April 26 The God of Love

April 26

The God of Love

Yesterday we thought about the God of Hate. Today we will look at another attribute of God. His great love.

Now where do we go to find a way to express the love God.  Nature will not reveal it. We may marvel at some fantastic natural scene, and understand there must have been a creator, but it does not translate into love for us. We can look into the heavens and wonder at the magnitude of the universe. How many stars are there? How far does space go? How did it all get there? But while we are overcome with the immensity and mystery of space and the stars they give us no clue that He who designed the Cosmos has any feelings for those who dwell on this small planet on the outer fringe of the milky way.

As far as I know there are only two places that can give us any clue that God is a God of Love. The first is in the Bible.

2Co 13:11 ¶ Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Here we find the phrase the God of Love.

In 1 John 4:8 and 4:16 the scriptures tell us “God is Love” and in 13 other scriptures we find the phrase Love of God.

But what is this love of God. How do we weigh it, measure it or otherwise quantify something so immense, so far beyond anything we can comprehend.

Since it is beyond our comprehension we need some examples or comparisons. When I was a kid I loved cotton candy. Now I love to take naps. Maybe God’s love is sort of like that?  Oh dear, what a sorry comparison. Ok, think of the thing in this world that you love the most. Nope, God’s love is way beyond anything we can understand. It is in fact incomprehensible. The song writer said it well.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
  And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
  And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
  Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
  Though stretched from sky to sky.

OK let’s try explaining it another way. What evidence is there that God is Love?  It may sound simplistic but I think John 3:16 is one of the best proofs of the love of God.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Can you explain what kind of love that is? Neither can I.

Here is another example of love in action.

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross

That is a powerful example of God’s love in action.  

1Jo 4:16 And we have known and believed the love

that God hath to us. God is love…

It is a wonderful verse but I still cannot find the words to describe the Love of God. OK here are some more verses. Maybe they will help.

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

This verse helps. Here we see that God loved us. Then we are given something we can sort of understand, that He sent His son to take our place and pay our sin debt.  On second thought I cannot get my puny brain around that kind of love either.  

1Jo 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God,

because he laid down his life for us:

Once again there is a link between God’s love and sending his Son to lay down His life for us. There are a multitude of verses that connect God’s love and Christ’s redeeming work on Calvary.  The Bible explains how we can appreciate God’s love more than we do now.

1Jo 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world…

Yes, I think I finally get it. The proof of God’s love is that he sent Christ to provide a way for sinful and imperfect man to have full fellowship with a Holy God. Christ came to take our place, pay our sin debt and give us his righteousness. Now if that does not demonstrate that God is Love then I don’t know what would.

The Scriptures are filled with the ways God has shown his love. His longsuffering nature is due to His love and His “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  (2Pe 3:9)

Earlier I mentioned there were two places, or ways that we could get a glimpse of the great love “wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Eph 1:6)  We have barely scratched the surface of all that the Bible says and demonstrates about the God of Love.

But there is a second way we may know the love of God experientially. The Holy Spirit that indwells us bears witness to the love of God.

Ro 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,

that we are the children of God:

Those of us who have accepted Christ as our personal Savior have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. What an example of the abiding love of God. Christ said “the comforter” would come, and so He has.

If by chance you are reading this and do not know how to be saved, “Born Again” please leave a comment with some way for me to contact you. Or go to a Bible preaching church and ask someone there how you can receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.  

If you do not know Christ then you will know nothing of the Love of God. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest example of the Love of God. The Holy Spirit is the indwelling confirmation of God’s love.

Our meditation for the day is to dwell on the Love of God to us. Let us look for examples of His love in our lives today. Let us be joyful and thankful that we are the recipients of such an inexpressible kind of love. Then let us be double happy that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Ro 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.