#24.

The Lord's Supper Proclaims the Love of God for His Children
Romans 5:68 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would
dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
Over the last few meditations, we have been reflecting on what the Lord's Supper proclaims to us
about Jesus - His love for us, His love for the Father, His humility and obedience and His High
Priesthood forever in the order of Melchizedek.
Over the next few entries, we want to see that this meal also proclaims things to us about the
Father Himself. This week, we will see that the Supper proclaims the Love of the Father for His
Children. This is not a difficult thing to see in the Table, but it is deep and very
moving. Perhaps we have not seen it in the Table before as clearly as we should.
Look at our text for a moment and you will see what Paul tells us there. First, he reminds us that
we were sinners - vile, wicked, rebellious. We revolted God. Our very existence was an offence
and an affront to His holiness and His justice. We were a stench in His nostrils. Next, he tells us
that even had we been good, it would have been unlikely in human terms that anyone would have
given up their life on our behalf. Finally, he makes his point. Jesus gave up His life for His
people even though they were sinners! This, says Paul, demonstrates the love of God towards
us.
To fully understand the enormity of what Paul is saying here, it is necessary to realize how
precious Jesus is to the Father. He is the Son of His love, the One that the Father often refers to
as "My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased" (see Matthew 3:17). In Isaiah 42:1, God
speaks of Jesus as One in Whom His soul delights. Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the
exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3), so when God looks at Him, if we may put it this
way, He sees the family likeness. He sees that the Son "takes after" the Father and everything
He sees is good and pure, holy and "well pleasing". Quite simply, The Son was most precious to
the Father. It was this Son, God's Only Son, the Son of His love, that the Father sent into this
world and to the death of the cross at the hands of His wicked and sinful creatures, in order to
save them.
God has not simply said "I love you", though given our sinfulness, such a declaration from the
God of Scripture would have been remarkable. God has done more. He has shown us the extent
of His love by sending Jesus to die in our place and to rescue us from sin. This is what we
remember at the Table. It proclaims God's love to us by portraying to our senses the price He
paid so that we might belong to Him. Let's remember this as we come to the Supper, and praise
our God for His demonstrated love for us, if we are His children!
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