INCOMPARABLE LOVE
Three times over in this section Paul presents the same pattern of things, namely the dire condition of humanity met by the deep love of God. Repetition in Divine things is necessary, and profitable, but they are never repeated without adding another dimension. The depths of meaning of Calvary are without limit and only the eternal ages will unravel the wonders of what happened there, so it can stand some repetition for now. In the previous statement, humanity has been seen to be helpless to save himself and at the same time ungodly. Here he is seen as a sinner, something hateful, something vile, an aspect of our nature few of us even want to hear.
He begins this section by comparing the love of God to the best love of man. Having stated what that is, he then goes on to state "God commendeth His love to us." The word here should have the force of "His own love," God's particular love, His own brand of love, which is way beyond what man is capable of. He talks about "a righteous man" and a "good" man . Obviously he is speaking from the human point of view, since from the Divine point of view there is not one of us righteous and not one of us good (chapter 3). Humanly speaking there are people who are upright, who do everything right, who go by the book, at least so far as anyone can see. Very few would love such a person to the extent of dying for them. There are people who are good humanly speaking, that is those whose actions show a care for their fellow man and at times will go beyond the call of duty, for such some might be prepared to die. What Paul is saying is that the ultimate proof of love is death, whether you would be prepared to give up your life for somebody. If there are such and there are many, notably those who serve in the military to defend their nation constantly risking their lives for others, this is the high point of human love, and we honour such; God's love goes way beyond that because of many things. Firstly, who He is, the supreme God of the universe, the Creator and Sustainer of all life. Peter describing this in Acts chapter 3 said "You denied the Holy One and the Just and desired a murderer to be granted unto you and killed the Prince of Life." Secondly, for whom He died - sinners, those who had offended God's throne, those who had rebelled against his authority, those who had insulted His name, and those whose lives were completely contrary to the will of God for His creatures. In the modern world we do not like this description - sinners, but it is what we are. Why did God allow men and women of His day to so maltreat His Son? The writer to the Hebrews asks us to "consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself". Read the stories of the life and death of Jesus Christ as told in the four gospels, learn for yourself, the bitter hatred, the false accusations, the maliciousness, which took place in what must be considered as the greatest act of sin ever - the brutal murder of the Son of God on this earth. If merely the death of Christ would have saved the world, why the brutality, why the hatred, why the public shame? The answer is God wanted to show to the world just exactly what sin is, and what a sinner is, when given the right circumstances they will give vent to all the vitriol that is within the human heart.
In the next verse he makes the statement that believers have been "justified by His blood" this completes the trilogy of the truth of justification. Prior to this we have seen justification by grace (Romans 3v24); this is the source of justification, the gracious disposition of God. Then in chapter 5v1 we read of justification by faith, which is the channel through which it comes to us. Here we read of justification by His blood; this reminds us that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary satisfied all the demands of a righteous God. In the term "blood" in the New Testament there is usually a two-fold meaning. First the man ward side, the brutality of the act, and secondly the Divine side, the efficacy of the act. Justification by blood signals these two extreme aspects of the death of Christ, namely the brutality of man, and side by side with that, the deep love of God. Who in this world would watch inferior people so brutally maltreat their son, and then turn and bless those people? Of course the answer is no one, but THIS IS THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD.
The fact this event was the long term plan of God only adds to the supreme love that is here demonstrated. The apostle Peter captured the mood of this when he said in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, showing both sides of the coin "Him being delivered by the determinate council and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
Human love takes account of the object of the love, human love expects something in return; God's love, His own love, His unique kind of love takes no account of the object and expects nothing in return. "God is love, in this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent His Only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein His love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1st John 4 v 8-10
"Beloved if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." 1st John 4 v 11 We don't truly know this truth until we try to put it into practice! Try it, and see how much you really know about this incomparable love.
Tomorrow d.v. The greatest love to the most wicked people.
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