Feasting on The Love of God
Today I want us to consider the love of God. In these times, I think it would be fair to say that this might come into question, as suffering and death are all we hear about during the circumstances we find ourselves in. So, let's offer up a proper perspective on the love of God this morning that hopefully will rightly guide us thru these times and those to come.
Look at 1 John 4:8, 16. God is love. This is one of the most lovely, most quoted, yet most misunderstood phrases or truths in the Bible. It is necessary to offer a few points about this truth and then hopefully define God's love for us so we can rightly walk in this glorious truth.
To do this, look with me at Romans 5:5. It tells us that the love of God has been "poured out" within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Couple of truths about this for consideration:
The word "poured" here offers the picture of something being dumped out in large quantity. It can mean to be inundated with something. This is an overwhelming act.
The verb here is in the perfect tense, which means this is settled and completed. Continuous, never changing. Always. Dependable. We ought to abide in this truth of God's love for us even now.
This understanding of the vast love of God is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. God's love is a revelation of who He is, His nature, and the Spirit teaches and reveals this to us.
With that, comes the following truths that need to be understood regarding God's love and God being love.
God's love is an exercise of His goodness. It shows how gracious and generous He is. This is His nature. He is a loving God. This is 1 John 4 stuff.
God's love is an exercise of His goodness towards sinners. By this, it means that it is an act of grace and mercy, undeserved. Actually it is contrary to what is deserved. This is Romans 5:8-10. This should stagger us, the fact that God loves us as He does in spite of our sinfulness. That He would offer Jesus up for us as a sin offering. There was nothing in us that prompted, attracted, or warranted this. God chose to love us in spite of us.
God's love is an exercise of His goodness towards individual sinners. Meaning, God's love is not some vague, generic, impersonal, nondescript love. See 2 Thess. 2:13. God chose to set His affection towards you and offer forgiveness and salvation to you. Contemplate the awesomeness of that.
God's love to sinners involves His identifying Himself with their welfare. God was happy without humans before they were made. God would have remained happy had He simply destroyed them all due sin. And yet He chose to make a way for their redemption. Contemplate the amazement and wonder of this. That God has bound His glory up in our salvation. By free and voluntary choice. God saves for His glory and our joy. Bound together. See Luke 15:10 and Jude 24.
God's love toward sinners was expressed by the gift of Jesus as Savior. See Eph. 2:4; 3:19. See Romans 8:32. Why would we ever doubt God's love given what He gave as an expression of that love - Jesus. See 1 John 4:9-10. Again, Jesus is proof of God's love - seen by how much He gave. John 3:16 as well proves this. Gal. 2:20. Meditate on these verses today and let them feed your soul forever that we would never doubt God's great love.
Do you truly grasp the extent of God's love for you today? If so, then why do we grumble and show discontent and resentment over our circumstances that God has placed us in or allowed us to walk? Why do we fear? Why do we allow ourselves to so often doubt this very attribute of God when things go astray? Why do we so often allow our loyalties to be divided?
Feast on the love of God this morning. And then, love others the same, see 1 John 4;11. This shows we truly grasp God's love.
God's love is an exercise of His goodness. It shows how gracious and generous He is. This is His nature. He is a loving God.
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