1 John 4:19: We love Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19 says, ‘we love Him because He first loved us.’ It doesn’t say, ‘He love us because we first loved Him.’ Now who loved who first? Obviously the answer is God loved us first. God demonstrates His own love toward us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). That’s how good God is to us.
In Luke 5:3-10, you can see God’s love and goodness demonstrated in Simon Peter’s life. This led him to true repentance, and he finally became a disciple of Jesus. In Luke 5:3, Jesus got into Simon Peter’s boat at the time he was washing his fishing nets after a frustrating night of toiling, with no results (Luke 5:5). In other words, Simon Peter was feeling such a failure that day. And that was the time Jesus came into his life. Little did he know it was the turning point of his life. Friends, when Jesus comes with all His love and goodness into your life, your life will definitely be changed too!
In Luke 5:4, Jesus asked Simon Peter to launch out into the deep again, and let down his nets for a catch. Simon was a little apprehensive at first as he had toiled whole night without results, and who is this ‘man’ asking him to go back to the sea again. Nevertheless, he obliged. Guess what? This time, he caught a great number of fish, and the net was about to break! Simon even had to ask his partners in the other boat to come and help. Now when Simon Peter saw this goodness of God, he was astonished and fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ But Jesus answered, ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.’ Simon found and experienced God’s love, goodness, grace, and even destiny in life. He forsook all, and followed Jesus from then on.
So, from an uneducated, rough and probably foul-mouthed fisherman who was a failure, God’s goodness changed his life that day. It led him to true repentance. He confessed being a sinner (Luke 5:8). There was a change in his heart and mind. He suddenly realized how much God loved him, and how good God has been to him. He probably might have thought otherwise before that. But now he has experienced the goodness of God that changed his life forever. This is true repentance, my friend.
Simon Peter went on to become a key disciple of Jesus, and later in Acts 2:14, he preached a sermon under the power of the Holy Spirit where 3,000 souls were saved that day, and the church was birthed forth.
Friends, it is God’s love and goodness that really leads to true repentance, not judgmental preaching and message that is based on fear, or religious law that tries to change us in the outside. We are talking about true repentance from the heart, the inner change. God is not an angry God looking around and hunting for your sins, waiting to punish you. In fact, your sins have already been punished when Jesus died on the cross, once and for all (Romans 6:10). Your sins have already been judged on the cross. So now, believers, rest assured that you are not punished anymore. Believe He is always good to you. Receive His goodness today!
