Deeper ReflectionOur service to God should be
motivated by our love for Him (v.14).
Do you know how much Jesus loves you? He loves us beyond
what we can humanly comprehend. The magnitude of His love –
its breadth, length, height and depth – can only be known (albeit still in
part) by us through God’s enabling.
16 Jesus’ love saw Him willingly suffer
and die on the cross for our sake.
17 The sinless One willingly bore our sins
in His body.
18 The righteous One chose to die for the unrighteous.
19 God’s
righteous wrath and just punishment fell upon Jesus instead of us.
20 He
was forsaken by the Father so that we do not have to be abandoned by
God.
21 So great is Christ’s love for us and the salvation that we
have in Him! He is our glorious Lord and risen Saviour, worthy of all
our worship!
“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my
life, my all!”22Only love for God, overflowing from a grateful heart, can motivate joyful
worship and a lifetime of loving service to Him and therefore to your
neighbour. Our love for Christ leads us to live for Christ. Our love for
self leads us to live for self. Our hearts are naturally oriented towards the
self. The Holy Spirit works in the Christian to produce a God-oriented
heart. The process is lifelong and can often be painful because it involves
the surrender of one’s heart and reorientation of one’s soul. Let us yield
to the Holy Spirit, so that our hearts will increasingly love the Lord, and
therefore people in His name and for His sake.
16 Ephesians 3:16-19.
17 Hebrews 12:2
18 1 Peter 2:24
19 1 Peter 3:18.
20 Isaiah 53:4-6.
21 Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34
22 The final two lines of the sublime hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, written by Isaac Watts and first published in 1707
