Knowing God’s Love

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
                                                                                                – 1 John 4:11-12

As the moon falls onto the waves crashing upon the beach, the earth rotates through the night.  The gravitational pull of the spinning sphere draws the tide from the depths of the see to the sands of the shore.  It’s consistent and has been for thousands of years, from the moment Adam walked and the serpent slithered along the sandy floor of the garden.  The battle ensued at that time, and has ebbed and flowed ever since.  Today, we look with wonder as the tidal waves crash onto the shores and marvel at the complexity of it all.

Many believe we are in the worst time of history, yet we have no clue of what this world has been through.  Trials have come and gone, and the human race has continued to thrive through it all.  What began as a garden, a perfect paradise if you will; has now evolved into a cesspool of evil, temptation and pain.  Why?   Why was Adam and Eve incapable of obeying the Father’s simple instructions and choosing to surrender to the evil one, the ruler on this earth? 

It’s not a blame game, but we are certainly a by-product of our ancestral chain.  Through ages we have fought each other over pride, greed, selfishness and power.  I propose that the original love God implanted in mankind is absent from humanity today.  We say we love one another, but do we really understand what that even means?  Is it simply affection for one another?  Is it an emotion that makes one’s heart beat a little faster, makes one’s palms sweat and breath quicken?  Do we really understand what the Lord gave us in the garden? 

It makes me wonder, what if Eve had run away; what if Adam had actually stood for righteousness and took his rightful place to lead her away.  Would we even be here?  Would this world then be the perfect paradise that God had so meticulously formed from his very breath?  I know it’s deep and unfathomable to comprehend what might have really become of mankind and this earth.  But, one thing is for sure, had they resisted the evil one on that day, love would have conquered and would have become the nature by which we all live.

We were created in love by the Abba Father, to dwell in love and perfect harmony with Him forever.  Mankind allowed evil to seep into our existence and it has been ever since.  When we say we are born in sin, it ties all the way back to the garden.  For the love that was provided to and for us, became a long distant obfuscated memory over generations.  How long did it take before God’s original plan of a loving human race became unrecognizable?  The single closest resemblance of His love that still exist today, is the love between parent and birth child. 

As DNA and genes are passed through the bloodline, we have an identity with our children and likewise with our parents.  Even multi-generational gaps weaken the love tie, but it’s still there none the less.  Compare this with the love tie you might have with a spouse.  This is a learned or chosen love that you decide to share, not because it was inherent at birth.  The love you share with your family and friends is a pale representation of what the love God had intended.  The temporary lustful love you have for others is nothing more than a selfish intent to satisfy one’s desires, nothing more.

So, how then are we to love one another the way God loves us?  First, in our simple mindedness we must try to understand the depth of God’s love.  Refer back to Deuteronomy 7:9 – “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands”  This is clue #1 – His love is for a thousand generations and He will keep his covenant, made with Abraham, to love you and bless you.  God has promised His love to mankind for all time, only dependent upon obeying his commands, which we all agree is nearly impossible.  But, in the depth of His love for us, He alone provided a way. 

We all know John 3:16 by heart, “For God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”  This is clue #2 – mankind had become so evil and incapable of loving God and keeping His commands, that in order to find redemption from the sins, it would take a sacrifice which could not be found in this world.  Therefore, because of His immense love for us, He sent Jesus Christ to die for us, so that we could once again be able to kneel in His presence and love Him in return.   Also, reiterated in Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

We don’t know this kind of love in our world, for you see, Satan is the prince of this world; and Satan lives by hate, envy, pride, greed, love of self and pleasure.  In this world we cannot begin to understand the love of the Father, and just how intense that love truly is.  Think about the person in this world you love the most.  Now ask yourself, if that person hates me, turns from me, rejects me and degrades me; will my love for them be unchanging, immutable?  Jesus demonstrated this in His life, but no other man in all of time has ever been able replicate it. 

That is why we need Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  He alone can love the Father as the Father loves us.  Through Him and only through Him can we return love to the Father that He is worthy of.  The more we learn about Jesus and the more we allow Him to work in our lives, the more we become like Him and can love others as He first loved us.


Be Blessed,

Rich

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