"God's Great Love"

          The apostle John wrote, "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" (1 Jn. 4:9). Obviously, God sending His Son into this world to die on the cross in order to pay the debt for the guilt of our sins is the greatest example of His love for us. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13).

          God's love is manifested continually in regular, repeated ways. The nature of man demonstrates the love of God. Why is man a moral being? Why does man have the capacity to reason right from wrong, good from evil? Why does man have a conscience? Why does man care about justice? All of these features of man's nature testify to the love of God. Only man is created in God's own image (Gen. 1:26-27).

          Look, too, at all of the advantages with which God blessed man from the moment of his creation. God placed man in a location with all of the resources needed to sustain and nurture life. Food and water was right there. And, the life sustaining fruit of the tree of life was readily accessible. God did not just create man; He created the world such that when He placed man in it, man could flourish from the beginning.

          The love of God is also seen in God's reaction to man's sin. An angry, purely vengeful God could have struck man dead for his disobedience. It could even be said that justice would have been served by God simply ending man's existence because of his rebellion against God. But, instead, God set about to patiently provide a plan for man's pardon and ultimate salvation.

          The untold blessings that God bestows upon man on a continual basis also exhibit the love of God. Sometimes, when things seem to be going badly, we would do well to stop and think of all the blessings we enjoy, many of which we take for granted. The eighth verse of first John chapter four sums it up, for truly "God is love."