Consider Divine Love (3 page)

[God's responsible love]
"For by Him [Jesus]
all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities - all things have been created by Him and for Him."
Colossians 1:16

[God's poetic works of love]
"For we are His
workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works."
Ephesians
2:10

Did you know there is a
sinister, supernatural plot to keep you from intimacy with
God?
- Your adversary Satan, the Father of lies, the hater
of your soul, the deceiver of your mind, wants to keep you in fear
of intimacy with God. The devil wants to keep you distrustful of
God's words and ignorant of God's promises. His agenda is
twofold.

First, he wants to hurt God the only way he can
by keeping
you
, the desire of God's heart, away from close
communion with your Creator. Since God earnestly desires a personal
relationship with mankind, His heart is deeply grieved when anyone
rejects His offer of eternal love.

Second, Satan works feverishly to ensure
you
are eternally separated from the presence of God. His
every scheme is designed to keep you as far away as possible from
enjoying the pleasures found in a most "sacred and precious"
romance with Jesus.

But as a created being, Satan is not
all-powerful and was utterly defeated on a cross more than 2,000
years ago on a hill in Israel, just outside Jerusalem. A complete
victory was secured on your behalf when Jesus died on the cross to
pay the penalty for your sins. Through faith in the finished work
of Calvary, you can now have unrestricted access to God's
friendship forever. The way to divine intimacy has been
restored.

[God's life-giving agenda]
"The enemy comes
to rob, steal and kill; I came that they may have life and have it
abundantly."
John 10:10

[God's triumphant agenda]
"The Son of God
appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the
devil."
John 3:8

[God's military agenda]
"When He [Jesus] had
disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of
them, having triumphed over them through Him"
Colossians
2:15

[God's delivering agenda]
"For He delivered
us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom
of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins."
Colossians 1:13

[Song of the redeemed]
"I am my beloveds, and
His desire is for me."
Song of Solomon 7:10

[God's un-conquerable love]
"Who shall
separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or feminine, or nakedness, or peril or sword…for I
am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord."
Romans 8:35

Part 3 -
Behold What Manner of
Love

Much
has been written in mankind's attempt to quantify true love.
Countless books and movies have been promoted by people claiming to
have found the true meaning of this highly coveted ideal. Yet
conflicting opinions abound and the search continues. Is true love
even definable? And is there an immutable, universal standard by
which to measure all such claims? The answer to both questions is
unequivocally,
"Yes!"

The Greek word "agape" is unique to the
Judeo-Christian faith. Directed by God's Spirit of revelation, the
writers of the New Testament repeatedly used this word to express
the self-sacrificing love of Christ. It defines a quality of love
previously unknown in the realm of human experience. And in the New
Testament passages of I Corinthians 13:4-8, we find some of the
most comprehensive descriptions of agape love ever given to
mankind. Whether exploring the concept of loving God, loving
ourselves, loving our families or our neighbors, these words
provide a heavenly standard for true love against which all other
claims must inevitably be measured.

One Christian scholar wrote,
"Love can only
be known from the actions it prompts."
Consider now the words
of God as He defines genuine love and the subsequent actions which
prove the validity of those coveted three words,
"I love
you."

GOD IS PATIENT: Who God is cannot be separated
from what He does. His acts of kindness towards us are too numerous
to count. God is not an uninvolved bystander sitting on the
sidelines. He intimately and actively seeks opportunities to bless
us. All of God's words, thoughts, and actions towards us are always
perfectly good. If we have eyes to see, we will recognize His
abounding kindness every single day of our lives.

GOD IS NOT JEALOUS: Human jealousy is motivated
by selfish insecurities and fear. However, God's identity and
"personhood" are not at all threatened when good things happen to
His people. He never seeks to diminish or rob us of blessings in
order to make Himself feel superior. He never manipulates us,
tricks us, lays guilt trips on us, or forces us to please Him.
Instead, He allows us to simply and freely respond to His love. His
goal is not to rob, steal or destroy life, but to give mankind
abundant life.

GOD IS NOT BOASTFUL OR ARROGANT: God is not
puffed with arrogance at the magnificence of His power, beauty or
being. He does not suffer from insecurities, seeking ways to prove
His own worth by diminishing ours. God's love stands in direct
opposition to a narcissistic braggart. God's selfless, agape love
gives us a true esteem of the value of others thereby limiting our
estimation of ourselves.

GOD DOES NOT ACT UNBECOMINGLY: He does nothing
out of place or time. He behaves with courtesy and good will
towards us at all times. God never disgraces us, embarrasses us, or
puts us in compromising situations. He never makes a joke out of
our failures. He seeks to protect our weaknesses rather than
exposing them. He never forces Himself on us in a shameful or
hurtful manner. He is never prideful, selfish or rude to us. God is
always a perfect gentleman.

GOD DOES NOT PURSUE SELFISH ADVANTAGE: True love
is the eternal enemy of selfishness. God never pursues agendas
which would result in harming His people. He is the undisputed,
supreme ruler of the universe and can do anything He pleases. Yet
with all His power, instead of flaunting His authority, He
faithfully chooses to continually bless us. God's declarations of
love are consistently followed by acts of selfless love.

GOD IS NOT PROVOKED: Therefore He is not touchy
or irritable. He never suffers from stress, mental fatigue,
hormonal outbursts, or "bad hair days." The foolish things we often
do may frustrate our friends, but not God. We can never come to an
end of His mercy. He will never say to us,
"That's the last
straw! I've taken all I'm going to take from you. You're out of
here!"
Instead, God's loving kindness towards us is fresh and
more than sufficient to handle the pressures of our
waywardness.

GOD DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT A WRONG SUFFERED:
God does not hold grudges against us and never seeks revenge
against those who are trying to please Him. When we come to God
through faith in the name of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ,
and ask Him to cleanse us from everything we have done contrary to
His love, God promises to forget all our law-breaking words,
thoughts, and actions. He does not keep a hidden score card of
offenses, checking it twice to see if we've been naughty or nice.
God will never drag us through the streets of heaven as a common
criminal nor expose our sin for public humiliation.

For followers of Jesus Christ, the only
inventory records maintained in heaven are the list of works done
in faith for Jesus, motivated by love and a grateful heart. These
are the deeds which will be publically proclaimed and collectively
applauded at the soon-coming awards banquet. At that "black-tie"
event, Jesus Christ will be Master of Ceremonies. After all, He is
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

GOD DOES NOT REJOICE IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS: God
never happily greets legal injustice or moral wrongfulness as a
friend. Sin is never a laughing matter to God, nor is He ever
entertained by sin. God hates injustice of every kind, therefore He
can never just wink at sin or
"let it slide just this once
."
To do so would corrupt justice on a universal scale. But God is
incorruptible. Therefore He can never compromise even once on the
smallest ordinance or commandment.

Everyone sins. Sin is breaking God's law. Our
criminal offenses demanded celestial justice. But no amount of
fines or jail time could ever satisfactorily pay our personal,
legal debts. So because of God's great love, He took upon Himself
the sins of the world and submitted to His own morally pure
judicial system. Jesus death on the cross fully satisfied our legal
obligations resulting in a full heavenly pardon for anyone willing
to accept the court's decree.

GOD REJOICES IN THE TRUTH: People may not always
tell us the truth, but God always will. He delights in fully
explaining the realities of everything in our lives in a manner
that is completely true, and exactly accurate. He will never tell
us anything that is not absolutely true. He never attempts to
deceive us by leaving out vital details. He does not keep secrets
from His followers. God celebrates when we chose to believe and
trust in the words of Jesus Christ rather than the words of man.
God takes great pleasure when we speak the truth to one another in
love just as He speaks the truth in love.

GOD BEARS ALL THINGS: God puts up with all the
foolish things we do and quietly endures the times we break His
heart in our rebellion against His love. In spite of everything we
do that is contrary to His ways, He remains loyal to His people.
However this decision was not without cost. The price paid was the
life of His one and only Son. But Jesus gladly bore the burden of
our sins and willingly endured the cross so we might freely have a
relationship with His Father. That's sacrificial love!

GOD BELIEVES ALL THINGS: God does not utter
cheap or meaningless words of sappy, shallow affection just to gain
our trust. When He said, "
I believe their salvation will
occur,"
He staked His life on it! God the Son came down from
His throne, took upon Himself the form of human flesh, dwelt upon
the earth, and then gave His all so all might live. Jesus
demonstrated total commitment, not lip service, to His plan of
redemption. Before He even made the world, God's love was already
at work putting into motion the means of our salvation. He wanted
to make sure every heavenly benefit would be ours to enjoy forever.
That's selfless love!