THE MARVELLOUS LOVE OF GOD

One of the first few things that we learn as a Christian is that God loves us. 1 John 4:9 says: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” We are so familiar with this fact, that we may start to take this for granted. But if we pause and think about how incredible and marvellous this is, then we may also realise how strongly we need to respond.

How Marvellous the Love of God is

First, consider our insignificance. Psalm 8:3-4 says: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” We consider the vastness of the universe, and realise how tiny we are. Estimates say that the observable universe is 93 billion light years in diameter at present. How big is that? A light second is roughly 299,000 kilometers, or 7.5 times the circumference of the earth. Multiply that by the number of seconds in a year (around 31.6 million), and you still need to multiply that by a billion, and even then you are at barely 1% of the observable universe. A Being that created all that – and still cares about us?

Another way to consider our relative insignificance is to look at John 10:11: “ I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” The picture here is a shepherd dying because of His sheep. Put into our everyday life context, this may seem quite strange. It may not even appear logical. A shepherd, to protect his wife or children, may lay down his life. That seems logical. But to get hurt over a sheep? People may wonder why he didn’t run away if the sheep was attacked. Worse still, to die for a sheep? Yet that is what Christ did. Consider that the God of the universe came, and died on the cross for insignificant us. If we are hearing this for the first time, we may wonder what made such an infinite Being do this for us.

Second, consider our sinfulness. Romans 5:8 says: “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” So we are not just insignificant – we are sinful. We are like sheep that rebelled against the shepherd. We waywardly went our own way, into the lion’s den. We were told not to, but we disobeyed. So it’s not even the case that we were good sheep, obediently staying in safe areas, and deserving of protection from the shepherd. No, we deserved death – and yet Christ saved us, and died for us. Putting this in our everyday life context – a shepherd goes out of his way to save a sheep that wandered into the lion’s den, and ends up dying for that. A non-believer may find this absurd.

Third, consider our lack of reciprocal love. Oftentimes, we fail the standards expected of us. Philippians: 3:7-8 says “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Now that we are saved by the shepherd, do we count all things as loss for Christ? The shepherd just saved us from the lion’s den. Or do we delight in worldly matters still, and run back at times to the lion’s den? Psalm 1:2 says: “ But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” As rescued sheep, do we meditate on Christ’s grace and love all day?

What is our Response?

How do we respond to such great love? Matthew 22:37 says “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Considering how absurdly great Christ’s love for us is, and how absolutely undeserving we are, doesn’t that seem like the appropriate response?

The converse is also true. Not responding to such great a love is an appalling act. Jeremiah 2:13 says: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

So, we see this mutually reinforcing design. The more we realise how great the God of the universe is, how sinful we are, how ungrateful we are - the more we realise how undeserving of God’s love we are, the more we appreciate how deep God’s love must be for Christ to die for us, how strongly we must respond to such a love, and how sinful it is to continue loving the world.

Ask Myself:

1. How do I help myself understand the marvellous love of God?

2. What should my response be to God’s great love?

3. What can I do if I am struggling with all these?

Suggested Answers:

1. Consider our insignificance, our sinfulness and our lack of reciprocal love.

2. Love Him with all my heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37).

3. Seek help from elders and Bible class teachers.