FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
It’s no secret that we humans will stop at nothing in our quest for transcendent love. Since the fall of man, we’ve been traversing life’s most rugged terrain in search of acceptance, affirmation and significance. It’s a tireless pursuit that can be arrested only by a full-on encounter with the inimitable love of God.
From the opposite direction, God stops at nothing to reveal His love to us. His pursuit was set in motion with creation and has never deviated in its course or its force. Christ’s death on the cross removed all doubt regarding the depth of the divine romance. One Rich Mullins song describes it as “the reckless, raging fury that they call the love of God.”
So why do these two unstoppable forces, recklessly raging toward each other, so often fail to meet? Because early on, the human race was spun around and continues to stagger like a dizzied, blindfolded child, clutching the paper tail of a cardboard donkey. Satan’s deceptive act in Eden set our bearing toward some distant mirage of a lush oasis. Since then, his ongoing ruse has kept us wandering in parched pursuit. Meanwhile, God continues to chase us, but we’re too disoriented to look in His direction.
As rescued Christ followers, our task is to expose the big lie that God has no interest in pursuing us and is therefore not worth pursuing. The only way to dispel that lie is by proclaiming the indisputable truth of the gospel: That we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our Great Commission charge is to place this simple yet seismic truth within reach of all humankind.
So where do we begin? We must ingest the daily manna of His divine love. Have we allowed it to seep into the most hidden crevices of our inner lives? Or are we still trying to earn it through our unstinting performance in ministry? We can’t be compelled to convince the world of a love we haven’t first experienced ourselves.
What is the human soul willing to do for the love of God? Just about anything. What does the love of God require of the human soul? Just about nothing. Simply receive it. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39). Spread the Word.
Peter Burgo is the editor of Alliance Life magazine. He and his wife, Pam, attend North Springs Alliance Church with their four children.
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