Romans
5:6-8 You see, at just the right time,
when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will
anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might
possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We have all known people who
were impossible to dislike. They are the people who are there when you need
someone. Words of encouragement and hope were offered at just the right times.
They loved in word but most importantly they loved us by their actions. This
kind of person is very easy to love because they have loved us.
There are other people we
know that are just difficult to love. They are people who do not like us. Some
are people who think they are above us because of wealth, position,
intelligence or some other standard. Some of these people are complainers,
liars or foul mouthed in their persons. Bad moods and pessimism seem to follow
them wherever they go. People like this are difficult to love and require more
of an effort from us.
Christ did not come into the
world to establish a club for good people. He came to die for sinners. He
already loved the most wretched sinners we could ever know. Paul is commenting
on the fact that when we were blind to our sinfulness and far, far from God,
Christ died for us. His love is such that even the most foul and hideous human
being is not beyond His mercy, grace and love.
For people struggling to
understand the world in which they find themselves, this is good news. It is
great news to know that God loves them before they get themselves all cleaned
up. It is this kind of love that God calls all Christians to extend to the
world around us. In sharing this love with others, the world will see us as we
Christians were meant to be seen.
