Tag: Reformed

From the series “The Love of God: Revealed, Received, and Radiated”

If you want to know what God’s love looks like, look at the cross.

Not because the crucifixion was the first time God loved.
Not because wrath was satisfied and love was finally permitted to flow.
But because the cross was the full revelation of the love that had always existed in the heart of the Father.

Jesus didn’t come to persuade God to love us.
He came because God already did.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:8

The Son did not wait for us to repent. He didn’t demand that we first obey. He came while we were His enemies (Romans 5:10), dead in our sin, unworthy and unwilling. And it was in that place that the eternal love of God broke into the world—visible, personal, bleeding.

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The cross was not an interruption in the character of God. It was the unveiling of it.

To see Jesus is to see the Father (John 14:9).
To hear His words, feel His compassion, and witness His mercy is to encounter the heart of the One who sent Him.

When Christ washed the feet of His disciples—including the one who would betray Him—He revealed a love not rooted in response, but in resolve.

When He healed the ear of the soldier who came to arrest Him, He revealed a love that overcomes evil with good.

When He looked at those who mocked Him and prayed, “Father, forgive them…”, He revealed the kind of love that doesn’t flinch under pressure or diminish under hatred.

This love is not abstract. It is not safe. It is not reserved for the deserving. It is poured out without caution, without condition, without calculation.

And that is what makes it holy.

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If we are to understand the love of God, we must let go of what we’ve learned from the world.

This is not the love of human passion or performance.
It is not sentimental or self-centered.
It does not need applause.
It does not withhold until it is wanted.
It does not vanish when rejected.

God’s love is self-giving, sacrificial, and relentless.
It is powerful enough to endure death, and pure enough to rise from it.

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
— John 15:13

But Christ laid down His life not only for friends, but for enemies. That is the scandal and power of divine love. It meets us in rebellion, offers mercy without demand, and calls us into life with Him.

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This is what the early Church defended—not just with their words, but with their blood.

They did not preach Christ because He made their lives easier.
They preached Him because they were convinced He was the love of God in human flesh.

Irenaeus of Lyons: “The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ… through His transcendent love, became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is.”
— Against Heresies, Book V, Preface

Justin Martyr: “We, who once delighted in sin, now embrace righteousness; we who hated one another, now love one another… all through Him who loved us even to the cross.”
— First Apology, Chapters 14–16

Epistle to Diognetus: “He sent the Creator and Fashioner of all things… not to tyrannize, but to persuade. Not to force, but to save.”
— Epistle to Diognetus, Chapter 7–9

This love could not be killed in them because it had already died for them. It had overcome their fears, melted their pride, and claimed their hearts.

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If the love of God in Christ doesn’t move us, it’s not because He has changed. It’s because we’ve settled for something less.

The cross is not a sentimental symbol.
It is the measurement of God’s love.
It is the place where mercy triumphed over judgment.
It is the doorway to life, the banner of victory, and the proof that God has never, and will never, stop loving the world He made.

This is the love that came.
This is the love that suffered.
This is the love that rose.

This is the love that still calls your name.

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Sources & References

Scripture (NASB 1995):

• Romans 5:6–8 – “While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…”
• John 14:9 – “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
• John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this…”
• Romans 5:10 – “While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God…”

Ante-Nicene Sources:

• Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book V, Preface.
  “Through His transcendent love, [Christ] became what we are…”
  [Available at: NewAdvent.org/fathers/0103500.htm]
• Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapters 14–16.
  “We… now love one another… all through Him who loved us even to the cross.”
  [Available at: CCEL.org or EarlyChristianWritings.com]
• Epistle to Diognetus, Chapters 7–9.
  “He sent the Creator… not to tyrannize, but to persuade.”
  [Available at: EarlyChristianWritings.com/diognetus.html]

From the series “The Love of God: Revealed, Received, and Radiated”

If we begin anywhere else, we will get everything else wrong.

God’s love is not just one part of who He is. He is not love in balance with other traits, as though His mercy and His justice take turns. Scripture doesn’t leave that option open. It says plainly and without apology: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

That statement does not mean God overlooks sin. It does not mean He is permissive or pliable. It means that everything He does—whether mercy or judgment, kindness or discipline—flows from a heart that is eternally loving, eternally faithful, and eternally holy.

God is not waiting to become more loving.
He is not learning to be more gracious.
He is not stirred by your behavior into affection.
He is love—unchanging, eternal, and perfect.

The world has taught many of us to view God’s love as uncertain. It offers a version of God who is moody, conditional, and temperamental—always watching and waiting to withdraw from the sinner or the struggling saint. But the love of God is not like the love of men. It does not fluctuate. It cannot be manipulated. It flows from His being—not from your performance.

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
— 2 Timothy 2:13

God’s love was not awakened by creation—it is the reason for it. It was not born at the cross—it was revealed there. And it is not sustained by our strength—but by His unchanging character.

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To see this love clearly, we must look at the Son.

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:8

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ reveal the Father’s love—not a sentimental emotion, but a holy, pursuing compassion that lays itself down for the undeserving.

Jesus did not come to change God’s mind about you. He came to show you what had always been true about God’s heart. He came to seek and to save. He came to serve and to give. He came to call, not to coerce. He came to invite the lost into communion with the Father—not by force, but by love.

Christ touched the unclean. He forgave the guilty. He loved His enemies. He died for those who mocked Him. This is not a new picture of God—it is the perfect revelation of the God who has always been.

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
— John 14:9

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And yet, Christ’s earthly mission was not the end of this love being poured out—it was the beginning.

“The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
— Romans 5:5

The same love that formed the world, fulfilled the Law, and conquered death is now within the believer—through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not offer us a memory of God’s love, but its living presence. He empowers us to walk in love, not as the world defines it, but as Christ demonstrated it.

The fruit of the Spirit begins with love (Galatians 5:22), because love is the root of Kingdom life. It is the proof of discipleship, the fulfillment of the Law, and the mark of divine rebirth.

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The early Church knew this well.

They did not follow Christ because He offered them safety or favor in the eyes of the empire. They followed Him because they were convinced of His love—even to death. The Apostolic Fathers wrote about love not as a doctrine to be debated, but a truth to be obeyed.

Clement of Alexandria: “God is good and alone is good… and the good is essentially loving.” (Stromata IV)
Irenaeus of Lyons: “He became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is.” (Against Heresies V)
Ignatius of Antioch: “Our God, Jesus Christ… is the expression of the Father’s love, made flesh.” (Letter to the Ephesians)

They knew what the Scriptures taught.
They received what the Spirit gave.
They walked as Christ walked.
And they bore witness to a world that did not know this kind of love.

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If we are to understand anything else in this series—God’s invitations, His warnings, His commands, and His promises—we must start here:

God is love.
His love is the source of your existence.
His Son is the standard of that love.
His Spirit is the sustainer of it in your life.

Anything less than this is not the gospel.

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Sources & References

Scripture (NASB 1995):

• 1 John 4:8 – “God is love.”
• 2 Timothy 2:13 – “If we are faithless, He remains faithful…”
• Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love…”
• John 14:9 – “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
• Romans 5:5 – “The love of God has been poured out…”
• Galatians 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”

Ante-Nicene Sources:

• Clement of Alexandria, Stromata (Book IV, Chapter 18) – “God is good and alone is good… and the good is essentially loving.”
  [Available at: CCEL.org or NewAdvent.org]
• Irenaeus, Against Heresies (Book V, Preface) – “He became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is.”
  [Available at: NewAdvent.org/fathers/0103500.htm]
• Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians (Chapter 18) – “Our God, Jesus Christ… is the expression of the Father’s love, made flesh.”
  [Available at: EarlyChristianWritings.com]