In the 1800’s a ragged-looking boy walked for miles through the snowy streets of Chicago, determined to attend a Bible class that was conducted by D.L. Moody. When he got there, he was asked, "Why did you come to a Sunday school so far away? Why didn't you go to one of the churches near your home?" He answered simply, "Because you love a fellow over here."
The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:8 that “God is love.” It is not simply that God “loves,” but that He is Love itself. Love is not merely one of His attributes but His very nature.
Many are ignorant as it pertains to God’s love, and because of this there is very little Real love for God among Christians. Most of our hearts don’t yearn for God because we don’t understand His love for us. The more we understand his love for us, the more our hearts will be drawn out into love for God.
“I love Lucy”. I love NY. NBA – “I love this Game”. TV – “I love money”. Everyone uses it, but few understand what depth love has. So when it comes to the LOVE of God or Divine LOVE, we just cut and paste their definitions on GOD.
For each of us, there is always an object of this affection of ours. But, whether we are saying, “I love pizza,” or “I love my wife,” with our love, there is always a reason or condition.
The first aspect of God’s love we must understand is that it is unconditional or uninfluenced. This means that there is nothing about the objects of God’s love that prompt Him or motivate Him to love them.
While we love people for reasons or conditions, God loves freely and spontaneously without conditions. He doesn’t love us cause we are cute or have money, or because we lived perfectly or did something right or pray everyday. He loves us because it’s His will to do so.
Deuteronomy 7:7-8 states, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you…” (ESV)
His love is sovereign. Because God is God, He does as He pleases; because God is love, He loves whom He pleases. God declares, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:19). Yet there was no more reason in Jacob why he should be the object of Divine love, than there was in Esau. We try to earn respect from people, and we fight for peoples’ love. We spend our lives trying to win over people – NOT GOD. THERE was NOTHING in me to attract the heart of God. My heart was deceitful and desperately wicked.
The only thing I motivated God to do was to hate me and throw me into the darkest pit of Hell. I did everything to repel him, everything to make him despise me – sinful, corrupt, no good thing in me.
Love was the reason that Brought Christ to Earth!
“FOR GOD SO LOVE THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON…” (John 3:16)
Christ DIED not to make God love us but BECAUSE HE DID love us!
If you ever doubt the LOVE of GOD you go back to the cross. You think God isn’t loving toward you? Go back and look at the Person of Christ.
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