KNOW AND EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF GOD
1 John 4:9-10 (NLT) God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
God is love. God doesn’t just love us; He is love. In 1 John 4:9-10, it tells us that because God is love, He didn’t wait for us to love Him before He sent the greatest gift of love: Jesus. Because God is love, His love is made manifest. He doesn’t act in love occasionally when we deserve it. He always acts in love toward us because He is love. For God so loved the world, He gave us Jesus, (John 3:16). He didn’t send Jesus in response to human love or need. He sent Jesus because He is love. Love always gives; it never demands. Even speaking of Jesus in John 15:13 it says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” There is no greater display of love than someone laying down their life with no guarantee of that love being returned.
How can you describe God’s love? How can you grasp it or understand it? His love is shown in His mercy, goodness, and compassion. God is known as the Father of mercies, (2 Corinthians 1:3). Lamentations 3:22-23 says it is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed and that His mercies are new every morning. That tells me He never runs out of mercy. Psalm 86:5 tells us He is plenteous in mercy. Psalm 145:8-9 clearly speaks of His great mercy, that He is full of compassion, and that His tender mercies are over all His works. I am so glad the Word doesn’t say He is full of vengeance or anger. That is what I used to think about Him, but the Word has revealed the truth to me about our Heavenly Father.
Jesus was the expressed image of God, the Father, on the Earth. He showed us the Father. He clearly said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9); “I only do what I see the Father do and I only say what I hear my Father say” (John 5:19). Jesus ministered the love of the Father while He was on the Earth. He was often moved with compassion to heal the sick. He was moved with compassion on the people because they were sheep without a shepherd. The Lord healed the sick many times to show the mercy of God to someone. Thank God that He is still moved to compassion today.
Finally, I want to remind you that the goodness of God and the love of God is available to you every day. Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Every day, all day long, you have goodness and mercy trailing you wherever you go. That is the love of God in action. Goodness and mercy are manifestations of the love of God to you. God told Moses in Exodus 33:19 that He would be gracious, and He would show mercy and loving kindness to us. He told Moses, who asked for God’s glory to be revealed, “I will let all my goodness pass before you.” Even God’s power has to do with His love for us. I want you to expect a manifestation of the love of God to you all the days of your life!