“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” ~Matthew 5:43-45

“…but God shows his love 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 by him from the wrath of God. 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 5:8-11

Isn’t God’s love amazing?

What is the right thing for a powerful, righteous king to do to his enemies? Destroy them, right? Purify the land. Keep his loyal subjects safe…

Can you imagine Jesus, in the comfort and glory of heaven, agreeing together with the father that the right thing to do for His enemies is to be destroyed their place?

It’s a wonderful thing that God, in His love and sovereignty decided this too. We were His enemies, in danger of that destruction. But God loves YOU… He LOVES you… so much that He’d do the dying for us.

What does he ask of us? To act like him. To be “sons of your father”.

Who do you consider as your enemy? Do you love them?