The love of Jesus is often talked about, sang about, and preached about. Some refer to this love as a thing of the past. To others, it seems to fit only in Sunday School or church. To still others, it is an every-day subject and reality. In spite of the diverse reactions to, and opinions of this love, we are told that it is the greatest love of all time. 1 John 3:16 NASB, We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us. John 15:13 NASB, Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
For some of us, Jesus’ demonstration of love is not a convincing proof that we are truly loved by Him. Our hearts tell us otherwise. Usually this is because the love of Jesus is an intellectual subject and not a personal experience with Him.
Personal experiences with human love usually begin before birth and form a very early impression. Experiences with human love throughout our lives, reinforce or change our early beliefs. Love is a basic need of mankind and leaves a deep impression on the soul, whether it is given liberally or sparingly. When love is limited, we believe love to be scarce. When love is conditional, we believe that to be the quality of love. We tend to project the human love we experienced, on to Jesus’ love.
The amazing thing is that our experience of Heaven’s love began even before then. In a discussion of death, King Solomon says this: Ecclesiastes 12:7 NASB, then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return unto God who gave it. This implies that we were with God before He sent us down to earth. According to 1 John 4:16, God is love. He is the very essence of love, so we were in the presence of pure love.
Life experiences and the devil’s lies cause us to lose connection with that love. Damaged souls find it impossible to reconnect with that love, outside of an encounter with the very Person of Jesus. The reality is that we never stopped being loved by Pure Love.
Let’s take a look at this love.
His love and God’s love for you are the same. Romans 5:8 NASB, But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Nothing can make Him stop loving you. Romans 8:38 and 39 NASB, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
His love provides safety. Psalm 26:7 NASB, How precious is your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
He has compassion when you are pain. Luke 7:13 NASB, When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”
His love turns curses into blessings. Deuteronomy 23:5 NASB, … but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because your God loves you.
His love has fought for your freedom. Zephaniah 3:17 NASB, The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
Jesus is not offended when we cannot return His love, due to our broken hearts and sinful lives. He just continues to invite us to discover His love. He even actively goes out to seek us and call us. The story of the shepherd looking for the lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14), is a good example of that.
The fact of the matter is, Jesus’ love is just too big to be fully understood. It is too gentle, too powerful, too transforming, and too unchanging for our human mind to wrap around. Even when our heart encounters that love, it is still so massive, we just absorb a fraction of it. That fraction is enough to fill every need and heal any wound. It is great enough to free any bondage and sooth any distress. Apostle Paul knew this, so he prayed about that. He prayed in Ephesians 3:18 and 19 NASB, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you might be filled up with all the fullness of God
When human love fails us, His love never fails. I pray that you may have an encounter with Jesus, and experience His Pure Love.
Karen Sensenig, Prayer Minister