God’s love for man is one of the central themes of the Bible. In fact, if it was not for God’s love, neither the Old nor New Testament would be written. Jesus would not have come to die. The Gospel would never have been taught. And most significantly for us, man would have been doomed to eternal death, bound forever as slaves of sin.
God has always been described as love, or as some may describe it, the very epitome of Love. The apostle John describes God as the source of love (1 John 4:7), and goes one step further to state that God is love (1 John 4:8). God is the very embodiment of love. But is God’s love only described through words alone? As the apostle John again said, love is not only through mere words, but by actions (1 John 3:18). This is echoed by James who highlights the importance of actions to back up the intent (James 2:16). Therefore let us now take time to behold what God has done to demonstrate His love for us, to appreciate the immeasurable love and grace that He has for lowly and sinful men.
In the physical realm, God has created a living environment here on Earth that really blesses man. As we look at the Earth and its beauty, we can only marvel how much man has benefited from it. From the natural systems that bring us the sunshine and the rain to sustain life, the oxygen that we breathe, the animals and plants that not only keep the cycle of life going, but also food for us. We also have the natural resources of wood, metals, rare gems and combustibles that man has been able to harness to make houses that we live in, the many commercial products that we consume, and even significant inventions that have changed how we live, such as electricity, cars and planes. Every design of the Earth has kept man in mind, and we were even given that blessing (and heavy responsibility) to have dominion over all the Earth (Genesis 1:28).
God’s love extends to the spiritual realm, and it is here where we see the depths of God’s love. John 3:16 proclaims the ultimate demonstration of God’s love: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The ultimate demonstration of love is the very act of sacrificing His only begotten son Jesus Christ, with the resulting blessing of everlasting life for those who believe in Jesus. Let us further examine why exactly this sacrifice can be considered the ultimate demonstration of God’s love.
First, the very act of self-sacrifice is the greatest form of love. Jesus said in John 15:13 that “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Indeed, the measure of love one has for another is the level of sacrifice that is given. For many of us, we show love either by spending our time with our loved ones, spending our effort to think of things that would make our loved ones happy, or purchasing gifts for them with our money. More significant acts would include donating our organs to help them recover from various illnesses. Parents definitely sacrifice a lot for their kids in terms of time, money and emotions, and for many care-givers, they likewise undergo tremendous amounts of sacrifice to care for those under their charge. But to sacrifice one’s life for another is truly on another level of sacrifice, and Jesus did it.
But what gives even greater significance to His sacrifice is for whom he sacrificed Himself for. Paul gives us this significance in Rom 5:6-8: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Indeed, we often think very little of sacrificing for the ones we love, or for a cause that we support. But would we sacrifice readily for a total stranger, an enemy, or a totally morally depraved character? God did, for morally depraved people and sinners like you and me, and all other souls in the world.
God pulls no punches to state that all of us are sinners (Rom 3:23). And He also is clear that sinners will have their part in eternal death (Rom 6:23). Even the very best of us will find it nearly impossible to fully comply with every letter of the law, all our lives (James 2:10). And so, from the first sin that we commit, we are separated from God spiritually and are doomed to eternal death (Isaiah 59:2). And just as light and dark cannot exist together, God and sin cannot either. And going back to Rom 5:6, Paul makes it clear that we were helpless in ourselves to make right with God.
And so, guilty as we are, fully deserving of death, are now saved through God’s grace in sending Jesus to die for us. We are now no longer bound by sin, and we have a means of forgiveness even if we do trip up as we continue to walk in the light (1 John 1:7). Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice to save a wretch like me. Isn’t that truly an immeasurable love? Let us always behold God’s love for us and reflect on how much we love Him in return.