What is the most convincing love relationship you have ever been involved in? How constant was it? How stable was it? Did it prick your heart and rub you wrongly at times? What are the most significant heart wounds you carry today? Do you think you will ever rise above those things? Many of us are weighed down by such realities that it is hard or impossible to imagine knowing an unshakable and secure love.
The most fundamental of all the duties we may undertake in our brief sojourn here on earth is loving God. But who can love God truly and fully? In fact, what is love in the first place? Our world has a broken understanding of love because of what we see on social media and movies or live in our homes. For us to receive the call to love a perfectly holy God from our imperfect hearts, we need to go back to the One who is love; to God himself. He who began everything has already provided us with all we need to do his goodwill. So, how can a wretch like me love a holy God? We are able to love God not because of our inherent ability but because of his kind providence.
Scripture reminds us that we love God because he first loved us (1 John 4:10, 1 John 4:19). We have no other basis for loving him. Therefore, we can safely presume that if he gives us the capacity to love, then he must love us in the first place. Jesus—God the Son—loves us!
How Has God Loved Us?
We all have an idea of God’s love on a grand scale, as we have been taught. Jesus said, while talking to Nicodemus in John 3:16, that God loved the world. The word ‘so’, in the verse, is used as an adjective to indicate the extent of this love of God toward men. It is a deep love—as many hymn writers have tried to capture it, “O, the deep, deep love of Jesus.” But God’s love is not just general. Let us see how God loved us, more practically.
Personally
We sing the song “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” But have you ever let that soak in? He doesn’t just love you; he loves you personally. He has picked you up out of the crowd and loved you as an individual.
An example in Scripture is in how he chose the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). God approaches him on personal terms. He tells Jeremiah that he chose him while in his mother’s womb. Before he could walk, talk, or even think, God already had extended personal love to Jeremiah. Jeremiah started in ministry not because he had managed to love God but because he was a recipient of the personal love of God. As a reminder, the psalmist tells us how personal this love of God is toward us (Psalm 139:13–14)—it is from as far as the weaving in the womb. That is, indeed, a personal love.
God showed his affection and expressed his intention from the get-go. He does not want to relate to us by proxy or using human conduits. God, here, is telling you as a person—I LOVE YOU! It does not matter how unlovable others consider you—I LOVE YOU! It does not matter how many times the world has written you off—I LOVE YOU PERSONALLY!
This heavy reality hits Paul as he writes to the Church of Ephesus. He bursts out in prayer for them, having nothing but a desire for these men and women—young and old alike—to know God’s immeasurable, personal love toward them (Ephesians 3:14–19). He knows and cares for you deeply, as an individual, not collectively. He wants you to understand how he genuinely loves you. God loves… (insert your name).
One stanza of the old hymn ‘Jesus loves me this I know’ says, “Jesus loves me still today, walking with me on my way, wanting as a friend to give light and love to all who live.”
Do you know this at a personal level, or are you still trying to ask him to love you like he loves your mom, dad, siblings, and friends? God loves you personally—uniquely so—and he cannot fail to find the best way to show it to you.
Patiently
It is indeed good news to know that the King of Glory—high and exalted in majesty, grandeur, and honour—loves me personally. It is better news to see how that love was expressed to us. He went out of his way to make sure that you and I have an opportunity to know him through the sacrificial, brutal, heart-wrenching, heart-rending, yet life-giving death of his Son, Jesus Christ.
In a more simplified way, Jesus has loved us patiently by showing us mercy. That means withholding the wrath due to my sin. He has not given me what I deserve. As James says, mercy silences the pounding and drowning voice of judgment (James 2:13).
But why is the concept of the mercy of God a thing to relish for the believer and unbeliever alike? Because it stems from this root—the holiness of God. Reverend Marvin once put it in this manner, “To realize how unreachable, untouchable and unachievable the holiness of God is to a miserable man is what makes us thank God for mercy.” For, in withholding his wrath through Christ Jesus, God has made it possible for sinners to access his holiness. God has loved us mercifully (1 Peter 1:3).
Sacrificially
Sacrifice means that the action done is not out of mandatory expectation, neither is it a response for merit. God is giving me what I could never earn by extending his grace. There is no soul alive today that can claim entitlement before God. All we have has been given to us courtesy of God’s kindness and grace. We never deserved life, eternity, hope, peace, rest, and all the privileges of God, but we have received them in Christ (2 Timothy 1:8–9, Romans 6:23).
The emphasis is that even our salvation is not because we deserve it (not even because we chose God), but because God in Christ has extended it to us. He says it is not by works. The believer cannot boast in their reception of salvation because it is not by their work, neither can the unbeliever dismiss themselves from this precious gift because of their works.
The sacrificial love of God toward us (individually) is solely founded on his mercy and grace. Where God’s mercy is, therein is God’s grace. For when God withholds from us his wrath, he offers his grace. Therefore, scripture reminds us that we have a High priest who can relate with us (Hebrews 4:15–16), who is Jesus, the Christ.
God sent his Son, who took upon himself the form of man (Philippians 2) and died a shameful death on the cross. Had Jesus not gone through the suffering he went through, had he not died on the cross, had he not overcome death and the grave, then all of us would have suffocated, died and decayed in our sins. But God loved us sacrificially, even to save us from our sorry state! Have you received this tremendous sacrificial love?
Eternally
Finally, God has loved us eternally; a love that is everlasting and knows no end (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s eternal love to us manifests in the following ways.
A Faithful Love
God’s promises are built upon his dedication to his people. Although their sins are many, God’s compassion all the more increases. God said these words to unfaithful—and even faithless—Israel, just as many of us—unfaithful and faithless. God has remained steadfast to his commitment to love. An everlasting love is an enduring love, notwithstanding the recipient’s unfaithfulness.
An Incessant Love
God’s is ongoing without end. Each of the Gospels records the falling away of the eleven disciples (Matthew 26:47-56). Here, we observe the stellar ongoing nature of God’s love for them. Jesus’ commitment to them went beyond their performance, for his love and promises were based on his choice appointed beforehand in eternity, not upon our works or virtue. We are continuously evil, yet God remains faithful, loving us incessantly (Romans 9:15–16)!
An Immutable Love
Everlasting love is an all-powerful love. For it to be an ongoing love, love must be more powerful than the dark forces about it trying to snuff it out. Scripture says, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5). For God’s love to be everlasting and unconditional, it must be thoroughly able to overcome all the challenges it would face. And it is!
God has not loved us because we have proven to be lovable. He hasn’t even loved us partially—that he will kick us out whenever we fall short of his glory! That is why we sing, ‘He will hold me fast’. Jesus assured that not one of his sheep would be snatched from his hand (John 10:28). Love is his nature. He is a personal God who loves us personally. He is a selfless and benevolent God who loves us sacrificially. He is an eternal God who loves us eternally! Jesus loves you, and this you should always know—for the Bible tells us so!