God is love. Love creates, and we were created by God to love and be loved by him. If we would live in right relation with him, we must follow his law and live righteously. Romans 13:10 states, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Tragically, the world is complex and fallen, and our minds are sinful and broken. Because of this, God’s straightforward command to love is impossible for us to follow without help. We need an example to follow. God knows this; God created us, and he understands our weaknesses and limitations. He is also a forgiving and loving father who wants to redeem his creation, and so he sent his son as an example for us to follow.

As it turs out, God is not who we thought he was—and love doesn't always look like what we might think it should. Jesus' example was radical. The way he taught, lived, and died abounded with grace and truth. He was God incarnate, and his life serves as the true standard of how we are to love both God and others. He taught that in order to be in right relationship with God, we must be completely obedient to him, and because God is perfect, he requires perfection of us. While Jesus' life shows what perfection looks like, his teaching revealed a truth that we all innately know: we can never achieve this on our own.

We need a savior. We were created to rely on God, and that did not change just because mankind turned its back on him. Jesus came to live a sinless life and die for our sins so that God's plan to redeem mankind could be fulfilled. Love is the reason for God's plan, and love is the method God used to bring his plan to fruition. God’s Love came down at Christmas in the form of an infant, born to save those whom God loves, to redeem the creation that he so desperately longed to restore.  

Michael Barrett

 I have been a member of FUMCA for almost a year. I am a studying marketing at the University of Texas at Arlington, and I am on the student leadership board at the Wesley Foundation.