Sunday: Our Father’s Extravagance
“If God really loved me, He would certainly do _______ ____________ for me!” I wonder how many times that thought has flickered through our minds. We look at our circumstances and then begin to wonder whether God really loves us, because if He really did, things would be different.
There are two rationales that often lead us to doubt God’s goodness. First, when we have a burning desire in our hearts and minds for something that we believe is good, the idea that God might want something different for us may seem ridiculous.
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
Second, we may doubt God’s goodness because our experience clashes with what we believe. If something looks good or feels good or sounds good or tastes good, then it must be good. And so we get angry with God when we can’t have it.
This is where faith comes into play. Faith comes into action precisely at those times we are tempted to doubt God and His goodness.
Romans 8:28-39 is a powerful passage that describes the goodness of God toward us. What can you find in the verses that helps to guard our minds against doubting God’s goodness?
In Romans 8:32, there is an important piece of logic that is extremely helpful in guarding us from becoming overwhelmed by our circumstances. “If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?” (Message). How could we possibly think that God would send Jesus to die for us and then turn mean and stingy?
This means that the truth of God’s generosity to us, seen in the death of Christ, must have a stronger impact in our thinking than all of the doubts that the crucible may generate inside us.
| How is it possible for a truth (God’s goodness) to have a more powerful effect on you than your doubts? Spend some time meditating on the truth that God has given Jesus to die in your place, and that this incredible generosity continues in a thousand different ways for you today. What does this do for your faith? |
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What great thoughts put forth in the lesson today, especially the last paragraph. Indeed if we look at Christ dying for us as God's great love for us it strengens our faith and squelchs our doubts of wheather He really loves us, thus when we focus on Him the crucibles are manageable.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13. Maybe we should paraphrase: I can endure all trials with Christ on board, He strengthens me.
Today's lesson again reflects our core 'default' tendency as humans due to the unfortunate inheritance of the First Adam because "flesh gives birth to flesh" (John 3:6; Romans 5:12-14; Psalm 51:5). That tendency is to self-seeking and being self-referenced. Consequently, our default tendency is to see how we would want a situation to be so that it would better suit us - and therefore to be upset when the situation isn't that way and to question why.
It is noteworthy that Jesus said that unless we are born again, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5-6). It is not just a 'tidy-up' that we need - it is a ground-up rebuilding on a completely different foundation. It is a change from our default foundation of self-seeking to the necessary foundation of other-benefiting love (as per Psalm 51:10). And if we are consenting to and participating in this rebuilding that is facilitated by the Holy Spirit (John 3:6: Spirit giving birth to spirit ongoingly), the structure that is being build upon a different foundation will also be different because the foundation determines the associated structure (metaphorically speaking). What this looks like is we will become more Christ-like in our thoughts, attitudes and behaviours with these reflective of other-benefiting rather than self-seeking. Rather than seeing what suits us best in a situation, when that situation doesn't seem to suit us we are more practiced at instead considering how it might be authentically benefiting someone or something else - including our experience providing a 'witness'/evidence that helps vindicate God's Ways and thus resolve the Great Controversy! Thus we are instead seeing the situation from a bigger picture perspective that incorporates awareness that there are others involved and needing to be considered, not just us.
Awareness of this helps development of faith because while, like Job, we at times can't know or see the full picture of the situation for now, we come to know that there is a bigger picture with others involved. And we come to know that God is beneficently 'orchestrating' this bigger picture in a way that will ultimately benefit everyone involved - even though there will often be pain* along the way in the meanwhile (John 16:33; Romans 8:28).
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* It is very important to know that the pain that we experience is not due to God. Pain only exists within a sin-infected reality. There was no pain present in this world before the entrance of sin and there will be no pain present in the renewed world after the expiry of sin (Revelation 21:4).
Love💕 What I want and need more than anything else is love. Someone to care for me no matter what my situation.
I love the LORD because He first loved me.
I find Rom 8:35-39 in NLT so comforting.
When my heart is filled with love from the LORD it overflows and I share His love with those around me.
Please I need an simple explanation for the word EXTRAVAGANCE that has been used in the Sunday's lesson. Thank you
In Eph 1:19 KJV we read:
The words "exceeding greatness" are translated as extravagance in other translations. Does the context give you a sense of what "extravagance" means? It is a figure of speech, used to extend our vision of God's power and love.
In the context of extravagance meaning lack of restraint in using resources- God held nothing back in giving His only son to die for us. He will not show restaint in providing for our needs.
I find by meditating on the gift of Jesus'sacrifice for us all, my mind is softened and encouraged to do the duty He has for me.
The thought of God, the creator of all, condescending to die on a piece of wood he created, so that I might have abundant life, that is extravagant.
What I like about Romans 8:28 is the very first part that, "All things work together for good to them that love God,....." In other words, "all things good or bad work for the good of those who love God." That is why God blesses those that are not of our faith simply because they "Love Him." They "Love God." So, God works in their behalf in their good or in their bad. Now the last part of Romans 8:28 goes on to apparently make a difference between those who not only "love God," but also those who are ",...The called according to His purpose." So who are "The Called according to His purpose.?" What is God's purpose? Jesus said, "Many are called but few are chosen." So does the second part of Romans 8:28 only apply to "the chosen few?"
Study asks:
How is it possible for a truth (God’s goodness) to have a more powerful effect on you than your doubts?
Reply:
If we are faithless, He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.
NKJ
2 Timothy 2:13
Meaning.. God is always consistant to his divine nature of Love, mercy, long suffering and Justice.
Does it rule us ?
This divine nature rules all in eternity.
2 Peter 1:3-11
Shalom 🙏
Keep on trucking (meme)
I have never doubted God's love for me. I fear my own hearts lack of love for Him. Saying you love and living daily your love is two different things. I fear I don't love Him with my whole heart. I pray often for the roots of love which I have will grow deeply so I will not be moved.
Like Agnes, I am not sure how to understand today’s lesson title ‘Our Father’s Extravagance’ in light of its content. The dictionary defines this word as: ‘costing to much’; exceeding what is reasonable or appropriate, absurd.’ I am sure that the writer did not mean to convey this meaning as he expounds on God the Father’s extraordinary love for mankind, though it would have been better to us the words Maurice brought to our attention.
I consider that the true evidence of His Love’s ‘exceeding greatness’ toward us lays in the evidence that He promised to give those who believe in Him and follow Him a new heart and mind, and that we actually will be able to tell the difference between our new, changed heart and mind versus the old ones because we experience its effects when we live according to His Word by faith.
Paul’s letter recorded in Rom.8:28-30 contains this statement:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
We know that He knows us because we have accepted the same spirit Jesus lived by and communed with the Father. Yes, our Father gave His Son to us as His gift, showing us what faith and hope invested in the Father will ultimately bring about.
During hardships, it is a great challenge for us to stay faithful, waiting upon God’s goodness to manifest itself in our lives according to His wisdom and providence. But because He knows our hearts and minds and what we need, He will provide us those opportunities which are most beneficial for us at that time – this is what we believe and hope for as He promised not to forsake us.
I agree that God’s love is extravagant. God’s love is “exceeding what is reasonable, absurd.’ Is it reasonable for a sovereign God to leave his throne and to place himself at the mercy of his created beings, not even at their highest level (a palace) but at their lowest level of insignificance (a manger)? Is it reasonable to do this when you know that they will reject you and put you through the worst humiliation and torture known to them, even after you have done nothing but good for them? Is it reasonable to allow centuries to pass where you are discredited by lies about the goodness of your character when you have the power in a word to prove yourself and destroy all evil? Isn’t it absurd to die for someone who you know will never love you back? I think God’s love is indeed extravagant. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!” This manner of love is outside the ordinary not just in that it is so great. It is extraordinary because, in human understanding, it is revolutionary, absurd.
I think it is important for me to acknowledge that or I will never strive to love like him. If I see God’s love as only being exceedingly great (which it is), I can stay in my comfort zone. I can love my family with love that is exceedingly great. I can love my church family or even my neighbour with exceedingly great love. But can I love in a way that feels absurd? Can I love someone whose values I abhor and yet be willing to sacrifice myself for their sake? Can I love to the point of giving up my life for someone who abhors me because of my race? Can I forgive the unforgivable and give with no hope of gain? This is not the fuzzy love that gets one likes on social media. It is the love that can get you hated, misunderstood even killed? This is how Christ loved. The day I realised how far I am from this absurd love, is the day I realised how far from Christ I am and how much in need I am of his grace.
Shalom
There is a saying that says that Jesus is a gift that pays a debt from me that I could not pay. How does a gift become a payment for an unpayable debt? And how does a debt become unpayable at all? A debt is something that has to be paid by the debtor and when this becomes an impossible thing by the debtor then it needs to be paid by another who can pay the debt for that debtor. And at the point that a debt cannot be paid by the debtor makes that debt an unpayable responsibility for him or her. When a gift becomes a payment for something I owe it ceases to be a gift and becomes a payment period. So then Jesus is just a payment for a responsibility I could not meet as I had no way of meeting that responsibility from within myself at all. Jesus made a payment for me that sin wickedly imposed on me. This is way more than a gift or a payment for an unpayable debt, it is a present of grace for an impossible responsibility imposed on me by sin period!