In the mid 1800s a large number of babies were dying soon after childbirth. During that time Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor, learned something which would change the medical community forever. In his studies he noticed more babies were dying after being delivered by medical students than by midwives. Digging deeper, he realized the students often performed autopsies prior to delivery, contaminating their hands with microbes.
Dr. Semmelweis instigated a regiment of hand washing which substantially dropped the number of infant deaths. Though soap had been around since Biblical times, its total benefit was not known until then. This began the great soap-related hygiene revolution which radically changed the medical field.
It’s amazing how a bit of knowledge about soap could save countless lives.
Is there knowledge we can gain which can have an even larger impact on us?
Yes.
Knowing God’s love for us is even more vital that knowing the benefits of soap during medical procedures. Us knowing God’s love has eternal ramifications.
Following are three reasons knowing God’s love is so essential. To grasp it we need to realize its more than information to be stored in our heads. It must also come alive in our hearts.
May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened. [2]
Perfect Love Drives out Fear and Allows us to Love
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because He first loved us (I John 4:18-19 NASB).
As I examine my heart, much of my sin is rooted in fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of poverty. Fear of unhappiness. Fear of . . .
Fear causes worrying and robs me of essential peace.
In the above verses, John writes about a love which drives out fear, a perfect love, flowing from the heart of God.
While we still fear, we’re yet to be perfected in God’s love. However, to the degree we realize God’s amazing love for us, our fears melt away and peace reigns in our hearts.
As I write, I imagine a life with no fear. Fearless. Oh the freedom! Oh the joy! And it’s not just something to wish for. God’s perfect love is real, the chaser of all fears.
But there’s much more.
God’s love for us is the source of all true love. To the degree we realize His perfect love, we’re able to reflect His love back to Him and to others.
Perfect love not only gives us courage, is also the source of all of our love.
We love because He first loved us.
God’s Love Enables Our Obedience
And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NASB)
Since our love is rooted in God’s love for us, His love enables our obedience. In the above verses, Jesus gives two vital commands which basically summarizes the entire Bible. Our obedience is characterized by love. It’s the overarching filter to govern everything we do. As the ten commandments state, loving God (first four) and loving others (last six) should guide our every word and deed.
So, why is God’s love for us important?
God’s love enables us to love. And loving is how we obey Him.
God’s Love Roots and Grounds Us
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 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 may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19 NASB)
God’s love for us surpasses our knowledge. It’s beyond our understanding and our intellect. Even so, Paul prays that the superlative dimensions of God’s love might be comprehended or realized in a way which comes alive in our hearts.
Paul is praying that what does not fit in our heads, will dwell in our hearts as God is pleased to illuminate it.
God’s love roots us and grounds us and gives us a vital firm foundation. To the degree God’s surpassing love is illuminated and made real to us, our souls are secured against the storms and trials of life.
Story: There’s a song based on the verses above about the deep, deep love of Jesus. Many years ago, the song was sung at the funeral of Rachel, a little two-year old play mate of my oldest son.
O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus [3]
As the song was sung, I looked over at her parents. I couldn’t comprehend what they were feeling. In my raw state, I wondered how the song could possibly fit since Rachel had died.
Then it hit me. As deep as the pain Rachel’s parents were feeling, God’s love was deeper still. In their pain, they had an opportunity to experience the depth of God’s love in a way they might not have otherwise known.
Since then, my wife and I have experienced some deep relational pain of our own, kind of like the death of a child. But through it all, God’s love is deeper still. We can truly say that we know God’s love more deeply because He’s met us in the depth of our grief and pain.
Conclusion
From Zephaniah 3:17 we learned that God delights to be with us and that we make Him happy.
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.
What makes this and other facts about knowing God’s love for us so VITAL is that:
- God’s love chases away ALL fear
- God’s love and is the source of our love
- God’s love enables us to obey Him
- God’s Root and grounds our soul, no matter what
Prayer
Lord may my comprehension of Your amazing love for me continue to grow as I soak in its reality. Thank You for chasing away my every fear with Your perfect love. Please remind me quickly when fears arise. Thank you that Your love enables me to love You. May I receive Your love and give it away. Thank You for delighting to be with me. Please help me to grasp Your love more and more. Steady my heart in the firm foundations of Your delight in me. Amen.
[1]https://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/21/tenthings.changedtheworld/index.html
[2] Ephesians 1:18
[3] Written by Samuel Trevor Francis
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