I noted in my previous post that what makes the “love of God” the greatest love of all is first and foremost that it is “His own love” (Romans 5:8), love that emanates from the heart of the infinitely glorious eternal God, whose nature and character is that of love (1 John 4:8), love which in the beginning He created all mankind to freely enjoy within intimate relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Today I want to look at a second reason why God’s love is the greatest love of all, and that is because it is love that was demonstrated and defined most clearly in His salvation of a lost humanity; a humanity who, beginning with Adam, had disdained God’s love, rejecting and rebelling against His purpose for and rule over our lives. In doing so we made ourselves the objects of His judgement and wrath rather than the objects of His love, having exchanged the truth of God for the devil’s lie and thus living our lives pursuing our greatest joy, pleasure and satisfaction, our greatest significance and security in the fallen creation rather than in the infinitely glorious Creator (Romans 1:18-32).
However, we are told in John 3:16 that God so loved this fallen, sin corrupted, world of rebellious men and women, that He sent His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into it as a man to accomplish on our behalf, through His perfectly righteous life, sacrificial death on the cross, and miraculous resurrection, everything necessary to save those who would trust in HIs love from perishing under God’s just judgement, from being confined to Hell forever, and to reconcile and restore them back to the glorious relationship with God for which we were created.
We are informed in Romans 5:6-10 who the potential beneficiaries of Jesus’ saving, reconciling love are.
First we have the ungodly, those who live in this world willfully ignorant of the goodness and glory of God, alienated in their hearts from the life of God; pursuing their joy, pleasure, and satisfaction, their significance and security in anything or anyone other than God. Then we have sinners, people who live in defiance of and opposition to the laws and commandments of God. And finally, we have those who are identified as His enemies, people who in their minds and hearts are hostile toward God, who live their lives in opposition to the glorious person and gracious purposes of God, people who would just as soon God did not exist.
The Apostle Paul summarizes in Titus 3:3-8 this glorious expression of God’s love toward His enemies who have turned from their enmity and rebellion and entrusted their life to Jesus . Paul writes: “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (the glorious life with God for which we were created).
Apostle Paul writes in Romans 6:23 that the just wages of our sin is death, to be cut off from the glorious life with God for which we were created forever; but that the free gift of God is eternal life for those who by faith come to trust their lives to Jesus as Lord, the one who commands their life.
There are no limits to this offer. It is universal and indiscriminate. It goes out to people of every ethnic group, every language, every nation, every age group and every socio-economic category. Most importantly, it goes out to every kind and degree of sinner; gossips and mass murderers –racists and rapists – idolaters and adulterers – disobedient teenagers and dirty old men – drug addicts and food addicts, even shopping addicts. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever will believe in Him should not perish (in Hell) but have eternal life.”
Grace and Peace ×