God loves everyone, no matter who they are or what they have done. He shows us this great love by sending his son to die on the cross for each and every one of us.
Romans 5:6-11
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
The question we have been thinking through this week is Why do Christian’s hate LGBTIQA+ people and is God anti-gay? This is a question I have thought through a bit as one of my good friends identifies as gay. While I don’t think I’ve completely worked out all the answers to this question, I personally don’t think that God is anti-gay or that Christians hate the LGBTIQA+ community. I definitely don’t hate people who are part of this community – and I am a Christian. I don’t love my friend any more or less because of his sexuality, I love him because he is a person created by God, like all of us.
The God I know and trust loves everyone. How do I know this? Through his actions, by sending his one and only son, Jesus, whom he loved dearly, to this earth to take on the sins of each of us at the cross to pay our penalty. Jesus didn’t just die for the sins of people who have only done a small number of sins or selected sins, but all. The passage above clearly shows us that Jesus died for all of our sins and took on the punishment each of us deserved.
Jesus didn’t exclude anyone because of who they were or what they did and we, as Christians, should be following his example. Jesus invited everyone into community with him and so should we. Jesus paid the price for every single person’s sins and we should be sharing this great news with everyone. How can we share this message with others if we hate them? How will they listen to this message if they feel excluded or hated by us? We should be loving others with the same love Jesus poured out on each of us, no matter how big or small our sins are.
Head: Reading Romans 5, do you think God hates anyone? How have we all received reconciliation?
Heart: How does this passage change the way you see others around you? Do you see everyone as someone whom Jesus has paid the price for?
Hands: How can you love those around you like Jesus loved us? How can you show others the great message of God’s love today?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you that you sent your son to take on the price each of us should have paid for our sins. Thanks that you didn’t pick and choose who you would redeem but that you bought all of us into reconciliation with you no matter how big or little our sins were. Please help us to see each person we meet as someone loved by you and in need of your love in their lives. Please help us to be great witnesses to others of your great love for us. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
A song to listen to: Grace awaiting me
Emily Andrews- Creek Road Presbyterian Church- South Bank
