For Such a Love as This

Each person reading this post has one great need – one great desire – one great longing; and that is to be loved; to be loved personally, intimately and deeply; to be known and accepted and cherished for who we are; to believe that our life has meaning and value to others, and that our happiness and wellbeing is as important to at least one other person as it is to ourselves.

We desire to have people in our lives with whom we can trust to always be there for us, to never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6), particularly in the difficult circumstances of life; people who in the sincere expression of their love for us make us feel special and important; people whose presence in our life brings us great joy and contentment as well as a strong sense of significance and security. This is what children look to their parents for and what a man or women look for in a marriage partner.

True love is what creates strong, stable families and forges true friendships. And it does so because true love, as God defines it, (1 Corinthians 13) involves putting the needs of others before our own, even at great cost to ourselves, and finding great joy and fulfillment  in doing so, believing the eternal principle given by Jesus that it is more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20:35).

True love forgives the failures and foolishness of others; seeks to reconcile with enemies; to bless them and when possible alleviate their misery and pain (Luke 6:27-36).  And it is such a love as this that God Himself defined and displayed in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  (Romans 5:8-10)

We are told in 1 John 4:16 that the very essence of God’s being is that of love; that imbedded in His very nature and character is the infinite capacity to fully commit Himself to the ultimate good of another – to the eternal joy and pleasure and satisfaction of His beloved at whatever the cost.

The Bible reveals that this glorious, infinitely valuable, infinitely satisfying love of God has been expressed throughout eternity within the eternal love relationship that has existed between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit who exist as one God – three divine persons – what we refer to as the Trinity.   Each divine person of the Trinity, throughout eternity, has acted only to bring joy and pleasure and delight to one another in ways we cannot begin to conceive of or imagine.

And it is this eternal love relationship that God created us to share in when He made us in His image and likeness, beings fully capable of knowing and loving and being loved by God – and one another.

This is the relationship Jesus joyfully went to the cross to restore us to (Hebrews 12:2); that we would know the “width and depth and length and height” of God’s love throughout all eternity (Ephesians 3:17-19); and equally as important, be enabled by God (1 John 4:13-16) to fulfill His first and great commandment; namely to love the Lord our God with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:28-30).

This is the love we need to know and rest in, the love we need to display to others, if we are to find peace and joy, comfort and hope for such a time as this.

Grace and Peace ×