“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over thee with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Dear Ones:
The aforementioned verse in the book of Zephaniah is one of the most beautiful ones in the Bible, depicting, and giving to mankind a slight glimpse into the heart of God. When Jesus used the illustration of the shepherd who left his ninety-nine sheep in the “shelter of the fold,” to go out into the mountains to seek the one sheep that was lost, He was speaking of the value, the love that he placed in that sheep. It is difficult for us to understand how a shepherd could love sheep, especially just one. Jesus would go further in His illustration of sheep by saying: “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I MUST bring.” (Jn. 10:16) Here is Christ, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, God made flesh dwelling among us, being willing to go to a cross, and “bear all ill for me.” How is it that the Eternal Shepherd, much less a normal shepherd, would be interested in sheep, to save the lost, protect and provide for them, so that they might live? The answer is at the same time very simple, and infinitely complex and beyond what we can grasp. It is love, but a love that is not of this world. Its true essence and application is in God, in Christ. The enormity and power of it is revealed, not only by the slain Lamb of God on Calvary, but by the witness of the Spirit to our own, as we seek God in His word. It is by that vision of Christ, and the revelation of God in the Word, that we begin to understand this love of God. In the words of Zephaniah, we begin to catch a glimpse of that which we cannot understand fully.
The first thing that we discover is the revelation of Who God truly is, and where He is. The strength and power of the vision and revelation of Christ is enforced, and multiplied, by the identity of God: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.” (Zeph. 3:17) How does the revelation of the Christ’s authority, and the almighty power of God, magnify the consideration of the love of God? It is in that vision that we begin to see, as the Apostle Paul wrote: “…the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,…” of this love of Christ. This One who is mighty, and entirely willing to save us all, is that One whose love defies the limits that man’s comprehension would try to put upon Him, our concepts falling so very short of the absolute truth. But it is, as the vision of the greatness and wonder of Christ grows larger, that we begin to see that this love is limitless and powerful. In the total commitment of God to do good to the sinner, because of the exercise of His power and authority, God reveals that love so that man might know and live it. So, what is the magnitude of the love of God, and how much of that love can be known by the believer?
The answer brings us face to face with a truth revealed in the verse in Zephaniah. He writes: “He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will REST in His love.” The word, “rest,” literally means, “be silent.” The word proclaims that this is, “…a love too great for words.” The love of God is as great as the world, for which Christ died. The extent that the believer can know such love depends upon his faith in God. Paul gives us a pattern for prayer, and a means to faith, by praying that the believer “…be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by FAITH.” (Eph. 3:16,17) God gives power to know His love.
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see Christ as our love, and the means to love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad