“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory
I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:5)
We will never fully understand the extent of the sacrifice
God made in the gospel without understanding the immensity of the love/bond
that existed within the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—from all
eternity.
When Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have
You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46b) that was the greatest demonstration of love to
have ever taken place. The Triune God willingly endured such cruel and violent
separation for our sakes in the central event of all history, the cross.
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| Making Incense Sticks |
G.K. Chesterton called this the “furious love of God.” I
believe the hardest thing in the world for human beings to believe is that God
loves us this much, enough to endure the break-up of the Trinity, in order that
we could be reconciled to Him.
The Christian life begins with the love of God. Throughout
his writings the Apostle John was moved to refer to himself as “the disciple
whom Jesus loved.”
We all have a love; a need that can only be met by the unfaltering,
unchangeable love of God. Our deepest emotional and spiritual needs are never
met by material things, prestige or power, exhilarating experiences, beauty, or
human love. All of our human desires and longings are only symptoms of our need
for Him. Psalm 42:1 expresses this need, “As the deer pants for streams of
water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” He Himself is the Bread of Life and
the Water of Life.
When we are gripped by the love of God, He frees us from
being emotionally and spiritually crippled. When we realize how we are loved,
then we can stop loving ourselves and start loving others. He enables us to
become dispensers of love rather than consumers of love. We are able to love
others, even our enemies. When old age, life-threatening illness, or danger
threatens us, we can look with confidence to God’s loving promise of eternal
life with Him.
The love of God gives us purpose. The purpose for our lives
grows out of His love. He liberates us from self love. Our love relationship
with God rules our relationships with others. He enables us to begin to love
unlovable sinners as He loves us. When we are angry, depressed, struggling,
feeling insecure, we can bring these things to Him. He cares about every aspect
of our lives. When our sins and fears are petty and downright embarrassing, we
can come clean with Him. He is the Sinner’s Friend.
I believe He wants to see our lives, like John’s, stuck on
one theme: the unfailing and limitless love of God.
--Russ Sharrock
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“God’s love is
incomprehensible, unchangeable. It was not after we were reconciled to Him
through the blood of His Son that He began to love us. Rather, He has loved us
before the world was created; that we also might be among His sons . . . He
loved us even when He hated us. This is the wonder of grace! He loved what He
could not love.” –Augustine
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