Imagine Jimmy. He's the good lookin cool kid in school. When he walks by all the girls get a bit weak in the knees. On the first day of fifth grade Jimmy gets a few notes passed his way, most of which have the same message..."Sue loves you! Do you love her?" or "Jane loves you...do you love her?"
Jimmy, after a little bit of thought, takes his pick. It's Jane. Sue's friend asks him, "Why didn't you love Sue? She loves you!" Jimmy, with a cool smirk says, "So what if Sue loves me?" Well, Jimmy and Jane "loved" each other for about two weeks. Relationship over.
These days it seems as if the only evangelistic message is, "God loves you." The unbeliever, still thinking like a fifth grader named Jimmy, says in return, "So what if He loves me? Sue loved me too. Big deal." So what is the Christian to do? Can he/she therefore not say the wonderful slogan again? Well, I wouldn't say that. But I would say that we have to understand what it means for God to love someone.
As a culture we have lost the meaning love; and we certainly have lost what it means for God to love. As Christians we must know what love means. We must know the kind of love God gives. John 15:9 gives us a clue. Jesus says, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." Books have been written on love, but this verse gives us more than we can chew in one sitting. Here are a few thoughts.
First, this is a Trinitarian love. In the way that God the Father has loved God the Son, so God the Son loves us. Amazing. Let that sink in a bit.
Second, this love is eternal. It never ends. Jimmy stopped loving, and so do many people. But Christ never stops loving. As Christians, we are not loved with a fifth grader puppy love. We are loved with a divine, supreme and sovereign love.
Third, this love is enduring. It is bearing. For many, love begins to dim as the other continues to show their imperfections. When people sin against us, we tend to run from them. Christ's love is different. When we were His enemies, He came to us. He did not run from our iniquities, He bore them (Isa 53:11). His love draws sinners to Himself. When our desire was to make Him bleed, He bled for us.
Fourth, this love is effective. We've all been in Sue's position (see first paragraph). The one we thought we loved didn't love us back. This hurts. Many have placed Christ in Sue's position. Christ loved us but we, like Jimmy, gave Him a smirk and went on our way. Christ is left sulking. This is not Christ's love. When Christ loves someone, He changes them. Remember, "We love because He first loved us" (1Jn 4:19). When Christ sheds love, He sheds blood. And that blood changes our smirk into sobbing; our running into embracing; our arrogant pride into an inflamed passion for Him.
Fifth, this love is "in Christ." In other words, we are loved by God because we are united to Christ. His perfect righteousness given to us makes us perfectly, justly, and eternally lovable. Christ's perfect power keeps us at the right hand of God, safely, where His love can be constantly and faithfully bestowed upon us. Christ's perfect death removed all possibility of His love fading. Sin gets in the way of love, but Christ paid for all of our sin. He cleansed us. His love will never end.
Last, God the Spirit, the wonderful Comforter, works in us to reciprocate that love. Because the Persons of the Trinity will always love one another, we can rest assured that we will always love God. The Father has commanded this. The Son has accomplished and purchased this. And the Spirit powerfully and efficaciously brings this about, in us. Both Christ's love for us and our love for Him are rooted in the eternal councils of the Holy Trinity. They go deeper than us. This love runs through our fickle will into the heart of God who is infinite, eternal and unchangeable.
I used to fear that I would one day not love Christ. But the Gospel of God's love for me changes me and assures me that, by grace, I will never finally say, "So what if He loves me."
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