“Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)”

God’s love is in Christ (Rom 8:35, 39).  Those two little words, “in Him” contain an ocean of truth.  “In Him” refers to the eternal relationship between Christ and His people, in which they are joined to Him by the eternal bond of His love (Jeremiah 31:3; Ephesians 1:4). On account of His love, Christ stands as their High Priest (Heb 2:17), their Surety (Gen 43:9; 44:32; Heb 7:25), their kinsman-Redeemer (Heb 2:11), their Captain (Heb 2:10), their covenant Head (Rom 5:14; Isaiah 42:6) and their Husband (Eph 5:23-32).  “In Him” means that God receives His people as He receives Christ Himself (Philemon 1:12,17). “In Him” means that God loves His people as He loves the Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator, to the same degree and for the same duration (John 17:23-24).  “In Him” means that all God requires of His people He received from Christ, both for punishment of sin and for obedience to His law (2 Cor 5:21; Rom 5:19; Rom 10:4; Matt 3:15; Heb 10:14). “In Him” means that nothing is given to God’s people but what He gives to them in Christ as their Surety and Mediator (1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:3; 2 Tim 1:9; Eph 1:11). “In Him” means that all blessings God gives to Christ as Mediator, He gives to Him with His people (Romans 8:17; Eph 1:3-11).   “In Him” means that Christ and His people are one before God, loved as one, and blessed as one in all things (Eph 1:3; John 17:23). “In Him” means that all that Christ is as Mediator to God for His people, and all that He accomplished as their Head and High Priest, they are and have accomplished in Him (1 Cor 1:30).  “In Him” means that all that God is in Christ, His people receive from God in Him (Colossians 2:9-10).  “In Him” refers to the union of Christ with His people in which Christ is their eternal Mediator to bring them to God and save them to the uttermost (Heb 7:25).  The bond of this union is the love of God. This love is “stronger than death. (SSol 8:6)”  Nothing can break this bond; nothing can separate one so loved by Christ from Him.  If the Lord Jesus Christ so loves a man, surely, that man will be saved without fail, to the uttermost.  Since only some are eternally saved, God’s love must only be towards His Elect, those who were chosen in Christ and loved in Him before the world began (Eph 1:3-4; 2 Tim 1:9).

God loves His own.  WIth respect to them, He “thinketh no evil.” He loved them from eternity (Jeremiah 31:3) and His love for them can no more change than He can, because He is love (1 John 4:7).  God’s love and grace never fail because God cannot fail (1 Corinthians 13:8; Lamentations 3:22). He loved His own from eternity, He therefore found a way in Christ to put away their sins. Because Christ put away their sins, God now ‘thinketh no evil” against His people: He does not count them sinners; He does not impute sin to them. In fact, He imputes the very righteousness of His own dear Son.  He remembers their sins no more because He made Christ sin for them. Having made Him sin for His people, God now sees no sin in them (Numbers 23:21; Jeremiah 50:20). Instead of their sin, He sees the obedience of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21).”  The Spirit of God testifies to this when He says in the New Covenant, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.  Now, where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (Heb 11:17-18)”

Charity… thinketh no evil (1 Corinthians 13:5)

How ashamed I am of my own love for God and for people. Yet on this earth, how I treasure the love others have shown to me!  Above all things, I treasure and long to know the love of God in Christ (Ephesians 3:19).

The word translated ‘thinketh’ in 1 Corinthians 13:5, is elsewhere translated ‘counted’ (Romans 4:3), ‘imputed’, (Romans 4:8,24); and ‘reckon’, (Romans 6:11). From these we know how God loves and how we are to love.

Love does not impute evil; it remembers no wrong.  For the object of its love, love does not think of the wrong done to it, but acts in kindness in all things and at all times.  Love ever seeks the good of its object.  Love covers all sin.  “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. (Psalms 85:2)”

When we think of love as it is described in 1 Corinthians 13, and that text gives the description of true love, we must ultimately see that 1 Corinthians 13 describes Christ’s love for His own.  At best, we are His disciples in our love because, as He loved us and gave Himself for us, and because He has given us His own Spirit, then we, as His followers, seek to love as He did. “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. (Proverbs 10:12).”

Has someone ever genuinely overlooked your weaknesses?  You recognized that as love, did you not?  Have you ever been able to unburden your heart to someone in complete trust, knowing that they would never use it or hold it against you?  You felt such a bond to that person, did you not?  Have you ever confessed your faults, which you have done against someone else, and have them treat you as though you had done them no wrong, and they never mentioned it again, simply because they loved you and wanted only the best for you?  Have you ever had a friend to whom you could go at any time who would listen to you as if you were their only concern?  How close we feel to those who have ever expressed such love to us! Truly, in my experience, among men, this love is rare indeed.  Yet, we ought so to love one another.

When we sin against God, He looks to Christ and forgives us for the sake of His Son, and for His sake alone.  God sees the love that Christ had for His own, sees that He gave Himself for them, sees that He endured the full punishment their sins deserved, and then, in faithfulness to both His justice and grace, He forgives our sin (1 John 1:9) because in the love of Christ to His Father and for His people, God received full satisfaction to his law both for the punishment their sins deserved and for the obedience His law required.

Even so, when a brother or sister in Christ wrongs us, we are to act in the same way: consider that God has received all from Christ for them.  Is this not how Paul instructed Philemon to act towards Onesimus? Doesn’t vengeance belong to the Lord?  Hasn’t the Lord received full compensation to His vengeance in the death of His Son?  Are we then going to keep a separate set of books and our own account that can only be cleared when we have received some trifle of contrition?  Consider what God has done for you!  Did He forgive you after He saw your repentance, your sorrow, your resolve to make up for the wrong you have done?  Or did He forgive you freely and frankly and fully for Christ’s sake when you had nothing to pay (Luke 7:42)?  Did He not do it for Christ’s sake alone?  Of course, it was for Christ’s sake alone.  When we know our sin and come to Him confessing what we are and what we’ve done, at that time we experience forgiveness.  Yet, every sin in our record was blotted out beforehand by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (Isaiah 43:25)” (see also, Hebrews 10:17; Psalm 103:3). Following Christ, we are therefore to cover, to hide and not to count the sin of our brethren in Christ against them, and by so doing, we will find expression of our faith in Christ before God and expression of the love of God to us as the fruit of His Spirit working in us to so love one another.  “Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)”. “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. (Colossians 3:14)”

“For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. “ (Mark 12:44)

When Christ Jesus the Lord saw the people cast into the treasury, and when He saw many rich cast in much, He brought attention to this woman.  In His estimation, this woman’s two mites amounted to more than all of the “much” added together, which all of the rich had cast into the treasury.  To the Lord, her two mites were of greater value than the sum of all the rest.  Her two mites were the King’s treasure!

Who cannot admire this woman?  Out of her want, she gave all that she had, even all her living!  Do you ever, like me, read scripture and find that the best you can do is to admire those who act out their God-given faith?  When I read the sermon on the mount, for example, I think, “My Master is so good, and my own heart is so evil and I am so far from the description He gives of His disciples!”  At best, I can only admire the qualities He describes and pray, Lord, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. (Psalm 119:35)”, “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. (Psalms 119:133)”  When, for example, Jesus says, “Love your enemies,” or, “Resist not evil,” or, “Judge not that ye be not judged,” I find such a gap between me and my Savior that there seems to be in me opposition to Him rather than alignment!  I see how far short I fall, I feel my shame, yet I admire my Master for His goodness! How thankful I am that He spoke these words at the outset of His sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”  Ah, how I can identify with that!  I have no spiritual value, no savings account of spiritual good deeds, no store of experiences to bring: only my spiritual poverty, my bankruptcy, my 'nothing to pay' and lack in myself of potential future value worthy of His investment.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”  Here I see that Christ treasures the empty, the barren, the spiritually bankrupt. The one with nothing is said by Him to be blessed!  Why?  Because all such find their all in Christ and they glory in Him alone.

In spite of my own shortcoming, I greatly admire this woman.  What she had amounted to nothing, really.  Nevertheless, she gave it all.  Just as infants and children cannot do God’s work and are in constant need of care, her two mites in absolute terms were of no value.  Yet Jesus scolded His disciples when they thought along these lines, and commanded the children to be brought to Him that He might bless them (Matt 19:13-14).

Perhaps this woman, when out of her want gave all that she had, even all her living, thought of the Sidonian widow who gave all the food she had to Elijah, knowing it was the last meal that her and her son would eat before they died (1 Kings 17:12), yet God fed both her and her son until God sent rain.  Or perhaps she thought of Hannah who could have no children, who when God gave her Samuel in answer to her persistent prayers, gave her son back to the Lord as long as he lived (1 Samuel 1:28).  Or maybe she thought of David who though he was the youngest in his family was promoted from taking care of a few sheep to rule over all of God’s people, to whom God gave great victory and riches, and she recalled his prayer,

“Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. (1 Chronicles 29:10-14)”

But mostly, this woman teaches us about God’s giving.  If God blessed the two mites of this poor woman, how much more will He bless the emptying out of His only begotten Son?!  How much more will He bless Christ who obligated Himself to His Father for His people forever, poured out His soul in suffering unto death, and did all that He did in love and worship to His Father for His undeserving people?  Can anyone deserve or earn this love?!  Not at all. True love is free; it looks for nothing before or after it gives of itself. To attempt to earn or repay love is the greatest insult. "What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. (Psalm 116:12-13)" The only appropriate response is to believe and worship God for what He has given.

The King of heaven, the Lord of glory, gave all that He had.  He gave Himself.  He who was rich, gave all.  His gift was infinite in substance and infinite in sacrifice, because the King of heaven gave Himself, He emptied Himself, He gave all of His treasure, He gave everything He had to His Father for His people.  Christ gave all of His living.  As foreshadowed by the Hebrew slave of Exodus 21:1-6 and by Hannah who gave Samuel to the Lord as long as he lived, even so, Christ gave Himself to His Father for His people forever.  He who is God the Son, stooped to take to Himself the nature of His people forever.  "He made Himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7)."  "He took on Him the form of a servant."  "He was made under the law. (Galatians 4:4)"  "He was made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7)", "in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3)."  "He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8)"  Now He sits in glory as a man (Heb 1:3). Every action He took, was giving Himself.  He did not give what was not His.  He, as God, is rich in Himself and needed nothing, yet He emptied Himself and gave everything He had. Christ the King, who was rich, became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9).

God gave His Son, John 3:16.  When God gave His Son, He gave everything.  He emptied heaven. Not only did God give all when He gave His Son, but He gave joyfully.  He gave with delight!  "The LORD loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7)."  Would He love a cheerful giver and Himself give begrudgingly or reluctantly or remorsefully?  Can God not be cheerful in giving Christ for His people in answer to His own love and grace and in satisfaction to His justice?!  “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.  (Zephaniah 3:17)”

If a poor widow woman, who out of her want did cast in and freely give all of her living as a willing sacrifice, bring approval from the Lord Jesus Christ, how much more will the King of heaven take pleasure (Isaiah 53:10) when He satisfies His own desire to be gracious and bless His people together with His Son, when He, out of His riches in Christ Jesus, cast in all of the riches of heaven in the gift of His Son (Ephesians 1:2-11)?!

The death of Christ is never to be repeated (Heb 9:12, 26, 28; 10:12, 14). Christ's gift of Himself fully satisfied God. God has nothing more and nothing else to give than what He gave in His Son. If you attempt to give anything to God to get something from Him, you have rejected Christ; and if you die in that state, there is no more offering for your sin. Christ gave Himself.  When a man is in debt and has nothing to pay, he must give himself up as a slave.  But Christ owed nothing, yet He gave Himself, and in so doing, He gave all.  God is the only one of whom it can be said that He gave all that He had, and gave it freely.  God gave His Son. He did not spare any of His riches when He did not spare His own Son.  He did not spare His own Son from the sword of His justice in order that He might spare His people from the sword of the curse of His law.

If you knew the gift of God, the One whom God gave and who gave Himself, and who even now comes near to you in the preaching of His gospel, declaring to you His gift, then you would ask Him, and He would yet give again... eternal life to you (John 4:10).  If God gave all when He gave His Son, how then is it possible that He will not with Him also freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)?!

Why does the Lord Jesus bless those who are poor in spirit?  Because all such admire Him alone for His gift.  They take of all that He has provided by Himself and in Himself alone, and they worship God for His gift, to which nothing can be added or compared!