But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8
This passage is often quoted in gospel preaching, but these verse were not written to unbelievers or new converts. Paul was speaking to believers to those who had already given their lives to the LORD Jesus Christ and were walking in fellowship with Him. Paul message to the church in Rome was a reminder of the immeasurable love of God. A love that had already redeemed them and continues to uphold them every day.
As a child of God, one of my greatest joys is to speak of my Father’s love. I desire that my family, my friends, and even strangers may come to know and experience this same love that transforms, heals, and saves. Because truly, the love of God is exactly what 1 Corinthians 13 says,
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” I Corinthians 13:4-8
Here we read how Scripture describes the immense love of God. I want to shed a little light on this passage it says that love “thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity.” True love does not rejoice in sin, nor take pleasure in wrongdoing. When we truly love someone, we correct them in love, not out of judgment but out of concern for their soul. For God’s Word makes it clear that He judges all sin not only homosexuality, but also heterosexual sin outside of marriage, adultery, and every form of impurity. The same standard of holiness applies to all.
This is the kind of love I long to share with you, the unfathomable love of God. A love that “thinks no evil,” a love that does not desire that anyone perish in hell, and a love that does not rejoice in witnessing wickedness or unclean living. God’s love calls us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
The love of God is where we stand today. We have received salvation because of His great and boundless love. Even from the beginning, God already knew that Adam would transgress, yet His love was neither surprised nor defeated. When God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep to bring forth Eve, it was a foreshadowing of the LORD Jesus Christ who would one day lay down His life to bring forth His bride, the Church.
This is the very nature of God’s love: it suffers long and is kind. His love does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, and does not behave rudely. His love does not seek its own, for His love is selfless, sacrificial, and redemptive. It gives even when it is not returned. It offers mercy even when it is rejected. Though God knew that Adam would choose to separate from Him, Adam was the one to whom God had spoken His commandment. He knew what was right, and yet he still ate the fruit that he should not have eaten, following Eve. Eve ate the forbidden fruit first, and in that moment, death entered into her, for the wages of her sin is death. Yet even then, God, in His mercy, had already prepared a divine plan to bring us back to Himself through the LORD Jesus Christ. Isn’t that so great?
Now we understand “But God.” Only the love of God never grows weary in making a way for us to be with Him. Only God always loves us without end.
Paul says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) When the LORD Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, while we were yet sinners, God proved His great love for us. God stepped down from His throne, took on flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God. He was crucified on the cross, took upon Himself our sins, and paid the price with His own life.
Salvation is freely offered to us, but it was not free for Him. It cost His own life. Jesus had to bleed on the cross. The very tree that began the story of sin in the Garden became the tree upon which redemption was accomplished. Jesus was crucified upon a tree, the cross to undo the curse that began with one. That is how much the LORD Jesus Christ loves you and me.
Why did God declare Himself as the Son? Because that is the position we lost after the fall, the position of sonship that God longed to restore to us. He desired to bring us back into the relationship we once had with Him before sin entered the world. For was not Adam called “the son of God”? (Luke 3:38)
The death of a son is painful and unbearable for any parent and God is our Father. The moment Adam died spiritually, it crushed God’s heart. As He spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, when Israel kept turning away from Him, God said, “I was crushed by their adulterous heart.” (Ezekiel 6:9) The same sorrow is echoed in Paul’s warning: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30), and “Do not quench the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Sin always separates us from God, for “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Those who reject Jesus are cast into the lake of fire which is the eternal separation from God.
Yet the true love of God “does not seek its own, is not provoked.” God’s love never forces, for love cannot exist without choice. Out of that same love, He allows people to choose, even those who would rather follow satan into hell than dwell with Him in His Kingdom. But behold, this is the great love of God, while we deserved judgment, God chose mercy. The LORD Jesus Christ demonstrated His love for us, to die in our place on the cross. He bore the punishment that should have been ours. Why? Because He could not bear to see His creation eternally separated from Him.
Did not Paul also say to the church in Rome,
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35)
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)
When Paul says, “while we were still sinners,” he is not only referring to the sin that lived within us, but to the choice humanity made. The same choice Adam made to turn away from God and follow Eve instead of God. Yet even then, God’s love did not give up. While we were walking toward eternal death, bound for hell, a place of everlasting separation. But God, because of His great love, made a way for us to be saved.
His heart’s desire has always been that we dwell with Him in His Kingdom “And God will wipe away every tear from [our] their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Isn’t it only the love of God that reaches deep within us? It penetrates our hearts and bones. It’s a love so immense that it often brings us to tears. It overwhelms us, transforms us, and changes the way we live and make decisions.
When we come to know this great love of God, we no longer desire to commit sin because we realize how it crushes God’s heart. Every time we sin, shame fills our hearts, and we tend to withdraw from His presence, avoiding fellowship with Him. But my brothers and sisters, I urge you, run the race! Even when you are struggling with sin, do not give up. Remember what Peter said to the LORD Jesus Christ: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) Do not turn away from God, for apart from Him. for those who reject the LORD Jesus Christ will be cast into the unquenchable fire. A place that was never created for us, a place of eternal separation from the presence of God.
Only God can transform you! Always repent and keep moving forward! He will break through not by our own strength or might, but by His Spirit. (Zechariah 4:6) Pray to God to destroy the sins that shackle you and separate you from Him.
Do not be like Adam, who willingly chose to separate from God because he could not live without Eve, the one who led him into disobedience. Do not let the pleasures of sin cause you to choose separation from the God who loves you beyond measure.
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