Jesus Christ, our Savior, stands alone in perfect holiness. Because only Jesus is holy and perfect, God does not recognize any other person. Therefore, if we are ever to be received by the heavenly Father, we must be in Christ, solely by the grace of Christ and through no merit of our own.
The love of God is conveyed to us only through Jesus Christ. According to John, all of God's love dwells in Jesus: "Of His fullness we have all we received" (John 1:16). You may ask, "What's so important about knowing that God's love is conveyed to us through Christ? How does this affect our everyday lives?"
When will God stop loving you? He'll stop only if he stops loving his own Son, which is impossible. Christ says, "The Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1). This helps us to better understand what Jude is saying when he instructs, "Keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude verse 21). He is telling us, "Keep this truth. Lay hold of it and never let it go. The knowledge of God's love is meant for your comfort, your strength. It will set you free and keep you free."
According to Jesus, in the Father's eyes Christ and his Church are one. Paul illustrates this with the analogy of a human body. He says Christ is the head, and we are his body – bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh. "[God] put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:22-23). "We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones" (Ephesians 5:30).
"You, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 20–21).
As I read these verses in Jude, I heard the Spirit quietly whisper: "David, I want you to enter the fullness and joy of my love. You have the theology right. But you have not yet experienced the true rest of soul that comes with keeping yourself in my love. Up to now, you've only been in it up to your ankles. There is a whole ocean for you to swim in."
Here is one of the most quoted and oft-sung verses in all of God's Word: "Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You" (Psalm 63:3). You may ask, "What does it mean that his lovingkindness is better than life?”
The truth is, life is short. It fades like the grass, which is here one season and gone the next. Yet God's lovingkindness endures forever. A million years from now Jesus will be as tender and loving toward us as he is now. Others can take your life away from you, but they can't take away God's lovingkindness.
Jonah was a prophet who fully understood the lovingkindness of the Lord. But he was a man who could not enjoy or appropriate it. Instead, Jonah turned God's lovingkindness into a burden for himself.
Here is a powerful weapon for every follower of Jesus: Cry! Cry out with all of your heart as David did (see Psalm 34:6). Go to the Lord and confess your sin and appeal to his lovingkindness, saying, "Lord, I know you love me and are ready to forgive me. I repent before you right now."
It is well known that King David fell into horrible sin, committing adultery and covering it up with murder. Moreover, we know David was full of the Holy Spirit, so he must have been miserable.
The prophet Nathan confronted him, saying, "You have brought reproach on God's name." David could only go for so long carrying the weight of the horrible acts he had perpetrated and he immediately confessed and repented. Even as he was still weeping Nathan assured him, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).
The Bible promises that it is possible to understand the Lord's lovingkindness. What is that key? King David said, “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord” (Psalm 107:43).
David received an awesome revelation of God's gracious, forgiving heart. And he discovered it simply by looking at God's past record of dealing with his beloved children. David reports it this way: