Thursday, April 7, 2016

What Manner of Love



(#64, Hinkley/Yermo/Kelso, 1951; Imperial, 1954)
Read 1 John 3:1-3.

The best and most wonderful word in heaven and earth is LOVE, for God is love!

Love is the deep desire to give itself for the loved.  Love finds it's joy in imparting all that it has to make the loved happy.  This is what God has done for us.

A Moravian missionary went to preach the Gospel to the slaves in the West Indies.  Failing as a free man to reach them, he became a slave himself and went with them to their toils in the field and into all their hardships and sufferings.  Then they listened to him.

This illustrates Christ's love for us.  He entered into all our toils and sufferings, even death, for us.  (1 John 4:9-10).

I. The Love Bestowed Upon Us.  Eph. 3:17-19
We can't measure God's love but indication is given as to the greatness of God's love.
Breadth
"Whosoever"
John 3:16
Length
"Everlasting"
Jer. 31:3
Depth
"Me"
Gal. 2:20
Height
"In Him"
Eph. 2:6
His love is truly sacrificial, unchangeable and unselfish.

A story is told of a King in Africa, offended by one of his slaves, who determined to put the slave to death.  As arrows were placed in the bowstrings, an Englishman standing nearby pled for the slave but to no avail; the King did not want Ivory or gold but blood.  As the arrow flew the Englishman jumped in front of the slave, taking the arrow for him.  As he removed the arrow and blood flowed from his arm, he said to the King, "Here is blood; I give it for this poor slave."

Think of the wounds in the hands, feet and side of Jesus, there because of His great love for us.
Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Rom. 8:38-39)

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