The Proof's in the Pudding

When it comes to our God, I believe it is safe to say that the proof is definitely in the pudding. A man once said “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.” God’s extraordinary claim of loving us is backed by his even more extraordinary proof.

Romans 5:8

but God proved his love to us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The word for “demonstrate” [συνίστησιν] means to provide evidence of a personal characteristic or claim through action.

For God, his claim is that he loves us. His action – Christ' sacrificial death. God’s characteristic which is seen here is his love. As Christians, demonstrating our love in anyway through action demonstrates the gospel. This leads to sharing the gospel.

APPLICATION:

1 - We are called to prove our love to the others through action. God did this and we are called to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1).
2- Think of some ways you often show love to others. Maybe it’s writing a love letter to your spouse every now and then. Perhaps it’s working at a soup kitchen in your city.
3 – Now think of some ways in which you are not the best at demonstrating your love to others and resolve to work on them. For example, how do you think about others? Are you constantly criticizing them? How do you respond to conflict with your friends and family? We can always find ways to demonstrate our love, that the world may know his love.

In English, συνίστησιν is in the past tense, whereas in Greek it is in the present tense. This is what we call the present progressive which means God is continually proving his love to us. Thus, we should continually be demonstrating our love to him and others.

APPLICATION:

1- Think of ways God continually shows his love to you. These can be even the most common things in life such as food, a job, and so forth.
2 – Think of ways you could show your love to a friend, to your spouse, to a stranger.

God provided evidence for his love and this evidence is the cross of Christ. The cross implies a sacrifice. So it follows that showing love can often call for a sacrifice to be made by the one trying to show love to someone.

But what type of love is demonstrated here? The word used in this verse is ἀγάπην and it is the unconditional love of God. But why is it unconditional?

Typically we love people we like or know, or who are nice to us. This is not merely God’s love. God loves even his enemies, those who hate him, those who never come to him. If you look back a few of verses, you’ll read in v. 5 that we, that is, you and I, we were God’s enemies before he called us to himself. Yet, God still loved us and proved it to us. People can ignore the cross, but God's love will never ignore them.

APPLICATION:

1 – Think of someone in your life who you typically do not appreciate or are not that fond of. Regardless of the reason, talk to God about him working in your heart to work toward loving this person and accepting them.

One way we could re-read this verse to gain a more intimate feel for it is to substitute the word “us” with the word “me.” Hence, “God proved his love to me, while I was a sinner, he died for me.”

Lastly, we must realize that during the days of Rome, heroes died for their fatherland and for people who loved them and they were celebrated. Christ died for people who did not know him, others who hated him, and he died for those in a foreign land. He came to earth to die for people who knew him not. We are called to leave our comfort zones and prove God loves other with our actions and by sharing the gospel.

Perhaps today this opportunity may present itself.

Below is a music video which shows members of the Billy Graham Association proving God's love to people. May you and I be encouraged to do the same.