The heart of the gospel is here, the intent of the gospel is here, the need for the gospel is here... God loves us, but sadly, that doesn’t awe us as it should because we love us too and think that God is right for doing so. Therein lies both the need, and the hopeful promise of the gospel. This fact is plainly evidenced in the everyday me-centric tilt of our lives, of our minds of our souls. It destroys our relationships, our prospects, our families, our society… but the greatest tragedy of this bent is the absolute dishonor it does to the love of the God who sent His only begotten Son to make the only possible way for us to be rightly related to Him. To read this passage of scripture and think "wow, I must be pretty great for God to want me that much" only displays the truth that we are worse than ruined. It is an absolute travesty to declare that our choices, our desires, our feeble selfish wills are the cause of our salvation… we, if left to ourselves, love ONLY ourselves. There is no part of us that is free from this narcissism, no part of us that thinks of the beauty and wonder of knowing God, of serving God, of loving God; rather, all value we ascribe is filtered by our mind to be value added TO US. If it doesn’t bring that thing which I desire, "then obviously", we chant, "it doesn’t bring value." But nothing could be further from the truth. For here we see the clear truth of scripture that we stand condemned and deserving of death already BECAUSE we have not cried out to God for the mercy found in Christ. God does not need to condemn us, we are condemned just by BEING us… but in His mercy He gave us Jesus so that we could become more than we ever were, so that we could become sons and daughters of the most High God. Oh my beloved, without His mercy you cannot even see your need; I beg you, beg, plead, cry out for the grace to believe, and be converted.