God Is Love!

I think I mentioned we are studying the Book of John in my current small group.  What I’ve leaved during the study is that the entire book is a declaration of God’s love for us.  Yes, it is one of the Gospels telling the story of Jesus’s life and His sacrifice and the good news of His Resurrection and our path to salvation.  It is also a book of the love God feels for us.  All throughout the book, it tells of how God provided us everything we need.  Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost (Luke 19:10).  He taught us how we should live in the fullness of God.  He gave us direction and an example for loving others.  

If you notice, Jesus engaged people of all walks of life and boldly told the will of God providing a way for all of us to have a relationship with Him. At the end of His earthly life, Jesus endured a death designed for the lowest of criminals to carry every sin we’ve ever committed since the beginning of mankind and every sin we will ever commit. Can you imagine Jesus who was with God when the world was created before time began, willingly obeying God and being separated from God so He could save us?  How much must He have loved us to do that?  We think about The Cross and the beatings that made Jesus unrecognizable, but do we really think of the separation from God that Jesus endured?  I know how I feel when I pray and God is silent.  I know He is still there.  I can’t imagine Jesus knowing that the Father had turned from Him because of the sin He carried and in Jesus’s case, it wasn’t His sin, but mine….and yours. 

God Is Love (1 John 4:7-8) and He has shown it through all He’s done for us.  It’s important to remember He is Love because we so many times think He is trying to take something away from us.  And sometimes He is – He gives us guidance to remove the detrimental things from our lives.  He wants us to live abundant lives and the only way to do that is to have some things cut out of us.  Because God loves us so dearly, He only wants what is best for us.  When we realize that, the things God removes don’t appear to be so important or fun.  The closer we draw to God and His love for us, the more like Jesus we become.  Yes, we will still make mistakes and sin, but God’s Grace abounds (Romans 5:20).  So we don’t have to be bound by the things that are not like Jesus.  As we ask for forgiveness, God will give us more Grace to cover the sin.

Also, because God is Love, if we know Him we love.  He expects us to love others in the same way He loves us, even when they are unlovable.  Think if Jesus had waited until we were lovable to love us.  What shape would we be in?  Would we be saved right now? I’m not sure I would.  As Jesus loves us, we are to love others.  Let’s look to Him for guidance and keep our focus on pleasing Him. Let’s remember that life is a process and we are to make progress.  Let’s strive to love like He does. If we know Him, what choice do we really have?