The description of God’s love
How do you describe a rose to a blind person? How do you describe Handle’s Hallelujah Chorus to a deaf person? How do you describe the thrill of down hill skiing to one who has never walked? How do you describe the impeccable, infinite love of God to impure, finite humans?
One of the most vivid characteristics of God is that he is a God of love. The Psalmist was descriptive in recording the love-nature of God. He stated that he was “full of faithful love” (Psalm 103:8), “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:11), “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13), and “But from eternity to eternity the LORD’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:17).
The definition of God’s love
The point is not simply that God “loves,” but that he is love itself. Love is not merely one of his attributes, but his very nature. The Scripture say, “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him” (1 John 4:16). To say that God is love, is not to imply that love is God. There is a difference like there is a difference in me saying my dog is a girl and my girl is a dog. God is love means that God wants the very best for you. God has your best interest in mind. He wants to give you good gifts and provide you with “all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2, NIV).
The benefits of God’s love
The Psalmist uncovers all the phases of life that God’s love has touched and in turn benefited and blessed the recipient.
Emotionally:
Much of our physical and emotional illness is due to moral failure. In removing the sin and guilt from our lives God’s love brings healing to our emotional life.
Spiritually:
Spiritually God’s love removes the barrier that separates us from him by canceling the debt of our sin so that we can enjoy a loving relationship with him. God’s love removes our sins as though they never existed.
Eternally:
The pit is the pit of death. God’s love rescues us, fallen humanity, from our own bent on destruction, and grants us eternal life.
Authoritatively:
God’s love places a crown of royal glory and authority on us. God’s love “. . . made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (Rev. 1:6). He have been crowned with his love and given a new citizenship on this earth and in heaven.
Physically:
Like a father he desires to give us good gifts of strength and endurance. Jesus, the embodiment of God’s love came enjoying life, and he wants his children to do the same.
Judicially:
Here we find a major difference between divine love and what so often passes for love among people. Often, love is expressed as that virtue that accepts everything. But, God’s love always makes judgment calls. Divine love hates what is wrong and embraces what is right.
