As many prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we think
about romantic love, and the joy of committing our lives to our beloved and
anticipating the same in return. But true love is not reserved for one day a
year, but should be in our hearts continually, regardless of the circumstances.
Many couples began their marriage by promising to love one another for better
or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until parted by death.
Most of us believe that we love our spouse, children, and
family deeply, as they do us. We hope that should the need arise, we would
sacrifice anything for their good – even our life if circumstances demanded it.
But we pray to God that we would never have to find out whether our love or
theirs would meet that standard.
In contrast, God’s love is infinite, which means He can’t
love us any more than He already does, nor could He love us any less. What a
relief to know that we don’t need to work at earning His love, for we are saved
by His grace through our faith (Ephesians 3:8-9) in the death,
burial and resurrection of His son (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the
only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).
And similarly, we don’t need to walk on eggshells for fear
of losing His love when we sin, for if we confess our sins, He forgives us (1
John 1:9). Infinity plus anything, or infinity minus anything, is still
infinity.
We can’t begin to wrap our heads around the concept of how
much God loves us. God Himself is Love (1 John 4:8). He loved us
so much that He gave Jesus, His only begotten Son, to suffer and die in our place (John 3:16) so that those who trust Him would live forever.
Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God, loved us so much
that He willingly died for us on the cross to pay the sin debt we could not
begin to repay. He loved His earthly mother Mary so much that in the midst of
His agony, He arranged for His beloved disciple John to take care of her for
the rest of her life (John 19:26-27). He loved those who
crucified Him so much that He asked His Father to forgive them (Luke 23:34).
On the cross, Jesus was covered in blood, oozing wounds,
sweat and tears, devoid of physical beauty, His human body brutally disfigured beyond
recognition (Isaiah 53:2). Not the lovely, frilly sentimentality of a
Valentine, but the gut-wrenching, all-consuming fire of self-sacrificing love
that knows no bounds.
His death satisfied the demands of God the Father, Who is
perfectly holy and just, while His resurrection allowed all who trust Him to
live forever with Him in Heaven. How can we begin to comprehend that God
Himself, Creator of all, Love incarnate, loved us, regardless of how much or
even whether we loved Him? (1 John 4:9)
God has loved each of us since before the beginning of
time. He has loved us even while we were His enemies and children of the devil
(Romans 5:8). But once we are saved, we become God’s children and
friends, and God then loves us as members of His own family (Matthew 12:
49-50).
Because God is Love, His love enters our heart along with
the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (1 John 4: 16). His
love in our heart replaces not only hate, but also fear that keeps us from
sharing His love and His Word with others. We love him, because he first loved
us (1 John 4:17-19).
As humans, we experience different kinds of love. We may
say “I love chocolate!” but that means a craving, preference or desire – not
actual love. There are three Greek words for love. “Eros” means physical
or sexual attraction. “Phileo” means brotherly love, or love that we
have for our family, friends and like-minded people. Generally this type of
love means that we have expectations of the ones we love – we treat them well,
and we hope they treat us well in return.
But the Biblical word for God’s love is “agape,”
which means self-sacrificing love.
The apostle Peter boasted that he would follow Christ even
to the death, but when Jesus was arrested and crucified, Peter denied Him three
times. But Jesus, because of His infinite love, not only forgave him but gave
Peter three opportunities to express his love to Christ once He rose again.
Three times He asked Peter, “Do you love me?” using the word “agape,” or
self-sacrificing love. But each time Peter replied, he used the word “phileo,”
or brotherly love (John 21:15-17).
Jesus told Peter that if he indeed loved Him, he should
feed His sheep. If we love Christ, we can show it and please Him by sharing His
love and His Word with others.
God loves us unconditionally, not in exchange for anything
we could give us, because He needs nothing from us (Psalm 50:10).
He loves us even when we sin or rebel against Him. His mercy spares us from the
punishment our sins deserve, and His grace gives us blessings we don’t deserve
(Romans 5:20-21)
Not only does God love us infinitely and unconditionally – He
loves us eternally. He has loved us since before the beginning of time, when He
conceived a special and perfect plan for each of us who would become His
children (Ephesians 2:10; Jeremiah 29:11).
He loves us throughout our lifetime, saving us through His
mercy while we were still sinners, and allowing us to sit in heavenly places
with Him once we are saved. God will love us forever, “that in the ages to
come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2: 4-7).
The love of Christ, shown to us in His mercy and grace,
lasts forever. Each of the 26 verses of Psalm 136 ends with “for
his mercy endureth for ever.” It’s as if God really wants to emphasize that
He will love us throughout eternity!
Once we are born again, God gives us eternal life in Heaven
and promises to give us glorified bodies at the Rapture, so that we will live
with Him and experience His perfect love, joy and peace forever. Once we are
truly saved by making a heart decision to follow Christ, we can never lose our
salvation nor God’s love (Romans 8:39).
In 1 Corinthians 13, known as the “love
chapter,” the apostle Paul describes the attributes of perfect, divine love. It
is patient, kind, long-suffering. It is not envious, rude, proud, self-serving,
or easily provoked. It “rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
Paul goes on to say that of faith, hope, love, the greatest
of these is love. Why? Because in Heaven, we will no longer need faith, for our
faith will have become sight. We will no longer need hope, for our hope of the
Rapture, glorified bodies, and eternal life with Jesus Christ and our loved ones
in Him will have been realized.
But love? Praise God, we will experience His infinite,
unconditional love throughout eternity!
Laurie Collett
