The Ultimate Love

           While growing up, I had always been in awe by the whole concept of God. An all powerful Being that created everything, that created me. If He wanted, He could strike me dead at any moment.  What if I made Him mad?  What if I did something He didn’t like? He could remove me from the earth in a heartbeat. At times He sure showed His power and His anger in the Bible. He is the Creator, the Disciplinarian, the Master. He must be this immense being who could squash me like an ant.  Watch what you say, watch what you do, or He’ll get you…  Sounds pretty silly but that is the way allot of people in the world really envision God. But nothing could be further from the truth.  

          If you have children, do you love them? How much do you love them? Imagine that love times 6.3 billion, plus the millions of people of the past. Our God is a god of love. He created us out of love. He continued to love us even though we turned from Him, broke his laws and ignored Him. He continued to pursue us, as you would pursue your child who ran away from home, even if your child told you he hated you. And He continues to pursue us today.

          He loves us and pursues us even though we do the same things the Israelites did in ancient times and worse. He loves us while we kill unborn children by the millions out of convenience. While we hate and war with each other, while we live in prejudice. He does so while we remove His commandments from our buildings because we've decided it's unconstitutional. He loves us while we remove prayer from schools and nativity scenes from school plays. He pursues us while we insult Him by questioning the authority of the Bible, and as we move further and further from Him. He loves us because we are His children.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

 (1 John 3:1)          

         God can not stand to look upon our sinful nature. But He loves us so much that He sent His only Son to be nailed to a tree and die for us. (John 3:16)  Jesus’ blood covers those in the human race who believe in Him and confess Him as Lord. God then does not see our sinful nature anymore because we have been cleansed. As hard as this has always been for me to understand, it makes perfect sense if you think of it in terms of love. The ultimate Love.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  (Psalm 118:29)

          Steven Walls