Everyone loves a great love story ! It is the most popular theme of movies and music. But I am not referring to romantic love in this article.
"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." - Jesus speaking at John 3:16
That verse above is the greatest love story ever told !
Think about it.
God is love. (1 John 4:16)
God is love itself. It is not only His nature, but He Himself is the personification of love. It took great love to send His only begotten Son to suffer and die for us....to die in our place.... so that if we but have faith in Jesus, and believe that He is the Savior, we may have eternal life. Because Jesus is the Son of God, part of the Trinity, His love is equal to that of Yahweh Himself.
Think of the enormity of His sacrificial death and what He suffered! He was thinking of you and me when He suffered a cruel death at Calvary. What a display of love and compassion He epitomized. He knew our need of a Savior from our sin as more important than His own comfort and life. One commentator has said that Jesus "gave the most He could give for those who deserved it the least. Sacrifice, then, is the essence of godly love, called "Agape" love. ..... The essence of agape love is goodwill, benevolence, and delight in the object of love."
Those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior have many spiritual blessings. For one thing, He makes us God's children who are co-heirs with Him. He dwells within us as the Holy Spirit. He will be our companion for life.....more than a companion! He is our Lord and Master and protector and defender. He will guide us in the paths we should follow. He convicts us when we sin, and causes us to turn to Him in sincere repentance, where we give up the sin when we confess it to Him. Unlike fickle spouses, He will never forsake us.
"...... I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." - Hebrews 13:5b
Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 for God's description of love. Most Christians are familiar with these verses, especially the believers who read their Bibles daily and have a close, intimate, personal, love relationship with the good Lord. You need to immerse yourself in God's Holy Word and pray without ceasing to develop a close and deep relationship with God through Jesus His Son. Since God/Jesus is love, it is only reasonable that He would want to fellowship with us by communicating with us through the Bible and by answering our prayers and guiding us by His Holy Spirit. You cannot become acquainted with anyone without communicating with him frequently. The same holds true for the good Lord.
Another excellent verse concerning Jesus' love for us is found at John 15:13:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (KJV)
Following is a worship song by Chris Tomlin about Jesus' love for us:
Let us show love for Jesus by living a godly life and preaching the Gospel..... telling others about God's Love for us by sending His Son so that we might gain eternal life if we but believe in Him.
Also, here is a 20 minute audio video with a sermon by Arthur W. Pink which discusses the Love of God (the love of Christ).
In the above sermon, he discusses the seven perfections of God's love. He reminds us that God's love has no limits, and it is unchangeable. Another point he makes (and which I stress often as well) is that the more we are acquainted with God, the more our hearts will be drawn out in love to Him. In other words, develop a close love relationship with God and Jesus.
The love of God is powerful and life changing if you make yourself available to worship Him and follow, in love, in the footsteps of Jesus.
Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us: (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend...... and life !
