Undeserved Friendship

Reading: Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:1-11 NLT)

Christ saved us from our sin and delivered us from evil. He paid the ultimate sacrifice, losing his life for our gain. And if that's not impressive enough: Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and he had every reason not to. We've all had a friend hurt us at some point in life. And from experience I can confirm it's way easier to go out of your way and help and show love to someone who is kind to you. But it's 100x harder if not nearly impossible by human nature to do the same for someone who judges us, talks poorly about us, or goes against us. The crazy thing is Jesus did. He laid down his life for the very people who up until his last breath mocked and tortured him. We, as sinners, were completely undeserving of his love. But, as God's children, and because of who God is, we can experience fully his love. We can rejoice through difficult times, knowing that God is our source of comfort. Our problems will be transformed into endurance and deepen our faith in God. There's a song lyric that can relate- "Our shame was deeper than the ocean, your grace is deeper still." Our shame was deep, but God's grace still is deep. Because of Jesus's sacrifice our shame is wiped away, only a thing of the past. This also shows us a new concept: our shame has borders. Our shame only goes so far. But Gods grace has no limits. No matter how deep our shame and our sin is, God's grace is still deeper. There's no limit to the compassion God shows us and the proof is found in the cross alone. Because of the cross, we find a new friendship with Christ. By definition, the word friendship can be translated as intimacy. And what better way to describe the relationship. God knows our past, our present, and our future. He knows our deepest fears and our highest praises. Despite our sin, God continues to shower us with is love and grace. He continues to pursue us in the dark, and blesses our lives on a daily basis. He guards our hearts, and fights for our love even when we reject him. I don't know about you, but I sure want God to be my best friend.