God Showed His Love for Us!

1 John 4:7-11

 † IHS †

May our recognizing God’s love for us, the mercy and peace given in Christ’s presence be something that is revealed to others throughout the year!

Christmas every day?

Christmas is here, the presents, well, most of them, sit under a tree, wrapped and ready to be ripped open. Children on Christmas break, people coming and going, food cooking, sermons written, music singing and sung, peace on earth, God’s will evident for the moment, peace among families, at least for this moment, Love can even dominate the days, as we are encouraged to love each other, as we are challenged to prove our love and devotion to God.

One could almost ask, couldn’t it be Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, every day?

Don’t worry, I said one could almost ask, I didn’t say I would!

We get so caught up, we get so overwhelmed, even so exhausted by it all.  Our focus is so easily taken off of Jesus, and His coming to be our Lord.

For some, it might even seem that the question might be asked, do we have to celebrate Christmas any day…

But that’s not the questions for this night,

Here again John’s words to the church,

¹⁰  This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. 1 John 4:10 (TEV)

Which raises a few other questions about days we could celebrate every day….

What about Good Friday every day?

First, if we desire to celebrate Christmas every day, do we also desire to celebrate Good Friday every day?  For there God’s love is demonstrated even more clearly.  The apostle Paul wrote,

²³  As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; ²⁴  but for those whom God has saved, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.    1 Corinthians 1:23-24 (TEV)

We should celebrate Good Friday everyday, as well as our baptism, which unites us to that death, His death, for our sins were nailed to that cross, never to be accounted to us again.

What about Easter?

But we can’t divide the cross and Christ’s death from His resurrection, for as Paul says again,

⁵  Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. ⁶  We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷  For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. ⁸  And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.  Romans 6:5-8 (NLT)

So yes, we should remember – and indeed celebrate both Good Friday and Easter for these days reveal God’s love to us, for they shatter everything that would keep us from God, He used these days to work such miracles in our lives.

What about the 2^nd Coming?

Should I fail to mention that each day we should also celebrate ascension?  The day when Christ ascended to the Father’s right hand, there to intercede for us, Or Pentecost, the day when the Father and the Son gave us the Spirit, the very birthday present of the Church?  Or the 2^nd coming, the day we long for, when we will see God in all His glory.

Each of these days, yes including Christmas, needs to be celebrated everyday, for these days remind us of God’s love for us, shown to us in Christ Jesus,

And knowing that love, shown on Christmas and Good Friday, Easter and the Ascension, Pentecost and the Day of His return; we are overwhelmed by mercy and peace, the peace that cannot be explained, but can be revealed to us, for we live in Christ!

AMEN!