the wonderful news about the love of God

i was going through Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris this morning, and i was on the chapter discussing about God in His greatness yet being so personal with us.

i know it struck me already the first time i read it, but this morning it gave me a different feel. on his discussion about God's love, i just had to stop and meditate on what His love is really about.

the lines from the book that got me:

"The love of God is wonderful news only when we understand his transcendence - when we tremble at his holiness, when we're awed by his perfection and power. God's love is perceived as amazing only when we realize that the one thing we truly deserve from him is righteous wrath and eternal punishment for our disobedience and loyalty."

most of us think that His love for us is something about us - we being lost creatures and bound to die, and because He doesn't want that to happen, He demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. BUT God doesn't need us to be able to justify his being God. His love for us is for His eternal glory, that through our lives we would reveal His goodness and grace.

as humans we are sinners, considered as God's "enemies" for He hates sin.
so we do not deserve His love, yet it is freely available to us.
His love defines our salvation, our eternal gratitude for being rescued from hell and living in worship in heaven.

yes, we do always hear people saying that "God loves us". at times when we receive blessings, we always claim that "God loves me". and also, we encourage others with "God loves you" when we feel that they need to hear it. but do we really understand for ourselves what His love means to us?

Understanding the love of God (view on my instagram)

His love for us should not make us boast that a God is in love with a mere human, but rather it should make us fall on our knees, realizing that we don't deserve anything from a Holy God. His love should leave us amazed at His goodness.

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than angels and crowned them with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:3-5

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so no one need to be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." - John 3:16-17 MSG

"But the greatest glory of the Cross is what it tells me about God. A God of justice and mercy. A God who loved helpless sinners like me so much that he came to die so we could be free to know and worship him for eternity." - Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep (Chapter 3: Near But Not in My Pocket)