to lay out the contrast between our sacrificial love in verse 7 with God’s sacrificial love in verse 8. This contrast exalts God’s incredible love for sinners like us. Christ does not die for righteous people. Christ does not die for good people. Christ dies for sinners. Paul makes it even more stark (or plain) in verse 10 when he says we were enemies of God when Christ died for us. Our expressions of sacrificial love pale in comparison with God’s great sacrifice of his Son for rebellious sinners like us.
In Puritan-like fashion, Jonathan Edwards plumbed the depths of this passage in a sermon he preached for the Stockbridge Indians in February 1752. I want to leave with you his six statements that draw out the infinite contrast between our love and God’s love. He writes:
- Never was there love that fixed upon an object so much below the lover.
- Never was there any instance of such love to those who were so far from being capable of benefiting the lover.
- Never was there any who set his love upon those in whom he saw so much filthiness and deformity.
- Never was there anyone who set his love upon those who were so far from loving him and so unreasonably averse to him as Jesus Christ in his dying love to sinners.
- Never was there any love that appeared in so great and wonderful expressions.
- Never was there any love that was so beneficial to the beloved.
This weekend we will spend time reflecting on the sacrifice of Christ. Paul says that in this sacrifice God shows us his love. Let the contrast between our feeble attempts to love others with God’s amazing, sacrificial love move you to deeper wonder and joy in your Savior. Psalm 103:11 says, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.”
