As In a Mirror

Word for Wednesday: How Great His Love (Updated)

February 16th, 2010 by The_Other_Alice

For this week’s Word for Wednesday, I decided to re-post an older one I posted back in September, only with a few updates.

Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:9-11)

Isaiah 53

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

I have been thinking lately on what a great love God has toward us, his children. We, who once were not the people of God, but are now His people! (1 Peter 2:10) “When I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.” (from the hymn, How Great Thou Art) When I think that those nails that pierced His hands were meant for me; the heartbreak through which the angel of God kept Him alive, belonged to me; the mocking and beating, the lower parts of the earth– I was the one who deserved it. How could the Son of God die for me? Why? It doesn’t make sense. What could He have gained? Could it be love? If so, all I ever thought was love is shattered.

Jesus, the altogether Holy One, did and spoke only as His Father directed, and doing so gained Him nothing but a few faithful followers, who so often doubted. He had nowhere to lay His head, zeal for His Father’s house consumed Him, and although He brought the message of truth, peace, and life, the people just wanted the “stuff.” Others were afraid. HE still followed His Father. He had one great purpose: to do His Father’s will, to be a ransom for sin, to redeem God’s people to God. He knew perfectly well what sufferings He had to endure; that all would abandon Him, that He would die and enter Hell for the people– for me, for everyone I see, for the tribes hidden on the earth, for the royalties of Europe. “He opened not His mouth.” He did not stand up for Himself. He went as a lamb to the slaughter; but He chose, He knew. He endured the abandonment, the mockery, the humiliation, the pain, the scourging, the thorns, the hill, the cross, even Hell. He cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Think of it: God’s only Son, in whom He was well-pleased! When I understand this, there is no way I can, with a clear conscience, speak as if heaven is owed me by God; it is clear that I deserve hell.

At the end, He cried out, “It is finished.” He had completed His purpose on earth. That was LOVE, though the people He was loving rejected it. Lord, teach me this love, me who so treasures honor, loyalty, devotion, purpose, strength. Teach me this love! This love, that appears morbid, but leads to resurrection, redemption, hope, life! And teach me to say, “I love You, Jesus!” Make me a lamb, oh, make me a servant, a flame! A soldier at Your right hand. Lord, I want to give 100% of me to You, for Your glory, that Your name may be highly exalted among the nations. Because of Your Son, I now can call on You as “Father!”

“And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:
‘ You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.’

And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus:
‘ I will give you the sure mercies of David.’

Therefore He also says in another Psalm:
‘ You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:32-39)

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ” (Romans 8:15)

We have been born of God, we abide in Him by keeping His commandments; we love Him because He first loved us! We are His, now. Let us follow in the steps of Jesus, returning in a small portion that Love which was so freely poured out for us!

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
“ Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:21-25)

This song, “Lead Me to the Cross” from Hillsong United, sums it all up.

He loved me; He did not love His throne in heaven too much to humble Himself to become a man, despised and rejected, just to make it possible for me to live forever! Can it be? The Holy Son of God–died, crucified–for me, a sinner? I think sometimes we define love by our own standards instead of those of God, whose very nature is love. Love is not exalting another above what he really is, but making a way for him to face the truth and make it right. And in our case, we could not make it right, so Jesus came, yet still we looked down on Him, disregarded Him. Nonetheless, His love ENDURES!!! Some of us have experienced His love, pouring so freely over our hearts, washing us and making us new, and what sorrow we felt when we realized how long we had ignored Him! But thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! What a wonder, how when no man would seek the face of the blessed Lord from whom all good things flow, He came softly, quietly to earth to find us! He came to make us clean, to sanctify us and rescue us from the grasp of the accuser. What a wonder His love; what freedom is bondage to His way!

There is an old hymn by Charles Wesley, called “And Can It Be?” Here are the first and the third verses:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Actually, I’m thinking of a whole bunch of songs on this topic! “All For Love/Shout Unto God” by Hillsong United– really fits what I’ve been trying to say here.

And also, JUST ONE MORE! The Wonder of Your Love from Hillsong’s newest album, Faith+Hope+Love.