“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out.” Romans 11:33
Dear Ones:
What kind of God, almighty and sovereign, everlasting, unchanging, without beginning or end, holy in every aspect of His being, give, as the greatest commandment, above all else, to LOVE? In seeking to answer this question, we must ask ourselves another more specific one: What is the very unchanging, powerful essence of God’s holy nature? Again, we see it revealed to us in His call to His creation, the call to LOVE. Marvel of marvels, this God then commands us, not only to love HIM with all of our hearts, but to LOVE our neighbor. WHY? The answer is very simple, as the Apostle John tells us in his first epistle: “God IS love.” (1 John 4:7) The greatest expression of the essence of the nature, character, and Person of God, is a love that is NOT of this world. God’s attributes of wisdom, power, goodness and faithfulness are seen in creation. But that which Paul calls, “…the more excellent way,” reveals to us that the “greatest of these” IS love. We know from Scripture that, “…for God so loved, that He gave His only begotten Son…” to suffer, and die for us, that we might know LIFE eternally. In light of this, we might ask the question: How is it that Almighty God, separate from sin, perfect and glorious, could give His perfect and beloved Son to step into time, come to this earth, and allow Him to be nailed to the tree, a cross by those He came to save? Again, though the answer is incomprehensible, it is simple: God IS love, and He cannot deny, or be anything else than, what He is. What then are the characteristics of this LOVE? And, how much do we truly KNOW the love of God, and show forth that love?
First of all, we know that one of the great characteristics of love is that it GIVES, and gives again. Indeed, true love never ceases to give. But in order to “GIVE” light, truth, and life” to this earth, Christ had to cross the barriers of time, the effects of the curse, ignorance, rejection, misunderstanding, even hatred, in order to reveal the heart of God. His descent to this earth, after laying aside the glory which He shared with the Father in heaven, before the world was, was shrouded in simplicity, quietness, yet power. He sidesteps the pride and prejudices of men, the pitfall of false worth and glory, to lower Himself in the eyes of men, where He could truthfully say: “Come unto Me, ALL ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I AM meek, and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29)
The second thing we need to see concerning this love is that there is NO limit to which it will go to demonstrate that love to the one loved. It is a love that goes out into the mountains ALONE, leaving the fold of many sheep, to seek the single beloved sheep that is lost. No danger, nor fatigue, no “loss” of time and effort is spared in seeking that which is loved, that which is lost. Love will NOT be deterred.
Lastly, this love in its offering, has for its object, to provide a perfect blessing and end. It does not deal much with lesser things, though He provides for our individual needs. His supreme blessing is the primacy of His LIFE, eternal Life. Love always envisages that which is the highest, and most blessed, for its object. It is for this reason that the objective of love is primarily that we KNOW it in its fullness, and secondly, that the blessings associated with that love, are fully revealed and known, beginning here on earth, and fully in heaven.
Dear Father, and Lord Jesus, who art our Love, open our eyes to understand the very nature of God, and our union with Thee. Because we have received such an anointing, that of the Spirit of love, give us to so abide in Thee Lord Jesus, that the Love which You knew on this earth, will be revealed in and through us. Then, the world will know that Thou art God, and we are Yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad