Most often when the Bible attempts to express God's love, it makes a beeline for the
cross of Jesus Christ. The cross is God's statement of just how much He loves us. When
we think of the immensity of God's love, the first thing the Bible often asks us to do is
to consider the price that was paid. God's love is very personal toward us. It doesn't
matter where we have been, it doesn't matter what we have done, it doesn't matter what
our experienced might have been, God loves us. It doesn't matter what you have thought
about yourself or what other people may have said about you, God loves you. This is
what God says about you! You are honored; you are precious in His eyes (Isaiah 43:4). …show more content…
But love is all over Him
and conditioned everything He does. It’s His agape love that unconditionally took my
place on that old rugged cross at Calvary, glory to God.
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1Quote form “Twelve Ordinary Men” by John Mac Arthur –pages 106-107
101
The Cross Symbol of Love
When it says, “God is love,” it means that love is an essential attribute of God’s
being. It means that in God is the summation of all love, so that all love comes from God.
And it means that God’s love, we might say, conditions all of His other attributes, so that
God can do nothing except He does it in love.
A common reaction of the carnal nature of the human being is to seek the destruction
of their enemies the same way their enemies seek their destruction. 1They hate us, so we
hate them, if they love us we will love them back (Matt. 5:43). Jesus, on the other hand,
told us to love our enemies and to carry that love through with the highest act of love and
prayer. “Love your enemies and pray for those persecuting you. In this way you take on
the nature of your Father, the one in heaven. Who routinely gives good things, …show more content…
It is only from such love that we gain our ability to love the unlovable.
There is little wonder that the apostle Paul joyfully explained to the Romans, “Now hope
does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5)
1Barclay, in Flesh and Spirit, gives a concise yet encompassing definition of the word:
“Agape is unconquerable benevolence, undefeatable goodwill.” What a powerful
expression of the sharing concern and caring identification Christians have for and with
the needs of others! God did not care that I was a person that made fun of the church and
rebelled against Him. Nothing that I did, did not disqualified me from receiving His love
and forgiveness. The song writer said it perfectly, “He looks beyond my faults and he
sees my needs.” The love of God supersedes anything that man could do to influence it
one way or another. It is powerful and it is not a respecter of person. All are eligible to
receive this love, and thank God, that there is nothing that anyone has to do to get it.
We never know ourselves to be truly loved until we know ourselves to be loved by