God Is Love 1 John 4:8.
I spent the first part of my morning on the couch watching as
one of my heroes of the faith was laid
to rest. The legacy of this General will stay with me forever. Though I rejoice
that he has received his heavenly reward, my heart broke when he passed. Many spoke
and shared touching stories of how this great man of God touched their lives. Tears
fell hard as I listened to the
daughter who returned home in her fallenness and brokenness to find her
father waiting for her with loving arms open wide. The unconditional love of
a father. Her father was not God, but he showed her that day who God is and
how He loves the broken-hearted. The
prodigal son jumps off the page of
the Holy Writ and into my heart.
Scripture tells us three things concerning the nature of
God; He is spirit {Jn.
4:24}, He is light {1
Jn. 1:5}, and He is love {1
Jn. 4:8}. God does not simply love us, He is Love. Love is not one of His attributes, but His very nature.[1] Oh if only we had a full
grasp on the love of God! The more we experience and understand His love—its
character, fullness, blessedness—the more
our hearts will be drawn out in love to Him.
I am so thankful for His love. I cannot fathom how He can
possibly love me, yet He does. His love is unchanging and it cannot be
influenced by anyone or anything. I cannot cause Him to love me more and I can’t
do anything to make Him love me less. His love is free, spontaneous, and
uncaused. He loves me when I am loveless.
God is eternal which
means He has no beginning; His love is eternal. I cannot wrap my finite mind
around His love for me—I am but dust. I am undone.
“I
have loved you with an everlasting love;Therefore I have drawn you
with lovingkindness”{Jer.
31: 3 NASB}.
From eternity God set His heart upon His people. Everything
about God is infinite. His essence fills heaven and earth. He knows all and
sees all. He is all-powerful—nothing is
too hard for Him. His love is without limit, it cannot be fathomed, it cannot
be measured.
God’s love is one of the grandest themes in all of
Scripture.[2] The Bible is God’s story of
love for all creatures. The
Preacher’s daughter spoke of being comforted in her father’s arms in the
midst of her darkness—her brokenness. This is a beautiful picture of our
heavenly Father and His love for us. God’s love means
that God eternally gives of Himself to others.[3] It is part of His nature to
give of Himself in order to bring about good to His people.
His love was evident at creation in the Trinity. Jesus speaks to this truth in John’s gospel in one of the most beautiful prayers ever spoken—His High Priestly Prayer:
“Father, I desire
that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so
that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me
before the foundation of the world” (Jn. 17:24
NASB emphasis by author). God loved and honored Him from all eternity. The Beloved
Disciple wants us to know this truth, “The
Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand”{3:35
NASB}. The love between the Father and Son also presumably characterizes their relationship with the Holy
Spirit even though it is not explicitly mentioned.[4] This eternal love of the
Father for the Son and both for the Holy
Spirit demonstrates that the Trinity seeks to bring joy and happiness to each
other and to us as well. The Trinity’s self-giving
love is expressed in God’s relationship to mankind. He loves sinners which is
why He sent His Son to redeem everyone who will accept this precious gift of grace.
“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” {Jn.3:16
NASB}
“But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us” {Rom.
5:8 NASB}.
“I have been crucified
with Christ; and it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself up for me” {Gal.
2:20 NASB}.
Christ loves sinners. He loves all people. He came
and died for all mankind—because of His love for us. His love drove Him to the
cross. It is unfathomable to me that God set
his love on us and that He longs to bring us true joy and happiness. It doesn’t
mean that we will have a trouble-free life, but He is working all things for our good {Rom.
8:28}and His love for us is eternal.
God’s love is so amazing and it is even more profound that
we can and should return our love to Him:
“And He said to him, ‘You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment”
{Matt.
22:37-38 NASB}.
The way we demonstrate our love for God is by obeying His
commandments. Just as God has bestowed His love on us, we can pour out our love
on Him by living a life of obedience, living a life of worship and prayer, and
by doing so, we bring joy to His heart.
“The Lord your God
is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you
with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with
shouts of joy.” {Zep. 3:17
NASB}.
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[1]
A.W. Pink, The Attributes Of God (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1975), 77.
[2]
John S. Feinberg, No One Like Him (Wheaton: Crossway, 2001), 349.
[3]
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 199.
[4]
Ibid.
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