The greatest selling love song of all time is called, “Love Is All Around”, by an 80’s Scottish rock band. It start outs, “I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. The love that's all around me, and so the feeling grows”. Those lyrics perfectly describe the love I feel for God. He is my Master, my Lord, my Savior, my Friend, and my Father. And as full as my heart is for Him, what makes it burst at the seams is the love that He in turn feels for me.
Many are the attributes of our most high God. He is good, merciful, faithful, wise, and all powerful; just to name a few. But above of else, God is love. And if there could be doubt, read 1 John 4. For in this little chapter, love is mentioned over 25 times. And in this little chapter, lies the very heart of the Gospel.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin.” (vs. 10) Think of that! God doesn’t love us because we are good, special, worthy, or deserving in any way. He loves us because He is love. And it is out of that amazing, unmerited love, that He sent His only Son Jesus to pay the sin debt that we owe. All He asks in return is that we open our hearts to Him and receive His free gift of love and grace. That’s it. No strings attached, no conditions to meet, no standards to reach. God loves us, and no matter how dirty, how broken, or how sinful we are, He wants to call us His own. God wants to pick up us, dust off the dirt, wipe away our tears, replace our sorrow with joy, and make us royalty in His kingdom forever.
Too many times the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached with a heavy hand in sin, and a light hand in love. While it’s true that God detests sin, it’s also true that God loves us in spite of that sin. And when we receive Christ as our Savior, He takes those filthy rags of sin we clothe ourselves in, and exchanges them for pure white robes of righteousness. He then sends the Holy Spirit to take up permanent residence inside of us, thus beginning to change and mold us into the likeness of Jesus. And all of this God does not because we love Him, but because He loves us! Even though we are imperfect, God loves us perfectly. So the next time you’re feeling particularly unlovable and far away from God, recite verse 16 and make it personal. “I have come to know and have believed the love which God has for me. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” And always remember, God loves you!
