The Love of God

God spared the life of Isaac when Abraham was about to plunge the knife into his body, but did not spare the life of His own Son when He was crucified.  Had He done so, man would be hopelessly lost for there is no other adequate sacrifice to atone for the sins of man (Heb. 10:1-4).  The death of Jesus on Calvary’s tree reveals different dimensions of God’s love.

God’s love is indescribable.  How can you describe a Beethoven symphony to one who is deaf?  How can you describe a Rembrandt portrait to one who is blind?  Even so, human language is incapable of adequately describing the love of God.  F.M. Lehman once wrote:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made; were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.

When love flowed forth it was so deep, so wide, so strong, that even inspiration did not compute its measure, but gave us that great little word “SO” (Jn. 3:16) and left us to attempt the measurement.

God’s love is unquenchable.  You can’t run beyond the limits of God’s love because you can’t outrun God.  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).  Good people don’t go to heaven because they are good, but because God loves them.  All of us are sinners, deserving eternal condemnation, but God sent His Son to be “…the propitiation for our sins…” (1 Jn. 2:2).

God’s love is unearned.  Paul declared, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).  Salvation is God’s gift to obedient man (Heb. 5:9).  If salvation cost money, then some would not be able to afford it, for they are poor.  If one had to produce a certain number of good works in order to be saved, then some would have unfair advantage over others, for they have greater ability.  But salvation is offered to man by God through Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb, provided man accepts and obeys the gospel (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

God’s love is inexhaustible.  There is enough love in the very nature of God to take care of the sins of the world.  No one is beyond the reach of God’s love, no matter the immense depths that sin may drag him.  God “…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

God’s love is inevitable.  His immense love does not come from anything outside of Himself.  He loves because it is His nature to do so (1 Jn. 4:8).

Because of His love salvation is offered through Christ, provided man accepts and obeys the gospel.