Judge God's Love Based on the Cross

How do you know that God loves you? Do you base His love on how you feel? Or what you think? Such proof is weak tea at best:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2: 14)

and

"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Galatians 5: 17)

Since our flesh cannot understand things of the spirit, and it is the Holy Spirit who quickens and grants us Christ in us, we must receive this through the Spirit.

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. " (Romans 8: 16-17)

Now, how do we access the Spirit within us?:

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6: 63)

We receive the Truth through His Word! And what does God say about His love for us?

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 10)

Jesus is -- right now -- our propitiation, our mercy seat, whose blood continues to cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7) Jesus now sits in highest honor at the right of the Father, still serving us:

"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8: 34)

Yet we must accept these truths by faith, the evidence of thus unseen verities, based on His Word, not our thoughts, which must be renewed and brought into captivity to obedience of Christ. We certainly do not trust our feelings, which are changing and unreliable, and ultimately respond to what we think.

We judge God's love for us based on the Cross:

"Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 15-17)

Our identity is in Christ, as we access this grace through faith in Him as revealed in His Word.