God is for us.
That can be a difficult truth for some of us to believe. Especially if you had a parent relationship that was overly harsh or critical. If you felt like you could never live up to your earthly mother or father’s expectations, you may think your heavenly Father is just as hard to please.
Or if you have a personality type that is a bit perfectionistic, and you have an inner critic who lives in your head constantly pointing out everything you are doing wrong, you might expect God to be the same.
But He’s not. He’s not an angry, disappointed, aloof God. He’s not against us. He’s for us.
The gospel teaches that God is so for us He sent His son to take our place.
This week at Day Camp, we taught the gospel by telling the parallel story of David and Goliath. It’s astonishing how many ways this little unassuming shepherd boy from Bethlehem points us to Jesus! We unpacked some of the similarities with the kids.
Jesus came from far away to bring refreshment for us, to observe the battle for us, face down our enemy for us, single handedly defeat sin for us, and gain a peaceful future for us. God beats our enemies–for us!
We overheard a mom ask one of the campers, “I see you have a medal–what did you get that for?” The camper knew just what to say. “I didn’t do anything, mom. This is because God did it all!”
God did it all–for us.
For us. Not only because He’s a loving, supportive parent when times are tough. But because He actually steps in and takes our place when things are impossible. He does it all for us.
God = for us. Always in all ways.
Believe it.
