Wonders Of The Spiritual Realm I: The Wonder Of It All Series

WONDERS OF THE SPIRITUAL REALM IN WHICH CHRISTIANS RESIDE AND ABIDE

As surely as there are Wonders of the Natural World, there are Wonders of the Spiritual Realm in which Christians reside and abide!

To wonder about the existence of “this or that”, or to wonder why “this or that” occurs, has been - for some of us - a normal part of life’s learning experience.

Do you ever wonder why for example when a preacher says, “in closing”, he doesn’t . . . a speaker who needs no introduction gets one anyway . . . a mom who punishes a child for lying will instruct the same child, “Just say I’m not home”?

Some things in this world cause us to pause, in awe, at the wonder of it – the Grand Canyon . . . the moon and the stars . . . sunrise . . . sunset . . . that first kiss . . . wedding bliss . . . a newborn baby’s cry . . . the surprise of waking up and breathing fresh air after a long night of discontent.

All these wonders notwithstanding, there is a wonder that, for me, is indeed “the wonder of it all” – simply put by Bev Shea in one of his most endearing songs:

“There’s the wonder of sunset at evening, the wonder as sunrise I see; but the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul is the wonder that God loves me.

“O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me. O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me.”

Q: Why would God, the Creator, love me, a sinner? Because He made me? Well, yes, but there’s more to it than that. He made me on purpose for a purpose - mutual fellowship forever! However,

As humans are prone to do, Adam and Eve messed up, rebelled, alienated “themselves” from God their Maker who, fortunate for them (and us), loved them (us).

God chose, not to retaliate by casting this disobedient twosome off the face of the earth but, to discipline them by banning them from the serenity of Paradise, yet not forever. When the time came, God cast those whom he loved a “lifeline” so they could be saved and start over- on His terms. Thus,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten (one and only) Son, that whosoever truly believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”.

God’s terms for being saved, and for starting over, are well documented: Repent (repentance toward God) . . . Reckon Jesus to be the Christ, Son of God, accepting Him as Savior and acknowledging Him as Lord . . . Receive God’s gift of eternal life.

Yes, the wonder of it all! God so loved that He sent His one and only Son, who so loved that He paid the penalty for sins, so that all who repent of their sins, reckon God’s Son to be Savior and Lord, receive God’s gift of eternal life.

So, the second wonder of our spiritual realm is that God’s Son (who became the substitute sacrifice for our sins) loved us just as His Father loved Him!

Folks, I can understand that the Father loved His Son. That’s only natural!

But, it’s breath-taking that God’s Son loved me as the Father loved Him . . . the Son tells me to love others as He loved me . . . the Son promises fullness of joy to those who “act out” His kind of love in all their relationships – John 15:9-17 . . .

Just to think that God loves me . . . Jesus loves me . . . Jesus would think of me as someone who could love others as God loved Him and as He loved me . . . Jesus promises fullness of joy to those who “act out” His and the Father’s love, makes me wonder what kind of “love” He’s talking about.

Love is a complex word. It’s a word we use, overuse, abuse in so many ways that we have almost lost the real meaning of it. We say we love almost everything and everybody we have anything to do with . . . and sometimes we end up looking for love in all the wrong places.

The challenge of this discourse by Jesus is to discern what He meant when He talked about love with respect to all the relationships that exist between God the Father, God the Son, we the children of God - and others.