When you need a savior from harm of any kind, God loves you enough to come to your rescue.
In the Old Testament, what would you say is the defining act
of God, apart from Creation? The people of Israel would undoubtedly answer it
was when God saved them from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt. He saved them
from slavery to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who were too strong for them. He
redeemed them with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, pouring out judgments
on the Egyptians and then parting the Red Sea so that Israel could march
through on dry ground.
Why did God save them? He explains: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my
son” (Hosea 11:1 ESV). God saves because he loves. His love is a saving,
redeeming, rescuing love.
In Psalm 18, David
described being in great danger, but then God came on the scene: “He brought me
out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me”
(Psalm 18:19).
God’s love-inspired
rescues are the story line of the entire Bible. God created humans; Adam and
Eve fell to sin and Satan; and the rest of the Bible is the story of how God saved
our fallen race.
Moreover, salvation
is the story told again and again throughout the Bible. God saves Noah and his
family from the flood; Abraham and Sarah from Pharaoh; Jacob from Laban; David from
Goliath and then from Saul; Hezekiah and Jerusalem from Nebuchadnezzar and his
vast army; Israel and Esther from Haman and the annihilation edict of the king;
Daniel from the lion’s den; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery
furnace; Jehoshaphat from the hordes of Moab, Ammon, and Mount Seir; Jeremiah
from the false prophets; Peter from prison; Jesus’s body from the grave. The
Lord never tires of this plot. He loves saving people because he loves people.
When God’s Son
became a man, the Father named him Jesus, which means “save,” and the angel
explained, “[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he
will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 ESV).
When you need a savior
So, what does God’s saving love mean for you? It means he
saves you from what threatens to harm you. He is still in the salvation
business, large and small.
It’s as natural for God to save as it is for you to breathe.
Redemption—a rich biblical word for salvation, emphasizing the idea that God
brings good out of bad—is God’s nature, and it’s the nature of love.
If there is some harm that threatens you, whether spiritual,
financial, physical, social, relational, or whatever, call out to God. As David
prayed, “Save me in your steadfast love!” (Psalm 31:16 ESV).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: In pride, fallen people don’t want God’s
help. We want to save ourselves through our own goodness and skill.
God’s way: In love, he saves those who are poor in
spirit, who are humble enough to admit their need and ask for help.
Life principle: In all things, the Lord is your salvation from harm.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
Love serves. Though God is exalted, he actually serves us.
God’s love for us leads him to do many surprising things,
and perhaps the most surprising is his choice to serve us. We normally think that
it is we who serve God, not God who serves us. It even sounds wrong to say the great,
exalted God serves us. But in fact it is God who to an infinitely greater
degree serves us because of his love for us.
He truly humbles himself to serve us. For example, changing
diapers is not prestigious work, yet parents—because of love—do for their infant
children what they would not lower themselves to do for others. They humble
themselves and serve them.
Love serves.
Because God loves us, he serves us, not just now and then,
but continually, for we continually, unceasingly need his support, for we are
completely dependent on him for life, breath, and everything else—at all times.
At no time are we self-sustaining. So God in love, in humility, serves us, like
a restaurant server waits tables, like a nurse cares for patients.
Love serves
Jesus, who is the perfect reflection of God, made a point of
this:
“ 1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when
Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father,
having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2
During supper…3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things
into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4
rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it
around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to
wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around
him” (John 13:1–5, ESV).
Notice it says, “He loved them to the end.” It was love that
moved Jesus to serve the twelve—even the man he knew would betray him—and it is
love that moves him to lower himself and serve you, for to wash feet one must
stoop.
God’s love keeps on serving
This was not a one-time aberration. “The Son of
Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many” (Matthew 20:28). Everything Jesus did for us during his earthly
ministry was an act of servanthood. He gave his life for others, for you.
Moreover, he is not finished. Teaching about his
Second Coming, Jesus said, “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds
awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and
have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them” (Luke 12:37). So, even when Jesus comes as the
unmistakable King in power and glory, he will change his clothes, direct
everyone to find a seat at the banquet table, and serve them dinner.
Why does he do this? This is not the way kings act. But it is
the way God acts. He humbles himself to serve the people he loves. How can we resist
loving a God like this?
Letting God serve you
Even so, it doesn’t feel right to have someone as great as
Jesus serve you. Peter felt it when Jesus came to wash his feet. Lapsing into
another of his “I need to straighten out Jesus” moods, Peter told him, “You
shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “If I do not wash you, you have no share
with me.”
Peter wisely reverted course: “Lord, not my feet only but
also my hands and my head!”
Our way and God’s way
Our way: We may regard serving others in humble ways as
demeaning.
God’s way: The Lord shows his humble love by stooping
to serve us.
Life principle: To receive God’s humble love actually takes humility, for it requires that we acknowledge how much we need him. God’s humble servanthood teaches us to serve him in return, and to serve others. To be a servant is to imitate God.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
We often talk about knowing God, but does God know you?
God knows everything and everyone, but he doesn’t know
everyone in the same way, that is, in the same loving way.
For example, the Bible says, “If anyone loves God, he is
known by God.” (1 Corinthians 8:3 ESV).
Notice that there is a way of knowing that God has only for
people who love him. If—if—anyone loves God, he is known by God, it
says.
What kind of special knowing does God have for those he
loves and who love him?
Does God know you?
God speaks of certain people with approval. He receives and
accepts them. For instance, in response to a request, God told Moses, “This
very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my
sight, and I know you by name” (Exodus 33:17 ESV).
Although God knows everyone’s name, he is saying to Moses
that he knows Moses as a friend. We might put it this way: we’re on a
first-name basis. This kind of love is the love marked by favor, familiarity,
and approval.
I live in a four-tower apartment complex with some 2,500
residents and several dozen employees. I can’t meet or know everyone, of
course. When I walk down the long hallway connecting the four towers, there are
many people I don’t recognize, some I recognize but don’t know yet, and others
that I have met and know their names. When I’m in the hallway, I’m looking for
the people I know. When I see them, I make it a point to smile, greet them, and
visit when possible. My attitude toward the people I know is different than
that toward strangers; it’s marked by more favor and friendliness, more love.
In some ways, this is how God knows the people of the world.
God knows and loves everyone in a way, but he knows and loves his people in a
greater way.
The privilege of being known
Obviously this is a great honor. Imagine getting a new job
at a company with 1,000 employees, and in your first month on the job there is
an all-company meeting. When you arrive at the large auditorium and check in,
you receive instructions to go to a particular room before the first general
session in order to meet some of the company leaders.
Immediately you feel stress, for the leaders of your company are highly respected not only in your company but throughout the profession. Your company’s CEO has written numerous books that are standard works in the field, and he speaks in conferences around the world. He is a multi-multi millionaire. You have looked up to him for years. You are an entry-level employee, and this will be the most important hour in your networking life.
When you walk into the room, to your astonishment the first person to welcome you is the CEO . To your greater astonishment, he greets you by name and remarks favorably on your education and background. You are so taken back, that you can only think to ask, “How do you know me?”
“I know you,” responds the CEO. “I know you well. In fact, I read your resume. I worked with the HR department in selecting you. I’m very careful about who we hire to be a part of the team. I want you to sit at my table and have breakfast with me.”
Later, after breakfast, in the general session of 1,000 employees, the CEO again surprises you when in his vision talk he starts out by saying, “I want to welcome <your name> as a new employee this month. I am excited to have him on our team, and I believe he will do a great job for us.”
Wow! Would you feel special? To be known by name by the
owner of the company. To have him regard you as a valuable member of the team.
To be greeted by name by him when he sees you in the hallway.
Knowing brings significance
To be known, truly known, by an important person is a
wonderful feeling. It gives a feeling of value and significance. But being
known by God is infinitely more wonderful. To be known approvingly by God is
the ultimate meaning and significance of any person. In the eyes of every
person in the world, you could be regarded as a nobody, but if God knows you—knows
you as only he can—you are important. You have value.
Are you a follower of Jesus? Then God knows you. Knows you! Knows you by name, knows you as a friend, knows you as a father who loves you. This knowing is his choice. And now for the rest of eternity you get to know him better and better. To know and be known in pure love. As Paul writes, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen people want to be known by people,
not by God. Because of their sins, fallen people prefer to hide from God, to
walk in darkness.
God’s way: In love, the Lord honors you by deigning
to know you, like a king leaving the throne room to walk among the common people,
learn their names, and become their friends. He gives you the privilege of
being known by him.
Life principle: Meaning and significance in life comes from knowing that God chooses to stoop down and know you. (see Psalm 139)
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
God created his church for a love relationship with him marked by mutually intense delight and desire.
With different people, we love in different ways. The love one
feels for a parent is different than one feels for a child, not more or less,
but different. Likewise, love feels different for a friend than for a brother
or sister; or for a teacher, coach or mentor. All these loves have different
qualities, but all are love.
Romantic love differs from all other loves. Although songs, novels,
and movies are written about the love of friends, teammates, family, and
others, the number of songs and stories about romantic love exceeds them all by
a millionfold. Any objective observer would have to conclude romantic love is
the greatest and insatiable obsession of humans.
It would be surprising indeed if this singularly important
love between humans had no counterpart in God, that is, if he loved like a parent,
friend, or master, but not like one romantically enthralled with a spouse or
lover. We might hesitate to ascribe romantic love to God, especially if we have
any prudish tendencies to regard the marriage bed as unclean, which it is not
(Hebrews 13:4). Romantic love is marked by desire and passion, by pleasure and
delight, and it’s hard for us to think of God that way.
The God who woos and weds
Yet Scripture demands it, for God describes himself using this
analogy.
Isaiah 54:5 says, “Your
Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name.”
God says, “I will
betroth you to me forever” (Hosea 2:19).
The apostle Paul writes, quoting from Genesis 2:24, “‘Therefore
a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two
shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it
refers to Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:31–32, ESV).
When God forbids having idols and when he rebukes Israel for having them, he uses the language and expectations of romantic, marital love. He speaks of his own jealousy and of Israel’s adultery and whoring. He describes himself as a jilted lover:
“You shall not make
for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You
shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a
jealous God” (Exodus 20:4–5).
“You ask and do not
receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You
adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an
enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He
yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?”
(James 4:3–5).
“When the LORD first
spoke through [the prophet] Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, ‘Go, take to
yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits
great whoredom by forsaking the LORD’” (Hosea 1:2).
Marks of romantic love in God
God has romantic love for his people collectively. The Bible
describes the church, not the individual Christian, as the bride of Christ. Yet
as a member of the church, every individual Christian is in a sense the object
of that romantic/courtship/marital love.
Romantic love has several features that compare to God’s
love for his people:
Delight, ardor, desire, attraction: “The LORD your
God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with
gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17, CSB). Clearly, God finds
pleasure in the loving relationship he has with his people.
Wooing: “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that
your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my
steadfast, sure love for David” (Isaiah 55:3). “God’s kindness is meant to lead
you to repentance” (Romans 2:4).
Emotional attachment: At the Last Supper of Jesus
with his disciples, “When the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles
with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this
Passover with you before I suffer’” (Luke 22:14–15). In the Old Testament era,
when God spoke to his people with warning of judgment to come, Hosea spoke
these surprising words from the Lord: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How
can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat
you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and
tender” (Hosea 11:8).
Admiration of beauty: “I clothed you also with
embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen
and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets
on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and
earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned
with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and
embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly
beautiful and advanced to royalty. And your renown went forth among the nations
because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had
bestowed on you, declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 16:10–14).
As this verse shows, it is important to know that God is the
one who makes his people beautiful and desirable. In ourselves and apart from
God’s gracious work in us, we were repulsive in our sin.
The same idea occurs here: “Husbands, love your wives, as
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify
her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he
might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25–27)
“Your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for
he is your lord” (Psalm 45:11, NLT).
Union: Jesus said, “In that day you will know that I
am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20).
Covenant: “I made my vow to you and entered into a
covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine” (Ezekiel 16:8). Jesus
said,“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my
blood” (Luke 22:20).
Headship: “The husband is the head of the wife even
as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Ephesians
5:23).
Sacrificial giving: “Husbands, love your wives, as
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen people want to love God the way a sister
loves a brother. Fallen people want to have many lovers.
God’s way: The Lord loves his people passionately and
requires that we love him exclusively and passionately. God finds romantic
pleasure in loving his people.
Life principle: God created his church for a love relationship with him marked by mutually intense delight and desire.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
I invite you to read my weekly posts about knowing God and his ways better. —Craig Brian Larson
God’s unconditional love requires everything from you.
Is God’s love unconditional? Yes.
Is God’s love conditional? Yes.
God’s unconditional love
We define unconditionallove as not requiring a person being loved to fulfill any conditions. Unconditional love gives love regardless of whether the beloved deserves love or wants love. Unconditional love does not say, “I will love you if….”
Jesus said, your father who is in heaven “makes his sun rise
on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”
(Matthew 5:45 ESV). That is unconditional love.
God resembles a human father who loves his child long before
the child is able to respond to that love. The father gives the child a home,
pays for her food, diapers, doctor visits, clothing. His daughter returns this
kindness with poopy diapers, crying in the middle of the night, and regular
demands to be held and walked. Still, the father keeps giving and giving. This
is unconditional love.
Scripture says, “God shows his love for us in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV).
God loves people unconditionally. He loves because he loves.
He loves even his enemies. He loves sinners.
Scripture says, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19
ESV).
God planned to send his Son to suffer and die for our sins
before we were even born. He brought the gospel message to our ears when we did
not want to hear the message and convicted us of our sin and godlessness when
we did not want to be reminded of it. He poured out his wrath on his holy,
beloved, precious Son so he would not have to pour wrath on us. He did this
while people were still sinners. This is unconditional love.
God’s conditional love
On the other hand, conditional love says, “My love requires
something from you.” Again and again the Bible shows that when God gives love
he demands something.
Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your
name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21–23 ESV)
What could be more conditional than that? In effect, Jesus
says, I have loved you, but if you insist on disobeying my Father and living
lawlessly, depart from me. I never knew you.
That is conditional love.
God delivered the Israelites from Egypt unconditionally. He
called Moses and sent him against Pharaoh with ten plagues even though the
Israelites soon told Moses to leave them alone. God parted the Red Sea and set
the people free. Then at Mount Sinai he gave the people his commands and taught
them how to live in covenant with him. Nevertheless, again and again they
refused to believe and obey God, until finally God sent them to wander for 40
years in the desert until the last of the rebellious men had died.
That is conditional love. God didn’t say he would love each
of them no matter what. He said they had to keep his covenant.
One of the best-known verses in the Bible says, “For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son
of God” (John 3:16–18, ESV).
In other words, God loved the world unconditionally by
sending Jesus, but the condition for escaping condemnation is believing in
Jesus. If a person rejects Jesus, then God’s unconditional love does them no
good at all. Meet the condition, or perish.
Elsewhere, the New Testament says, “Do you presume on the
riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s
kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and
impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when
God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:4–5 ESV). That is
conditional love. Respond to my love or suffer my wrath.
The problem with talking about God’s unconditional love
God’s unconditional love in Jesus is our song and message.
Unfortunately, in our culture today, when we talk about God’s unconditional
love, many people misunderstand that to mean God requires nothing from them.
Many think “God loves you” means they don’t need to believe in Jesus, don’t
need to repent of their sins, don’t need to pursue holiness, don’t need to
worship or give thanks to God, don’t need to pay attention to the Bible, don’t
need to have anything to do with the church. They think they can live however
they want, or at least be a generally good person, and believe whatever they
want regardless of what the Bible says, and God loves them enough to surely
welcome them into heaven. Tragically, they are wrong, and ultimately dead wrong.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen sinners can misunderstand God’s love
to require nothing from them.
God’s way: God’s unconditional love requires
everything from us. “He died for all, that those who live might no longer live
for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2
Corinthians 5:15 ESV). “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my
love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (John
15:10 NIV).
Life principle: Don’t choose between describing God’s love as either conditional or unconditional, for his love is both.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
Because God loves you, he gives you strength and ability to do all that is his will.
During the summer before my senior year in college, I worked for a carpenter building houses. For my first day on the job, I brought my own hammer to work. It was a typical hammer used around the house, measuring about 13-inches long. My job was to pound large, 16-penny, framing nails into 2×4 studs to make walls. I quickly learned that my little hammer was not up for the task. It required way too many strokes to sink each nail, and I would need to sink several hundred nails each day.
My new boss let me use that for an hour or two, to make a
point I suppose. Then he walked up, said, “Put that pea-shooter away,” and handed
me one of his hammers. It was about four-inches longer, and heavier, and the
head had sharp teeth to bite the head of the nail so as not to slip off with a
glancing blow. This was a professional-grade framing hammer. It was powerful. I
could sink a nail in one-third the strokes.
I had a job to do and needed power to do it. My boss
empowered me with a tool.
Kinds of power
Power comes in many forms. I not only needed a
professional-grade hammer for my task, I also needed energy, lots of it. I was
on my feet all day, lifting heavy stuff, swinging my hammer, climbing ladders
and walls. My boss was a furiously hard worker and kept his crew going at a
fast pace. So, I needed food and water. How glad I was to be newly married and
have a wife who woke up early to make me a filling breakfast of eggs and toast
and meat, as well as to make me a big lunch to take to work with a cold thermos
of water. I had a job to do and needed power to do it. Nancy empowered me with
food and water.
We all need power in other forms. We can’t work successfully,
for example, without wisdom, skill, motivation.
Because my new wife loved me, she met my need for food
energy. Love meets the need of another.
God’s love behind your power
God loves you, and so he meets your need for power. He
empowers you in many ways. He provides abilities and skills, motivations, the
infilling of his Holy Spirit, wisdom, coaches and teachers, education, money
and capital, tools, technology, hands and fingers that move and legs that can
walk and eyes that can see and ears that hear and a brain that can think. In
all these ways and more, he meets one of the greatest needs you have: the power
to work, act, move, produce, achieve, build, and create.
Unless God in love chose to give you each of these
empowering resources, you would be utterly impotent, weak, and incapable. “From
him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36, ESV).
The apostle Paul wrote, “Not that we are sufficient in
ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from
God, who has made us sufficient” (2 Corinthians 3:5–6).
Moses told the Israelites, “Beware lest you say in your
heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You
shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to
get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17–18).
Again Paul, speaking about what he had accomplished as an
apostle, wrote, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me
was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it
was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
God’s empowering love
King David recognized the connection between God’s love and
his empowerment. David needed power for face-to-face combat, beginning famously
against Goliath and followed throughout his lifetime with scores of battles. In
Psalm 18 he describes God’s help. Notice what these select verses say about the
empowering love of God:
“1 I love you, O LORD, my strength. … 29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. … 32the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. 33 He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. … 39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. … 50 Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.” (Psalm 18:1, 29, 32–34, 39, 50)
In
another Psalm he again connects God’s empowerment with his love: “1
Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers
for battle; 2 he is my steadfast love” (Psalm
144:1–2).
In his
love, God met David’s need for strength and skill with a sword, shield, bow and
arrow.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: We might proudly rely on ourselves. We might boast and take credit for what power we have. Paul told the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
God’s way: God gives us every sort of power we need
for what he wants us to do, if we will rely on him through prayer, have faith,
and follow his wisdom. He is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15:1–7).
Life principle: I can do all things through him who lovingly strengthens me (Philippians 4:13 with “lovingly” added).
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
You have a rightful claim to your heavenly Father’s kingdom and possessions, and God will ensure you receive what is rightfully yours.
Imagine how different your outlook on life would be if you
were a 15-year-old son or daughter of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. At one point in
2019 he was the richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of $170
billion. If you were one of his four offspring, you would be an heir to some or
all of that money. Suppose his will stipulated that at age 25 you would receive
10 percent of the inheritance; that’s $17 billion. As a teenager, your thoughts
about the future, about your plans and hopes and dreams, your sense of
security—all would be different than the average person. No matter what
problems or challenges you faced from now until turning 25, you would remember and
console yourself with the great change that awaited you.
This is the attitude every Christian can have. We are God’s sons
and daughters and thus his heirs. He owns everything and promises to give it to
his children. The earth and much more we cannot yet comprehend is our
inheritance.
Colossians
1:12 says Christians should be “giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified
you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light”
(NIV). Notice the word “qualified.” One dictionary defines an heir as “one who
is entitled to inherit property.” Notice the word “entitled.” This means
the heir has a legal right to something. The children of the heavenly Father
have a right to all he owns.
Your heavenly inheritance
Consider a few things Scripture teaches about your
inheritance.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the
riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” (Ephesians 1:18 NIV).
–We need light to be given to our spiritual eyes
to grasp how great our hope in this inheritance can be, how glorious
this inheritance is. Its riches are infinitely greater than anything the
children of Jeff Bezos will receive. The Bezos children should envy you rather
than your envying them.
“All
things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or
death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and
Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:21–23).
–Being an
heir of God literally means everything is yours, shared with all the rest of
God’s children, because everything belongs to your Father. This is your Father’s
world, and he delights to give it all to you. You will inherit the whole world.
–Even
something negative like death is yours in the sense that Christ has transformed
the death of a Christian into something he uses to bring us good. Through death
we go from mortality to immortality, from perishable to imperishable, from
weakness to strength. We die in union with Christ and his death, unlike those
who do not follow Christ, who die in their sins in union with the devil.
“Listen,
my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be
rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love
him?” (James 2:5 ESV)
–We will
inherit the kingdom of God, our Father’s glorious new creation of
righteousness, peace, and joy that is coming someday upon the earth. It is our
right as a child of the heavenly Father.
“He
saved us…so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according
to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5–7 ESV).
–We will
inherit eternal life. In Christ this is your right.
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and
fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also
be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16–17 ESV).
–Jesus is the heir of the Father, and we are
fellow heirs with Jesus. We share in the inheritance of Jesus! What is his is
ours!
–Being an heir of God requires perseverance and a
willingness to suffer persecution as Jesus did in this life. You can lose your
inheritance by losing your faith and falling back in love with the fallen
world. Esau is the prototype of this folly:
“See
that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal
sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son” (Hebrews 12:16 NIV).
But for faithful believers in Christ who endure to
the end, the story is altogether different:
“You
know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward”
(Colossians 3:24 NIV).
–Our
inheritance is our reward for choosing the true God over false gods.
“By
faith he [Abraham] went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,
living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise”
(Hebrews 11:9 ESV).
–God
promised Abraham amazing things, including that he would be singularly blessed,
have a great name, be a blessing to the world, and receive the promised land
(Genesis 12:1–3; 15:7). Genesis shows that these promises were Abraham’s
possession, and therefore they became the inheritance, the heritage, of his son
Isaac, and then of his grandson Jacob. They inherited not only property from
Abraham but also promises, the promises God gave Abraham. But Abraham has many more
heirs, as the following verse reveals:
“If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:29 ESV)
–That’s
right, the glorious truth is that through faith in Jesus Christ we also become
the heirs of Abraham and therefore we inherit many of his promises. We are
entitled to share in what God promised Abraham.
–Our
response to all these glorious promises should be praise and confidence:
“Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy,
he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish,
spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3–4 NIV).
The Father’s heart
In the
Parable of the Prodigal Son, the wonderful, loving father told his oldest son
something that reflects the heart of our heavenly Father toward us: “He said to
him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:31).
Those words make God’s heart personal and direct to you. Memorize and meditate
on them until you believe them with all your heart, and no matter what life
throws at you, you can go through every day with firm hope in the inheritance
that awaits you.
Ah, Jeff
Bezos, you are but a pauper compared to my heavenly Father, and unless your
children are followers of Jesus Christ, they too are paupers compared to me.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: The original lie that Satan spoke to Eve in
the Garden called into question the goodness of God (see Genesis 3:1, 5), and
fallen humans have been swallowing that lie ever since. We may think the Father
is holding back his best from us.
God’s way: The Father’s loving generosity is without
limit. All he has is ours.
Life principle: We should set all our hope in the gracious inheritance we will receive when Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven. We should sacrifice anything that would compromise it.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
What does it mean that God our heavenly Father protects us, since he also allows the evils that occur in our world?
When our sons were young, we went several times for family
outings to Starved Rock State Park in Central Illinois. It’s a beautiful, rocky
area with many cliffs and gorges. It’s also a dangerous area if you don’t
follow the rules. Every year, people fall and die. So, it’s not only a fun
place for a family trip but also a nervous place for parents. You want boys to
explore and be adventurous, and you don’t want to hold their hand or warn them
continually against doing this or that, but the reality is you want to protect
them from the real possibility of harm and death.
As a loving Father, our God in heaven has a similar desire to protect his children. King David took comfort from knowing that God resembled a good shepherd who had a rod and staff always ready at his side to fight off hungry wolves and bears (Psalm 23:4). God promises, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name” (Psalm 91:14, ESV). “The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3, NIV).
Our favorite Bible stories often are about God’s ability to
protect his people. Daniel in the lion’s den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
in the fiery furnace. The apostle Peter delivered from a dungeon by an angel.
God is constantly protecting us from a thousand potential
harms of which we are not aware. If he withdrew his protection, we would succumb
to untold numbers of germs, demons, and accidents. Never does a moment pass that
God has not protected you from harm.
Anomalies
However, both the Bible and human experience attest that
protection is not the whole story. There are exceptions to the rule. Evil
things happen even to God’s people. Job lost everything for a time. Joseph was
sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. Cain murdered Abel. John the Baptist was
beheaded. The apostle Paul was beaten, stoned, and jailed many times. Stephen
was stoned to death. Harmful things have happened to you and those you love.
What makes that especially difficult for believers in the God of the Bible is, we understand that he is all-powerful and all-knowing. He is not in a dualistic battle with evil he cannot contain. Satan and his demons are not all-powerful. They were created by God and have continuing existence only by God’s will. Our Father in heaven must ultimately allow what happens because he foreknows all and enables everything to exist. He is sovereign, never doing evil, but allowing it.
So, God is our Father in the sense that he wants to protect his
children from harm but also that he allows them to go through hard, painful
things so that they will grow mature, strong, and capable. He occasionally
allows harm for the sake of a higher good (Romans 8:28). It’s not ordinary.
It’s temporary. But it’s no accident or oversight, for the arm of the Almighty
is not too short to protect us.
For example, when my sons came to the age when they would
begin middle school and high school, I hated the thought of it. I knew how
cruel kids can be to each other. But I also knew my sons had to keep growing
and face the world as it is. Although I wanted to shelter them completely from
harm, I knew it would be better for them to grow stronger and wiser through the
challenges ahead of them.
Can we expect to be protected?
So, where does that leave us in our desire for God’s protection?
1. We should pray for our Father’s protection and expect it.
Our loving heavenly Father delights in protecting us, and as
a result his protection is normal and continuous for us in countless unseen
ways. So we should never—never—fear.
Psalm 91 describes the normal experience and expectation of
God’s people:
“1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the LORD, ‘My
refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’
3 For he
will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. 4
He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor
the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in
darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand
at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only
look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because
you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge— 10
no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you
up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the
young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 14 ‘Because
he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him,
because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.’” (Psalm 91:1–16)
2. In those exceptional times when God chooses for us the alternative good that
will come through suffering, we should trust him and still pray and believe for
deliverance.
Paul wrote: “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Corinthians 1:9–10).
3. If we believe and trust him, our Father always delivers us from evil,
either now or in heaven.
When Paul was in prison, he wrote:
“The Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:17–18).
4. If we believe and trust him, our Father always gives us the strength,
courage, and comfort to overcome pain and hardship.
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)
5. If we believe and trust him, God always protects us from the ultimate
evil, which is harm coming to one’s soul.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger,
or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day
long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither
death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35–39
ESV).
Our way: We fear the many evils this world can bring.
God’s way: He protects us from all evil except what brings our highest good and his greatest glory and gives us grace to overcome.
Life principle: Never fear. Always trust God’s perfect wisdom in ordering your life.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
We should pray for deliverance from suffering of any kind, and we should believe and expect that God will deliver us immediately. But until that deliverance comes, we should regard suffering as discipline and respond accordingly.
My wife works for the Chicago Public School system as a
substitute teacher. That means she is assigned to schools all around the city,
in all kinds of neighborhoods, in grades from preschool to 8th. When she comes
home at the end of the day, sometimes she tells stories of pleasant classrooms
with delightful children. At other times, she returns home like a shell-shocked,
mustard-gassed soldier from a losing battle.
In the battleground classrooms, she experiences the bitter
fruits of children who have not been properly disciplined first at home and
then again at school. If children come from broken families lacking wise
discipline, even the best schools have a major challenge on their hands. But
that situation is often compounded by some school administrations that do not
back up teachers and—believe it or not—even prohibit teachers from handing out
consequences. The result is children who have no respect for teachers and a
classroom where little productive education happens even for the good kids.
If anyone understands firsthand what a good and loving thing it is to discipline children, it is my wife.
Why suffering?
The Bible says that God in love, like a good Father, disciplines us. He allows pain into our lives, not because he is malevolent but because he is good and knows what will benefit us most long-term. He follows his own advice to human fathers:
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves
him is diligent to discipline him” (Proverbs 13:24 ESV).
Discipline is loving even though it does not feel
like love.
Principles from Hebrews 12:5–11
We find the fullest description of this vital
principle in Hebrews 12:5–11. Much could be said on this passage, but here I
will simply quote each verse and follow with succinct principles.
“Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as
sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary
when reproved by him’” (Hebrews 12:5).
–Don’t regard discipline lightly;
that is, don’t ignore it, don’t fail to examine your soul for sin, don’t regard
suffering as something other than discipline—such as “bad luck” or “one of
those things”—and as a result fail to repent of any known sin.
–Don’t let discipline—that is,
painful circumstances in your life—make you weary to the point you give up and
stop believing God’s promises.
“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises
every son whom he receives”(Hebrews 12:6).
–Discipline feels like God is
against you, as though he rejects you, but it actually is proof of his love and
that he receives you.
–Discipline can be extremely
painful. The Greek word mastigoō,
translated “chastises” in verse 6, is the word for the scourging Jesus
underwent before the cross (the King James, NKJV, and NASB use the word
“scourges”; it literally meant whipping). So, “chastises” is rigorous, painful
discipline.
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating
you as sons. For what son isthere whom his father does not discipline?”
(Hebrews 12:7)
–For discipline to fulfill its
purpose, you must endure it and correct whatever needs correcting. If you give
up by no longer trusting God and his words, if you fail to examine your soul
and repent of sin, then the discipline will be wasted pain that does not
fulfill its purpose.
–The NIV translates the first
sentence in this verse, “Endure hardship as discipline.” Certainly we should
pray for deliverance from suffering of any kind, and we should believe and
expect that God will deliver us immediately. But until that deliverance comes,
we should regard suffering as discipline and respond accordingly.
“If you are left without discipline, in which all have
participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we
have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not
much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?” (Hebrews 12:8–9).
–We must renew an attitude of
subjection to our Father.
–If we do, the discipline will
bring us life.
–Discipline accomplishes its work
in the dimension of the human spirit. God is the Father, the Creator, of our
human spirit, and therefore he knows what brings it good.
“For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed
best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his
holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).
–The purpose of discipline is our
good, as Romans 8:28 says, “In all things God works for the good of those who
love him.”
–When we respond correctly to
discipline, it brings holiness. Holiness is good.
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than
pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who
have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
–Discipline is painful, unpleasant.
–Discipline trains us.
–Discipline yields peace.
–Discipline yields righteousness.
Our way and God’s way
Our
way: We may regard pain as bad luck, as something God did not deliberately
allow, or as something that simply overflows into one’s life because we live in
a fallen world.
God’s way: Love
seeks another person’s good even if it requires temporarily bringing them pain.
Our heavenly Father knows that temporary pain saves us from eternal
pain, that some pain saves us from far greater pain, that much good can come
from some bad. In love he disciplines with long-term wisdom.
Life principle: When we suffer, we need to submit ourselves completely to God and his purposes and repent of any known sin.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
When your heavenly Father infused his identity into your human nature, it was an act of love.
I have four sons, and as a father who loves his sons mightily, I want them to have things in common with me. I gave my last name to all of them, my first name to one of the them, and my middle name to another. In each of them over the years, I have seen in different ways reflections of myself, and at those moments I have been pleased. For example, I competed in gymnastics, and each of my sons competed in gymnastics, and I enjoyed that they did. It is loving to want to have things in common.
It is also a loving thing to want to give gifts to another
person. Giving yourself is the highest expression of loving. This loving,
self-giving spirit explains the desire of parents to have children in their own
image. Fathers and mothers want to give their very selves to their children in
a unity greater than any other: the unity of identity. Parents want to give
their name to their children. They want to give their strengths to their
children, strengths like beautiful eyes, strong stature, intelligence. They
want to look at their children and see something of their best selves.
God gives us this desire because this is his desire. This
desire to pass on one’s identity, to have an enduring name, to have a lasting
posterity in one’s children and children’s children, is also the result of a
healthy, righteous self-respect. God has perfect self-respect. In love, he
wants to pass his glory on to us. He wants to see his glory in us. This is love
for others mixed with proper self-respect.
God’s image
Scripture reveals in many places God’s loving
desire to share his identity with us:
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and
over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”
(Genesis 1:26–27 ESV).
“We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory
of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory
to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
“Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).
“Put on the new self, created after the likeness
of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
You “have put on the new self, which is being
renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10).
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly
Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
“You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).
“Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood
the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written
on their foreheads” (Revelation 14:1).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen humans don’t want to resemble their
Father. They want to leave home and be their own person.
God’s way: He delights to see himself in us. When he
infused his identity into human nature, it was an act of love.
Life principle: One of the priceless gifts God has lovingly given you is his identity. You bear the image of God in your human nature. Cherish and respect that gift. More than anything else that you are or that you accomplish, the image of God stamped on your nature gives you value and significance. It ensures God’s love for you.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
