John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down His life for His friends."

I just wanted to share with all of you what Ray's thought was to yesterday's question. The question was..Do we want God to stop pruning in our own lives? Ray said that he was thankful that God's pruning shears are coated with grace!

John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down His life for His friends."
The greatest honor that a king or noble lord can do a poor servant, is to treat him as a friend, especially if in public and in quiet alike, it is seen to be genuine. That is how it is with the Lord Jesus and ourselves. The Lord Jesus, the KING of the universe, who is the most supreme, mighty, noble and worthy of all, also became the most lowly, humble, giving and caring of all..enough so, that He would lay down His life for His friends. No one TOOK His life. He GAVE it.
Today, we remember that sacrifice. We remember that scarcely would any of us lay down our lives for a friend, a loved one, and especially not for someone that in our minds, didn't live up to certain "standards"..but Romans 5:8 says, "But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were YET sinners, Christ died for us." The greatest gift that Christ could have ever given to you and to me was His life. He laid down His life so that our sins could be forgiven..but there is so much more....because of His sacrifice, we are now free from guilt and condemnation, free to enjoy peace and joy, He came to take on our sins, so that we could take on His righteousness. He made a way for us to one day spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Today we remember His sacrifice..the laying down of His life..for you..for me...but I also want us all to remember His resurrection.
Christ's resurrection is the cornerstone of the entire building of Christianity. It is the keystone of the arch of our salvation...and though at this point, .. we cannot see Him visibly, we CAN see Him by the eye of faith...and though we may not yet touch Him, we do have the privilege of conversing with Him in prayer, and to KNOW that He is risen... that we ourselves have been risen in Him to newness of life! To know a crucified Savior as having been crucified for all our sins is a high degree of knowledge; but to know a RISEN Savior as having justified us, and to realize that He has bestowed upon us new life, making us new creatures in Him, now changes any type of head knowledge, into heart wisdom.
May each and every one of you today both "know Him and the power of His resurrection"..Why should souls who have been quickened with Jesus wear the grave clothes of worldliness and unbelief? Rise, child of God, for the Lord IS risen!