Friday, March 1, 2013

The Revelation of God's Love

One time, there was a college drama club that wanted to put on a play, but they were low on funds. As a result, they couldn’t afford a copy of the play for each actor. They thought up a way to solve the problem. They took one copy of the play and clipped out the various parts and passed them out to each actor.

Except the first practice was a disaster. The actors knew their lines, but they were all confused. They missed their cues, and they didn’t know where to stand - they didn’t know how to play their lines.

The director stopped the practice, and she took time to read the entire play to them. “Oh,” they said, “So that’s what this play is all about.” – and things went smoothly from then on. Now they had the “Big Picture.” Now they saw how their individual lines fit into the story. Now they could play their parts correctly because the actors now understood the “Big Picture.”

Similarly, as we study our way through the Scriptures verse by verse, it is too easy to get lost in the details. So now and then, we too must step back and look at the “Big Picture.”

We’ve covered the need for Christian love. We’ve looked at it as proof of our salvation in 1st John 2:10, “He who loves his brother abides in the light.” John also pointed out God’s love for us to see in 1st John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” John even told us we have an obligation to love in 1st John 3:11, :For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

Now, finally, we are told why: 1st John 4:8 says, “For God is love.” That completes the “Big Picture.” That fact ties it all together. That fact gives meaning to all the commands. We now know that “God is love.” Love is one of the central attributes of God. It is central to His character.

But how do we understand God’s love? It’s almost similar to a child asking, “Mother, who made God?” And the wise mother answers, “No one made God. God simply is. God always has been. God always will be.” It might be hard to understand, but it just is.

Likewise, how do you explain the love of God? How can you explain the infinite? You can’t explain the sun by a candle. You can’t explain the ocean by a drop of water. You can’t explain the forest by a leaf. And you can’t explain sorrow by a single tear.

Likewise, we can’t adequately explain God’s love by comparing it to ours – the love that we know. Love is not something God does, but what He is: “God is love.” God’s love is born out of the very essence of God’s being. Love does not define God, but God defines love.

And God’s love is holy! Remember? Leviticus 11:44, repeated in 1st Peter 1:16, declared God as demanding, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” God’s love is holy; His holiness is expressed in love.
Most of what humans call love is not holy. What modern society calls love bears no resemblance to God’s holy love. Society might say, “They were making love in the back seat of the car,” but how can immorality be anything like God’s love?

Does that dignify it to call it love? No! Human love almost always has a selfish motive. We are always looking for “What’s in it for me?” We do that in any relationship. and we confuse it with love. Someone wants sex so they’ll promise love. They want the security of a home or support and promise love to get it. Maybe they want companionship, or the prestige of a trophy wife, but the underlying motivation is “ME.” It may not be stated consciously, but it’s there, underlying everything – human selfishness

So, how can we humans understand God’s selfless love? Is there any way we can understand it? Yes there is, because God’s love has been demonstrated.

Look at 1st John 4:9:
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”

The word “manifest” in the Greek language means to come out in the open, to show. It is the opposite of hiding something. So, because God is love, His love must be shown, it must be revealed. It can never remain static or inactive, but it must be active and out in the open. And indeed, the very word for God’s love, agape, really is a love in action.

We could never know God’s love by human reason. We don’t naturally love that way. We could never discern God’s love from nature, we only discern a bloody tooth or a sharp claw. We can only know God’s love by revelation. It has to come from God as He reveals Himself. So, 1st John 4:9 says, “God has sent His only begotten Son into the world.” And Jesus would say in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” We can learn about what God is like by looking at Jesus and how He acts, and that is the only way we can know about God’s love.

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