What Manner part 5
I think the most important revelation I've had during this Rant series--and remember, I don't write because I think I know stuff. I write to explore and figure out stuff. I think the most important revelation I've had during this Rant seris is that the question of "what manner of love do God have for us?" is not a question for US to answer. Its one for HIM to answer. And He's not afraid to do that. At all. All throughout the Old Testament people asked God for signs. And He didn't rebuke them. He didn't accuse them of not having faith. He gave them signs. Let me say it another way: Love is never afraid to prove itself. In fact, love proving itself is what makes it love. Jesus told people that the greatest love a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. And then He went to the cross and did just that. He put His money where His mouth was. He didn't just tell us about love... He showed us love. The appearance of love, right? And when Jesus--when LOVE--appears, we are like Him, because we see Him as He is. Because as He is, so are we in this world. Let me quote a memory verse real quick. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). And, to me, this kind of says it all. Because if we're expected to love others as Jesus loves us... then all of the emphasis is on HIM loving us. If God expects us to love each other a lot... He has to first love us a lot. Which is what 1 John 4:19 says, "We love him, because he first loved us." And I always like to point out how in the NLT it reads, "We love each other because he loved us first." Reads differently, but says the same thing. Because we love Him BY loving each other. And we love Him BACK (by loving each other) because He first loved us. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So in order to give someone love, you must first have love. That's why God gave us His only begotten Son--so that we might know ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. So that we might know Him as heavenly Father. So that we might know His love for us as a Son knows His Father's love. What manner of love does God have for us? A love that literally says, "I would rather die than be without you." A love that not only gave His life FOR us, but gave it TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience it, even as we give it away. That's God's love. Sacrificial. Lay your life down. Give everything you have and everything you are no matter what happens next. And, listen, that kind of love doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. It seems too good to be true. When, really, it is so good that it MUST be true. It is the truth! And while it just might take all of eternity for us to comprehend the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of that love... all we're really expected to do is enjoy the ride. We don't have to figure God out. He reveals Himself. To us, and in us, and through us. He appears. LOVE appears. And when we see it... we be it. When we behold it, we experience it. When we give it away, when we share it, we live it. And that's what life is for--its for living. To live is to love, and to love is to live. What manner of love does God have for us? He'll show us. And then we'll know. And then we'll be able to give that same love!