What is Love? I mean really, what is it: This singularly powerful force that is at the forefront of God’s attributes? The statement of Love has always been a cause for inquiry and confusion. One saying, “I love you?�, be it a sibling, a spouse, a friend, or any other acquaintance to whom it would be applicable, never ceases to amaze us and at the same time confound us. And though the idea of Love, rationally, escapes us, its definition couldn’t be any clearer. For the Word of God describes in exquisite detail, I Corinthians 13, exactly what Love is. We may not know intuitively what it is, but we certainly know in a revelatory manner. God has told us, even if we can not completely comprehend everything there is to know about it. And this ignorance that we share concerning the nature of Love has left us with a most expansive gap in our knowledge of why Love is dispensed. This is because in every other condition, whether it be justice, honor, integrity or any other such aspiration, there is a sense of merit. One earns one’s own respect, dignity and such. However, in the case of Love, it is given not only freely, but without regard to the beloved’s worthiness of affection. For most of us, it is simply not enough to explain the mysteries of His love for us in the admission of our not deserving it. We want to know why it is He loves us in spite of this. Here, we will explore the question of why God loves us and the basis for it.

There are chiefly one of two reasons why we would think that God would pour His favor upon us in the form of Love. The first would be that of our actions and their warrant for such an attitude directed towards us. The other is that of an inherent nature that we may possess that is accorded with this highest form of favor. As to the former, this is a common perspective shared by many in the secular world. One may state that their love for their spouse springs from his or her ‘immaculate’ character and unimpeachable moral standards, while others could point to the fact that their best friend is so in virtue of his or her ‘proving’ themselves through years of loyal friendship. And this may serve the worldly person well, but this is clearly not the Biblical standard for loving another. For the Bible says that “for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die, but God commended His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5: 7-8).� In contrast to the view that God’s Love is based on some meritorious system, the fact that “God so loved the world…� militates against the premise that we have somehow earned his favor. It is given as a gift, not as a wage.

And still yet there seems to be the doctrine that, although we have not earned His love, we nevertheless deserve it because of something inherent in us. It would be like the primal force that draws the female creature to the male, the cold season to the warm and vice-versa. This would be the idea that we as human beings are indwelt with a ‘lovability’ that God not only recognizes, but honors with His affection towards us. But again, the Word leaves us no room to accept this. In the gospel of Luke we are told that ‘there are none good but God.’ This strongly suggests that the love that God bestows upon us is not in view of our goodness, but His. For there ‘are none that do good, not one…all have gone astray.’ With this in mind, there is really nothing lovable about us that God is ‘forced’, or ‘compelled’ by any nature, foreign or domestic, to honor. It again goes back to grace and God’s choice to love.

In short, God’s Love is a testament to His eternal sovereignty. Like the lover who eagerly searches the field for the most spectacular specimen of flowers to lavish his lover with, so to is God impassioned by His own will to Love. For the real confusion comes with the false analogy of God and Man. We are often slaves to our passions and follow them for no other reason than to satisfy them. But with God, His desire is not like ours. It is commensurate and complimentary to His will, rationale and perfect plan and design. Like one of my favorite songs sing, “For your Love is strong enough to weather through the thunderclouds.� Indeed, the weak, feeble image of love as a hindrance to being strong in character is most profoundly mistaken. The most powerful and effective force attributed to God’s nature is Love; not one of those brief emotional states we frequently confuse it with.

Send This To A Friend