LOVE (Anne Englert)

You are precious and honored in my sight,
    and I love you.  (Isaiah 43:4)
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.  (Jeremiah 31:3)
I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you.  (Ezekiel 16:8)
I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and in justice,  
    in love and compassion.  (Hosea 2:19)

These amazing statements are addressed to human beings by a holy and awesome God.  In fact, in the Old Testament alone there are about 250 times when God’s relationship with people is described with the Hebrew word hesed, which is translated as love, compassion, mercy, loving-kindness, faithfulness, devotion, and steadfast love.
 
In the story of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 34, God revealed himself to Moses as “the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation.”
 
The book of Psalms is filled with affirmations of God’s steadfast love for us.  As if to sear this truth into our memories, one of them repeats the refrain, “His love endures forever” after every single verse--26 times!  (Psalm 136)

All these Old Testament Scriptures remind us that the New Testament is not the only place to learn about God’s love.  In the first part of the Bible, too, there are meaningful images of God as a nurturing and comforting parent, as a loving and faithful spouse, as an exemplar of compassion and mercy.  Which parts of the Bible do you go to for assurance that you are loved by God?

You may already know that the gospel of John is filled with references to the love of God -- as Father and Son and Holy Spirit.  Besides John 3:16, I am thinking particularly of chapters 13 through the end of the gospel.  Jesus not only assures his disciples of his love for them, but asks them to remain in his love by being agents of love themselves.  (John 13:34-35, 14:21, 15:9-12)

Chapter 21 ends with a poignant scene between Jesus and his imperfect disciple Peter, calling forth Peter’s ability to love Jesus again by caring for those whom Jesus loves.  Click here to read those passages in the Bible:.

For me, the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us is the mystery of the Incarnation.

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”  (John 1:14 NLT)  The eternal and omnipotent Creator Spirit entered human history, took on a physical body, and became one of us.  As Jesus, God showed us what God is like and how best to live as human beings.  As Jesus, God proved how important and loved we are by being willing to suffer an unjust and degrading death on our behalf.  (Philippians 2:6-8)  The Incarnation is as radical and significant as if a human being became an ant in order to communicate love to ants.

And now, keep yourselves in the marvelous, mighty love of God.  Jesus speaks to us:
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love… I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  (John 15:9-12)

May the music and images of this video inspire you: