Take note of Paul’s words in Romans 5:6-10:
"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows His love (agape) for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved from the wrath of God. For 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.”
Paul says several things I want to call to your attention. First, he says that, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” If we were to ask what Agape is, Paul would point to the cross of Christ. This is exactly what John tells us in I John 3:16; “By this we know love (agape), that He laid down His life for us.”
Secondly, the Agape of God, the Father, is revealed in the death of Christ. Some people have the mistaken notion that Christ “rescued” us from God the Father. God the Father is viewed as vengeful and full of wrath, but Jesus stepped in with love and mercy, to “save” us from the Father. Nothing could be further from the Biblical truth. The Scripture tells us that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (II Cor. 5:19). John 3:16 declares the Father’s Agape for the world by His giving of the Son.
Thirdly, the Father’s love is unmotivated by anything in us. It is self-motivated by the nature of who He is. In other words, God did not love us because we were lovely. He loves us because of the fact that He is love (I John 4:16). Paul uses four expressions to describe who Christ died for: the weak, the ungodly, sinners, and enemies.
God has revealed Himself through the Scriptures as a God of both mercy and justice. Apart from the revelation of the cross, we would never be able to understand how these seemingly opposite attributes could be reconciled. But it is at the cross of Christ that justice and mercy meet. For it is there at the cross that justice was fulfilled by the Son of God. The penalty for Man’s rebellion was paid by Man’s creator and the way was made for Man’s reconciliation. The climax of the crucifixion account occurs when Jesus cries out from the cross His declaration of victory, "It is finished." (The Greek here is more emphatic. The Greek word being tetelestai. A word that was used in the marketplace when the final payment had been made. It in essence means "paid in full.") Christ had satisfied the demands of divine justice and the price was completely paid for our redemption.
Matthew records that the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom at the moment of Christ’s death. The symbolism of that event speaks of the reality that Man’s access to the throne of God has been made available. Under the Old Covenant, Man could only come to God by means of sacrifice. But under the New Covenant, sacrifice is no longer Man’s way to God, but God’s way to Man. For it is God’s sacrifice that enables us to come confidently before the throne of grace. The cross stands as the triumphal declaration of God’s agape love for a lost and sinful world.
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