LOVE

1 Corinthians 13:13; so now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
John 3:16: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’
Philippians 3:10: ‘That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (11) if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.’

Rarely does Scripture use superlatives, but at the end of one of the greatest literary works in the Bible and beyond, we see an active comparison of the three core concepts that form the foundation of faith, suddenly singling out one as the greatest. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he made an iconic statement towards the end of his letter: ‘That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death.’ This leads us to wonder, what else could Paul be seeking?

Yes, we all know Paul as an ardent seeker of God, someone who would lay down his life for the gospel. He despised death for the sake of the gospel, facing it many times. Yet, here he is, seemingly just as curious as we are. Paul pondered the passion of Christ, and I bet he asked the question: Why?

The suffering of Christ is such that Jesus said to his disciples, ‘No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.’

Jesus confirmed this by willingly staying on the cross for six hours, with His hands and feet nailed to the wood, naked, abused, humiliated, and in deep anguish. The cross, to any man in that world, was the highest symbol of humiliation, reserved for insurrectionists, rebels, and the worst of thieves. For Israelites, it was the worst way to die. Jesus paid the ultimate price according to the law and satisfied the divine justice of heaven.

I believe Paul then asked himself, why? Why would God come down to earth, starting from the greatest point of disadvantage? Why would He endure rejection and persecution from those He sought to save? Why would He choose persecution at the hands of men? Why would He stay on the cross for six hours for them, and still intercede for the saints in heaven? No other reason came to mind; all other reasons fall short.

It was not for gain, for He already had everything before man was made. The Bible says everything was created for Him and for His glory. It was not for glory, for the angels proclaim His glory day and night. Creation proclaims His glory throughout the world—the grass, the sea, every created being, the stars, the moon, and the sun speak of His glory day and night. Not even for power, for what other power could man ascribe to Him?

The psalmist wondered, ‘What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that Thou visits him?’ If we look beyond the surface level of pride and arrogance, like the psalmist, we conclude that man is nothing—nothing in power, nothing in being, nothing in righteousness, and nothing in value to God. Yet, it was for him that the Bible confessed that for the joy that was set before Christ endured the cross despised the shame the joy of seeing people come to God, the Bible said he is not ashamed to call us brothers.

When God sought for a man on earth, someone who could redeem mankind, He found none. This brings us to wonder, what does God still owe man? Why would He descend to earth and die for us? It doesn’t make sense, it is not justifiable on any scale. Nothing explains it—except love.

The summary of the Law of Moses is that ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might.’ This is the principal thing; it is the summary of the Law, because God held nothing back when He loved us. He gave His Son to die for us; He sent His precious Holy Spirit, His precious companion, to us. As if giving His Son was not enough, He also gave Himself. He held back nothing when pursuing mankind.

This brings us back to the psalmist’s question: What is man? Because nothing makes sense anymore. God is obsessed with man. With over thousands of years of observation, it still doesn’t make sense—He visits man every day, He listens to his cries. No matter how angry divine justice is against man, God still seeks ways to bring him back to Himself. Even when man wandered away for years, and when some intentionally despised the heritage of God, he still dragged him back to Himself.

In this light, we can say that God is love. The only thing that can explain God’s actions towards us is that God is love. It doesn’t make sense otherwise. And if it does make sense outside of that, then you haven’t known the gospel yet.

When you see us smiling and rejoicing with the joy of salvation, it is because we know that Christ died for us, and this is the greatest expression of love to us-ward. And like Paul, we can from the depth of His love for us cry, ‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.’

With this outpour of love towards us, from before the beginning of the world, can we then say that He will refuse to continue? If divine grace has made this available for us since the beginning, why would we think anything less of Him? Are we not assured of this God who gave everything for us, who lavished His love on us while we were yet sinners? Scarcely can a man die for another, and maybe for an innocent man, people can rally support to protest against his death sentence. But God showed His love in that while we were yet sinners, while our sins abounded, while we were deserving of death on all sides, Christ died for us. The most righteous man died for sinful men all over the world; Christ Jesus, died for us.

Let this love consume us whole, O Lord

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