GOD’S HEART IS LOVE (2)

“And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the LOVE with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” – John 17:26

Our Lord Jesus declared and demonstrated that GOD”S HEART IS LOVE: “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the LOVE with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (Jh.17: 25-26). Part of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer was His desire for us to know the Father’s Great Love, which is essential to healthy Christian living. God’s Love is fundamental to our identity as His children. If we aren’t rooted and grounded in His unconditional Love, we will be like unleashed buoys being tossed about in the sea.

It may sound trite that God loves us, but it’s rewarding to open our hearts afresh to this reality, so that God could reveal His Love to us in a real and new way. In our meditation text, our Lord Jesus made the unfathomable statement about how great the depth of God’s Love is for us. No force on earth is more powerful than the love our heavenly Father has for us, His children. His love can move mountains, stop the boisterous waves on the sea, heal broken bones and wounded hearts, transform lives, and set free those held captive by sin and shame. So great is God’s Love for us that He sent His only Son to die that we might live through Him.

The Message of God’s Son and the reality of redemption is that God loves us the way He loves Jesus! His heart is full of affection for us. Jesus always prayed perfectly in line with the Will of the Father because the Father and the Son are one. So when Jesus prayed for God to love us with the same love He has been given, His prayer is in perfect alignment with the Heart of our Father.

Romans 8: 37-39 says, “Yes in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who LOVED US. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of GOD which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Through the death of Christ, the barrier between us and God was torn into two. God’s wrath was satisfied with Jesus’ death, and now we can experience the full depth of His Love. Through Christ, we have been made new to walk in unimpeded fellowship with our holy, perfect God.

God created us to be loved; to pour out His Love over us. We don’t have to work for His affection. In the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, the father ran out to meet his son, still in rags of sin and shame, without a bath, a shave, or change of raiment! He wasn’t waiting for him to apologize. He simply wanted to love his child. Our heavenly Father feels the same way about us. He longs to love us right where we are, as we are. He who created us knows our frame. He longs to fill us with love to overflowing.

God is not an angry taskmaster who shows affection only when we make gain. He is our loving Father who will always love us no matter what. We can give room for God’s Love to heal us, transform us, and lead us to the abundant life in Christ (1Jh.4: 9-10).  Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer was rendered to usher us into the fullness of what Jesus died and rose to give us, such that our lives become a wonderful reflection of His Love. We can experience the depth of God’s Love for us in every season. We are children of the Most High, loving God. He will never leave us nor forsake us. His love is powerful, real, available, and abundant!