“God is love” (1 John 4:16).

God is love. This is one of the most fundamental concepts of God. Even those who are not Christians know and understand that God is a God of love.

What is confusing, though, is we mean something totally different with God than how we understand love in every other relationship.

When people say that God is love, people mean that God is always for us, never against us. That’s true. People mean God is always for everything that we are for, that God would never hurt us, that God would never offend us, that God would never do anything that would challenge us.

Basically, when we say that God is love, what we really mean is that God is for everything we are for.

But we never mean that when we talk about love in every other human relationship.

Parents love their kids. And because moms and dads love their kids, when the kids do harmful and dangerous things, loving parents correct and discipline their children. In fact, if parents did not correct and discipline children who were acting out in ways that are damaging, it would be the opposite of love.

Because moms and dads love their kids, they have to correct, rebuke, chastise, and discipline those whom they love.

What is surprising is that when people realize that God corrects, rebukes, chastises, and disciplines us because he loves, they get all hurt and bent out of shape. We get hurt because our god would never do that.

Why is it that when we know love must include correction, rebuke, and discipline, that we get so hurt and offended when God does what love requires?

God is love. Absolutely.

And because God is love, the God of scripture corrects, rebukes, chastises, and disciplines those whom he loves so that his children can experience God’s shalom. The reason why God corrects, rebukes, chastises, and disciplines those whom he loves is because he refuses to accept anything less than the fullness of life for his children.

It is not enough that God’s children live. God wants his children to live the abundant life. This is what Jesus says in John 10:10 – “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus tells us the reason why he came was so that we might live the abundant life.

God loves you. Absolutely. And he loves you so much he cannot leave us in our sins. Because God is a God of love, he will correct, rebuke, chastise, and disciplines us when we sin so that we might live into the fullness of life that God desires for us.

God is love.

Got it?

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.” (Numbers 21:8-9)

What an odd verse.

Here’s the context. These verses come from Israel’s forty year wanderings in the wilderness. The book of Numbers contains stories of the multiple times when the Israelites grumble and complain against Moses and God. They are sick and tired of the lack of choices in their diet, lack of water, wandering around aimlessly, etc. In one of these complaint sessions they grumble against God and Moses saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

In response God sends venomous snakes. Many die. Then the Israelites come to Moses, repent and beg Moses to pray to God. God responds with our verses of the day.

But there is an even more poignant context we should not miss. Jesus refers to this text saying, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14-15). This comes right before the most famous saying of Jesus in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Here we come to the crux of grace. All that people needed to do in order to be saved from the venomous snakes was to look at the snake. That’s it. God provided a way to save people from death. Who they were, what they did, what they didn’t do – none of that mattered. The only thing that anyone needed to do was to accept God’s plan for salvation and look at the snake.

This is the scandal of grace. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Nothing. It is all God. God makes a way.

All that the Israelites needed to do to be saved was to look at the snake. In the same way, all that we need to do in order to be saved is to look at Jesus and receive God’s plan for salvation.

This too is the scandal of grace. Salvation is all God’s doing. Since we were saved by grace, it is no surprise that our salvation is guaranteed by Christ and Christ alone.

Hear the good news repeat sinners: the efficacy of salvation doesn’t depend our performance. It is all God. It is all grace. Just as our performance has nothing to do with the efficacy of salvation, our performance has nothing to do with God’s strength to love us and keep us in salvation. It’s all God. It’s all grace.

Yes, our repeat sins grieve the heart of God. So God makes a way for us to confess our sins and repent. Keep following the Son. When you fail, confess your sin, repent and trust in God’s grace. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even our repeat sins.

Keep looking to the Son. Follow him.

“For our sake he made him who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

As we saw yesterday, it is true that we are not only sinners but repeat sinners. We have this sinning thing down pat.

How then is it that God can continue to be for us, love us, be kind and gracious to us, and forgive us over and over and over and over again?

While you and I remember our sins even after we have confessed and repented – and when we forget, the devil is quick to remind us of our sins – God does not. One of the greatest promises in all of the Bible is found in Psalm 103:10-12. Check this out!

He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is his love for those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

The moment you and I confess our sins, our sins are in the process of being removed from us and from the presence of God. They are speeding away from us so that when God sees us, God no longer sees a sinner but a child of God covered by the righteousness of Christ.

The very moment we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, as far as God is concerned, we are as righteous as Jesus is!

Think about that! That is amazing!!! That is grace. That is love. That is God.

Spend some time thinking on this truth and give thanks to our Savior. Thank him for at least three things this morning.