Wednesday, January 18, 2023

"Just Like We Are?"

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

We have heard it said that God loves us just like we are. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that God loves us in spite of how we are. Have you ever seen something and your opinion of it was-- I love it, I wouldn't change a thing. This is not the same way that God looks at us. If He loves us just like we are then He would leave us just like we are and not change a thing about us.
 
He loves us but He doesn't love "how we are". He loves us even though we are sinners but He does not love our sin nor does He desire to leave us sinners. It was sin that separated us from Him in the first place. Sin didn't stop Him from loving us- nothing separates us from His love- but just because He loves us doesn't mean He "accepts" our sins. No, it has to go. He doesn't like how we are-- rebellious, unkind, cruel, selfish, etc. 
 
His love keeps Him from turning us away when we come to Him in repentance. At that point He begins a process of change in us. He changed us from sinners to righteous. He took us from being children of darkness and made us children of light. He changed us at salvation and made us a new creation. And from that moment on we are in a constant process of change. 
 
God loves us and didn't leave us in sin. God loves us and doesn't leave us like we are. He has a greater plan for us. He is taking us from glory to glory and transforming who we are, or were, along the way. He is changing us to fit into His plan for us. He is changing us according to His purpose for us. He is the Master Potter who is making us into a vessel of His choosing. He is the Refiner who sits over our lives changing us into a pure vessel. He is transforming us to look like His Son Jesus so that we can be a true representation of who He is in the earth. 
 
Have a great day. God doesn't love us just like we are, or else He would never change a thing about us. He loves us in spite of how we are. And His love is always working in our lives to change us into who He has planned for us to be. 
 
For further reading:
2 Corinthians 3:18; 5:21
Jeremiah 29:11
Romans 8:35-39
Isaiah 59:2
Ephesians 5:8

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