"God-loves-us-for-who-we-are-ERROR!" Part II

"To say that He loves us IN Chirst is to say that had it not been for Christ... God would not love us...."

In PART II, we assumed that you have read PART I... It's a thread, so if you haven't read PART I, read it first before proceed.

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2. It Makes Man the Center - Not God!

               And what's wrong with "Man-Centered" view?
                                      
                                        First let us define what is the "man-centered view"... man centered view says: "God loves me - but He does according to my definition of "God loves me" - that is, I am the 'focus' of God's love... God is for me, just like the way I want... the real purpose and end of all things is me... that is why God must not do things contrary to what I believe He can do... He created me for ME! God can't do as He pleases with ME, and when He wants to do anything in MY life, in MY body - it must be according to MY consent... I am the maker of my destiny, I am the captain of my soul".... Now, what's wrong with "man-centered" view?

                          Now, what's wrong with "man-centered" view?

                                        Let us just answer that not with human wisdom, but with what God has revealed in the scriptures... Colossians 1:16 says: "For through Him, God created everything on heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was made through Him and FOR Him".(emphasis mine)

                                         Everything.... EVERYTHING!... was purposely created through and FOR Jesus Christ, the Eternal Beloved God the Son. It did not say "for US"... it was said "for HIM"... it did not say, God created us so that "we could be us"... the purpose was FOR CHRIST!... Why? because Jesus is the absolute object and focus of God's Love(Matt3:17,John17:26)... His pleasure is found IN CHRIST, His passion is found IN CHRIST, His Love is IN CHRIST... all the fullness of who God is, is IN CHRIST!(Col1:19)

                                       How shameful would it be to claim what was solely for Christ and declare it to be for us? It's like saying I AM GOD!... that is how deep man's corruption really is!.... it seems to go like this--->"I just don't want to be like God, I WANT TO BE GOD!"... Man really want to dethrone God from the center - as pathetic as the earth wanting to dethrone the sun from the center... That goes way back on the garden of eden(Gen3:4)... the same temptation again and again.... the same devil again and again... and same corrupted human error - that results to cliche' like this - again and again....

                    This cliche' is man-centered? How come?

                                         Instead of using "God loves you for who you are in Christ"... we use "God loves you for who you are".... completely throwing Christ out and replaces it with "you-and-me"... How man-centered could it be? Not even mentioning it's equal crime - It distorts the Character of God - this reason alone could be very serious cause to really inspect our methods and beliefs...

                                         It also takes us away from the real FOCUS of God's love -  "His Glory! Which is embodied and revealed in Jesus Christ"(Isa48:11,Heb1:3)<---(Yes! it's not us... it's Christ). How important would it be to focus on the thing that God focuses upon? If God Himself is so focused on His Glory Revealed in Christ, then how wonderfully-overwhelmingly-beautiful would that object of God's love really be? And how dare we as beings of "inferior beauty" claim to arrest God's focus off of that Glorious Being and turn it to us...(or should I say, "gross corruption" instead of "inferior beauty"?)

Let's take a look at this passage:

                        John 16:26-27.... "Then you will ask IN my name. I'm not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father Himself loves you dearly BECAUSE you love me and believe that I came from God" (emphasis mine)


                       This passage teaches us that the reason why God loved us is because of Christ... Had it not been for Christ, God would not love us!... As John Piper once said: " God is dangerous outside Christ!".... Now for those guys who have not followed Christ and is reading this blog... we say it again, God is DANGEROUS outside Christ!... You are in grave danger from God's upcoming judgment... and without Christ, you will not stand against God's severity... God is not for you, He is against you... you must be reconciled to Him first through Christ! Look at this passage:



"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."(Romans 5:10-11 ESV)

                      
                       The good news for us is this... though we are God's enemy, we can be reconciled through Christ! Through His death on the cross, He died for the death we deserve - thus we have died(2Cor5:14), and will not taste the second death ever again - IF WE ARE IN CHRIST!


                      We are sheltered on God's love for His One and Only Eternal Beloved Son, Jesus Christ... that means that as long as the Father loves Jesus, we are loved! Now that is a sure foundation! We can be very sure that God will love us no matter what, not for who we are, not because we are that lovable, but because His love for Christ will not fail!


                      We must find our identity IN CHRIST alone... Who you are must be found INSIDE Christ, that is - you have killed your identity outside Christ, and you are clothed by God for who Christ is(Gal2:20). You are forsaking "who-you-are-independently-outside-Christ", constantly desiring and striving to find "who-you-are-in-Christ" - to be Christlike... When you say "God loves me just as I am", then if you mean "just-as-I-am" outside Christ, then the appropriate statement would be - "God hates me "just-as-I-am""... When we seek to find who we are outside of Christ, we will only reap WRATH and FURY..


                     Pero buti na lang... God by His grace... He united us IN Christ before the foundation of the world so that we would be loved with the love the Father has for the Son!... If we are loved by the love God has for His Son, how great is that love then? Amazing Grace indeed!
                     
                    Gipa-"sampa" ra ta niya sa Iyang gugma para sa Iyang bugtong anak! Dili jud na para sa ato originally, pero tungod sa Iyang grasya.. nahimo pud ta nga partaker sa iyang gugma through CHIRST!


                      So Guys, undangon na nato na nga cliche'... ug ato na nang pulihan sa kamatuuran... GOD LOVES US FOR WHO CHRIST IS!

TO ACCESS THE FIRST PART.... CLICK THIS IMAGE LINK... 

Link To Part I and Part II - God loves you for who you are Error!