Read: Romans 5:6-9

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Reflect:

In their need to not believe in a literal hell – an eternal separation from the God of the Universe, some have said and will continue to say that a God of love cannot be a God of judgment. What do you think? Why?

Take a minute or two and consider these three questions:

• Do you consider yourself a loving person?
• Is there anyone who has ever lived deserving of eternal punishment in your opinion?
• What if someone you love someone who is being harmed in some way?
• How do you respond?

In Hope has its Reasons, Becky Pippert writes –

“Think how we feel when we see someone we love ravaged by unwise actions or relationships. Do we respond with benign tolerance as we might toward strangers? Far from it…Anger is the opposite of love. Hate is, and the final form of hate is indifference…Godʼs wrath is not a cranky explosion, but his settled opposition to the cancer… which is eating out the insides of the human race he loves with his whole being.”

Because God is loving and because He is just in all he does, he has provided the way to redeem our lives.

Respond:

Read the passage above again and consider the price paid for our reconciliation.