But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
God Sent His Son
What is God’s love like? We have so many expressions and demonstrations of love. Many of them are rightly cherished and appreciated for what they reveal about who we are and how we can support one another. To some degree, most people view love through those lenses and consider that sufficient. But is it enough? And God says, No.
There is a love that all of the other types touch but do not quite express fully, and this is why Jesus’ time on earth was crucial. His death on the cross is the ultimate expression of the love of God. Here, we see how the Son followed the Father, displaying to Him and even to His enemies what He would do to stretch and reach them, demonstrating how they can return to a right relationship with Him. There was nothing we could do to bridge the chasm of the broken relationship – so God bridged the gap Himself. There is nothing we could do to resolve the problem of lives wrecked by sin and destined for death – so God sent His Son to absorb death and defeat it.
This, however, is the culmination of a life spent demonstrating the love of God in other ways. Here is Jesus being confronted with a woman caught in adultery, with onlookers waiting to see what He would do about it. His response had little to do with her and more to do with the hearts of those who sought to condemn her. His response to her was about mercy and restoring her to the right place. She did nothing to deserve this love; this is something Jesus did to demonstrate God’s love.
Here is Jesus noticing a man up a tree who happens to be one of the infamous tax collectors. Jesus calls Zacchaeus not to condemn him – and likewise not to condone his actions – but to invite himself to a meal so they can talk things over. His actions were shunned by those who had already made their judgments, but He was far more concerned with reaching someone in need of what God offered. Zacchaeus did nothing to deserve this love; this was something Jesus did to demonstrate God’s love.
Here is Jesus facing a man with leprosy. The rules stated that you didn’t touch someone with this condition. The rules stipulated that these individuals were deliberately positioned on the margins and were not to be encountered. Jesus heard the cry of the leper, had compassion on him, reached out to him, touched him, and brought about healing in the physical and in the social. This was astounding to those who looked on. This man had done nothing to deserve this love; this was something Jesus did to demonstrate God’s love.
These episodes are just the tip of the iceberg of a wide variety of episodes in the ministry of Jesus Christ, where He put on display what God’s love looks like. This love was not dependent on what others did. This love was not just emotions and feelings. This love was the act of the will that expressed a character of love that was far greater than any love had ever been expressed before or after. To understand God’s love is to look at Jesus in these episodes and consider the Son on the cross for sinners and raised to new life to offer this to those who receive what He offers.
This is why the revolutionary nature of God’s love is that we do not love out of our own sense of feelings and affections for Him. We love Him because He first loved us. We love Him because He pours His love into us, enabling us to love as He loves. His love transforms us from enemies to family. His love transforms us from those who exercise and experience love to a slight degree to being those who exercise and experience love to a divine degree that goes beyond thoughts and feelings and fills us with a refreshed approach to love and encounters with others.
So God sends us
It is not enough to say, “God loves you.”
Indeed, Jesus did not come and declare that God loves people. The reason why it’s not at the heart of what He declared to crowds is that the message of God’s love was something demonstrated. Today, the idea that sharing the message of God’s love can make a difference to someone is not always helpful. There is a time when that message can be shared, there is a time when telling that meditating on that will make a difference.
Being sent by God in the light of the love we receive from God equips and empowers us to demonstrate this love in different ways. The sensitivity we share in a conversation. Feeding the hungry. The offer of a token of care. Meeting the physical, emotional and mental needs of those who oppose us. Clothing the naked. Embodying peace in the middle of divisive situations. Reaching out to offer healing. Visiting and supporting the imprisoned. Helping the homeless. Bridging the gap to bring about reconciliation. Helping the neglected and forgotten to experience the embrace of belonging. These are just some of the ways we can demonstrate God’s amazing love, which isn’t based on how others treat us or anything we want to earn. This is all about sharing with others what has been generously shared with us, as this is who we are and this is what we do.
Our challenge is to see what it means to be sent in this way today. Have we experienced the distinctive love of God? Is this something we continue to experience daily? Is this specific kind of love the foundation for relationships in the family of God? Is this particular kind of love the driving force behind how we engage with our community? How do we express that on the individual and communal level?
As the Father sent the Son, He is sending us.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
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