“…I have called you friends,”-{John 15:15.}
God’s friendship with you is based solely on His Sovereign love for you.
It is a love wholly independent of all other influences but His own. You didn’t earn it, inherit it, deserve it, but were freely of His own choice bestowed it. But at great personal cost, the blood of His dear Son, Jesus. God sent Him into the world so that the world would not be condemned for it’s sin and die in their sin but be rescued from the eternal danger of the wrath of God! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the ]only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” – {John 3:16-20 }.
God sent Jesus to save, rescue, deliver you from… GOD! “The WRATH OF GOD is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”- {Rom 1:18-21}. For the wrath of God abides upon all people, for all have sinned against Him, and the soul that sins shall surely die in their sin. It is a settled conviction and state. We in and of ourselves were spiritually dead in sin without the capacity to love God, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”- {Ephesians 2:4-6}.
Today and eternally so, you are a Friend of God, this is a title He has bestowed upon you, a permanent relationship He has brought you into,” “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and]e exult in hope of the glory of God.”-{Romans 5:1-2}.
You are who He says you are, not based on your feelings but on His irrevocable choice of you because of the SACRIFICE OF His Beloved Son. Amazing grace, mercy, love. His DECLARATION of love for you, is in His Word! God’s DETERMINATION to love you took place before the foundation of the world! God’s DEMONSTRATION of His love was the cross. His is an everlasting love, “I have loved you with an everlasting love and drawn you with loving kindness.” -{Jer 31:3}. How long is everlasting? Lasting For Ever! So is His love for you, His “friend.” There is no limit, no expiration day, “Friends forever!”
The word “Friends,” is the Greek word, “Phileo,” speaks of “esteem, high regard, tender affections” for another.
It is a term of endearment, a warm tender heartfelt affection for you. He “likes you!” A relationship of intimacy and warm tender eternal affection for you!
In response, not out of trying to appease Him, for that would be to insult His Son’s Cross, but out of gratitude as you and I slowly grow more in the realization of His love, the cost, the cross, the choice despite our inward spiritual corruption, we can choose to express the response of friendship to Him. He said, “You are My friends if you do what I command you.”-{John 15:14}. Obedience is not that we attain friendship but an evidence of friendship. We don’t obey to be His friends but we choose to obey because He has made us His friends, we love Him because He first loved us. {1 John 4:19}. Obedience is an expression of love for Him. His Love has freed us from the power and dominion of sin as master over us and liberated through the work of Christ for us are free to obey. His love not only motivated but empowers us. {Read Gal 2:20}.He has saved us and empowered us by His Spirit, so that we are free to choose to express love to Him.{Read Phil 2:13 NLT}
He is a loving, faithful Friend, who set His love upon you before the world began, knowing all about you, and sent His Son to take care of the sin issue between you and Him and has made you can called you…”friend!” You are who and what He says of you. God calls you, “…friend!”
It is not based on your performance but solely on His choice of you through the work of His Son, His performance alone! His tender affection towards you, He likes you and calls you His “Friend”
God’ Calls You His “Friend!”