The Love of God

In youth group we are studying the book 'The Joy of Fearing God' by Jerry Bridges and so far it has been an excellent read. This week we studied the chapter on the love of God and it was an amazing chapter. What does it mean that God loves us? It means that He sent his son down to earth to die for a race that openly rebels against him and hates him. Bridges uses the analogy of a hobo coming to your door for food and you give it to him; but in God's case it is more like a hobo breaking into your house and stealing all your stuff and then getting caught and going to jail where you go an bring him food. God has a great and infinite love for us who are so unlovable. This amazing love worked in our lives can only lead to outworkings of holiness in the Christian's life.

He also talks about how we better come to know and appreciate the love of God. It is much like the opposing forces that we see in nature. If you whirl a ball on a string around your head it is pulling on the string in the outward direction while the string is pulling on the ball in an inward direction each of these forces needs the other one to counterbalance it, and so it is with the love of God and the fear of God. The more we come to understand how great and holy our God is and how far above us he is and how horrible our sin is the better we understand his love. He who has been forgiven much loves much. The more we learn about the holiness of God and the sinfulness of ourselves the greater our awe and fear of him will be and the greater our astonishment at his love. It is incomprehensible that God should condescend to love a wicked man like me and yet it is true. This amazing truth can never be dwelt on too much. This is where self-examination should lead us...to an astonishment that God still loves somebody as wicked as me. Hallelujah what a Savior.