His Love in the big picture

For fathers (and mothers) to be like God they must consider that their children are just that, children. When mine were little, I went through a period of expecting them to behave as small adults, which was unfair and likely as stressful for them as it was for me.

Now I know better. Because they are children, good parents realize their limits and adjust their expectations. This is like God. Psalm 103:13-14 says, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.”

Today’s reading says that then adds, “Christ has declared to us the name of the Father in order that we may discover that the Father loves us as He loves His Son. If we believed this, could we ever have an anxious or rebellious thought again?”

When I read that, my first thought was, His love for His Son included death on a cross. I’m not sure I want to be loved that way. John 3:16 explains that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” to die so that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” If God loves me as He loves Jesus, would He send me to my death so that others might live? And if so, does that mean He loves those ‘others’ more than He loves me?

These questions are answered by the verses from Psalm 103. Just as God knew that His Son would obediently die for the sins of the world and would be able to rise up from the dead, He also knows my capacities. He knows what I can do and will do. He knows what He can ask of me and what would be too much for me. However, that does not ensure that I will go through life without being asked to make sacrifices.

Some think that believing in Christ will make their lives trouble-free. Some preach a prosperity gospel that declares God wants you rich, and put a distorted focus on money. Others think that faith in Christ will make you healthy and that no one would be sick if they just have enough faith.

These and other notions need to be tested by the life of Jesus Christ. God loves His Son, but did Jesus have a trouble-free life? Was He wealthy? There is no record that He was sick, but He certainly experienced hunger, thirst and fatigue, just like the rest of us. If God loved Him yet allowed these things, how can we expect to be exempt?

It seems to me that most definitions of love are far too selfish and personal. Besides that, where the Bible says God loves us, it mostly uses plural pronouns. His love considers what is best for all His people and the eternal well-being of everyone. If a personal sacrifice will benefit the family of God, then He could ask me to make it.

Yet in the asking, He still has compassion and knows that I am mere dust. Apart from Him and faith in Him, I cannot do anything sacrificial, nor do I want to. It is not part of my human nature. However, at times of intense prayer, I’ve found myself saying, “Lord, if taking me out of this world would draw ______ to Jesus, I am willing for even that.”

Those words are Holy Spirit words. This piece of dust would never say them unless the love of God was at work. This is a mystery. His love is so intense that He would die for me, and when He came to live in me, He began filling me with a love so intense that I’ve experienced that same willingness. How awesome!

The love of God is not an ‘out there’ love bestowed on me for my pleasure. It is an ‘in here’ love that transforms the heart. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has not one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:12-13).

Yes, God loves me as much as He loves His Son. He also considers my capacities and weaknesses, knowing that I am not able to be or do all things. But His love does not leave me weak and helpless or even unwilling to accept from Him the same challenges that He allowed Jesus to experience. Instead He gives me that which I would never have apart from Him—His incredible love that is not mine to hold and enjoy. Instead, God’s love for Jesus and His love for me is as Romans 5 says, “poured out in our hearts” meaning that He pours it in so that I might pour it out.