Article 17 – March 28, 2018
The Love of God
In the previous article, “ ’The Integrity of God’s Word’,” I began with the scripture, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
This verse has been a very popularly quoted verse among the Christian world and it’s not uncommon to see it on a placard between the goal posts of any given NFL game. So much has been written about the love of God, that I could not seek to improve or present anything new on that topic. It has been handled lately in our local group of believers and I’ve been inspired and blessed by the several sharings I’ve heard on the subject. God’s love is wonderful and broad and unique and it is that love that put together the world that we read about in the first few chapters of Genesis.
God had to love to create man in His own image, as it tells us in Genesis 1:27. Verse 28 tells us further, “And God blessed them [referring to Adam and Eve], and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…” This is God’s love for mankind in the beginning to have given him this blessing: to replenish, to be fruitful and then to have dominion. Man, in his carnal state, without spirit, has forgotten much of this initial blessing from God. Adam and Eve then went on to make the mistakes that cost them their spirit life and dominion over the earth.
God, however, understood that this was going to happen and then adjusted His rules to accommodate the coming of the savior that would get man out of his bind. Everything that God has done from the beginning of time as we know it to the present is because of His love, grace and mercy. 1 John 4:8 tells us, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” Because of God’s great love for us, we should love Him back and desire to know and understand that wonderful reality that is called ‘the love of God.’
Deuteronomy 30:20 tells us, “That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life and the length of thy days…” This is a charge to love God so that He in turn can bless us to the fullest. He was willing to do it back in the Law Administration. Certainly He would do as much for us in this Administration of Grace that we live in today, as sons of God!
John 13:34: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” The love of God is not a conditional love. Because of the nature of our cultures, it is very common to see conditional love. However, we are to love with the love of God. We should just want to in the first place and especially because God wants us to, and because He first loved us.
The concept of love is not new to anyone. Any small child will usually have its mother and father constantly telling it how much they love him or her. In a normal household it would be a common thing between children and parents. God developed the emotion of love and compassion and it’s the right thing to have in your life. To love with the love of God is taking it a step further.
Jesus Christ was the greatest example to mankind of how to walk in love. He was daily operating manifestations of the spirit. It takes the love of God and believing to do that. In Matthew 10:8, as he was sending out the twelve on an itinerary, he told them, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” He was commissioning them to do what he had been doing and that required the love of God.
In our time, the Administration of the Age of Grace, we are commissioned to do the works that Christ did, plus we can speak in tongues and interpret. In Acts 1:8, in Jesus’ final instructions to his apostles, he tells them, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Where we live we have our Jerusalem’s and our Judaea’s and our Samaria’s to go to. And it takes the love of God, the desire, the strength and endurance to minister God’s power. You have to believe you can do it and be ready to work past the discouragements that will come along.
The devil does not want us to live with the love of God and to speak in the name of Jesus Christ which is our commission. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be sober, be viligant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” He would love to devour you and me. He wants his pound of flesh. But we have too much to do to allow him his moment with us.
At the end of 1 Corinthians 13:13, it tells us, ‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” That means that we can do what we think might be the works of God, but if our works are begrudging and done with less than a sincere heart, all we do is blow smoke. It will not be pleasing to God. When we work God’s love in our heart, we will find out it’s a lot easier and a lot more fun than doing the works of the flesh that are found in Galatians 5:19-21. I’m not going to list them, but they lead to a very unfruitful and depressing life.
Let’s work on doing what Jesus said in John 13:34 “…that ye love one another, as I have loved you…” See you the next time! Funglimpses and all that. Thanks for reading! Respectfully submitted, Will Grove