The love of God

Come November and I think of bonfire night; February and (thanks to St Valentine) I think of love! Most people who have ideas about God will feel on safe ground when they tell us that God is a God of love. This is certainly true but it is not the whole truth. God is also the God of light, justice, truth and holiness but because these make us feel a little uncomfortable, we want to focus on God being loving and kindly. Does God love everyone equally and in the same way? If your immediate response is to say ‘of course’, then is his love for, let’s say, Nobel peace prize winner Mother Teresa on a par with that of Adolf Hitler?

Jesus explains to us in what sense God’s love for people is general and impartial. He says that God sends his rain onto the farmland of both the just and the unjust, and he makes his sun shine on evil and good people alike. So God’s love and kindness reveal his general disposition towards men and women even though they may be his enemies.

During the course of our lives, we each experience pain and suffering, losses and griefs. The hymn Amazing Grace recognises that we pass through many ‘dangers, toils and snares’. Yet there are endless, hidden tribulations that, due to the grace and love of God, will never touch us. If we are willing, we can view these unseen providential deliverances as expressions of God’s love and kindness to each of us even though we have to admit that we don’t deserve them.

But there is more, much more. God has a particular love for a group of people which he calls ‘his own’. Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd of these - God’s own people. He says he knows his own sheep by name and that these sheep recognise his voice, so giving them assurance that they belong to God in a definite way. This group of men and women are given a sense of God’s love and kindness in a way that isn’t common to the experience of everyone. You can know this love of God also. Look up the gospel of John chapter 3 verse 16.

Christian hope - what is it?

It was Robert Louis Stevenson who said: ‘To travel hopefully is a better thing than

to arrive’, by which I think he meant that the working towards a goal can be more

fulfilling than the actual attaining of that goal. Or taking it at a lighter level, a

child’s hope and anticipation of Christmas can be more exciting than Christmas

Day itself.

Hope is an essential part of Christianity; hope, that is, in the sense of anticipation

and expectation rather than mere wishful thinking.

So what is this Christian hope? The New Testament author, Paul, writing to fellow

Christian believers said, ‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth

comparing with the glory to come.’ And he knew about sufferings first-hand. What

is this ‘glory to come’, the goal of Christian hope?

Before attempting to answer, I must first digress. I’m of an age where I know of

many people who are really struggling with disease, failing body parts and minds

that no longer function properly. Increasingly, I hear announcements that so-and-

so has died. Such things are not restricted to the older generation either, my

daughter’s close friend Amy has just died of cancer leaving a husband and six-

year-old daughter. Amy was just 35.

So, what of that ‘glory to come’, the goal of Christian hope? Well, how do we

describe Heaven? We can’t. But here’s part of what has been revealed by God in

the Bible. No longer frustrated by our human frailties of this present life, we’ll be

completely free to enjoy the purpose and fulfilment that God has for those who

love him. All evils will have been banished, justice will have been enacted and

death will be no more.

This is Christian hope and as such is only for Christian people, but it can be yours

also. However, Christian faith must preceed Christian hope. Faith in Jesus,

means trusting him when he claims to be all that we need for this life and the life

to come

Amy (mentioned above) died with Christian hope, which she freely spoke about

with others right up to the end. Amy was a Bible reader and so would have known

this verse: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God

has prepared for those who love him...’

Easter helps explain Christmas

It’s Christmastime but I want to start by speaking about Easter, which concerns

the judicial murder of Jesus the teacher, prophet and miracle worker. He was put

to death on a Roman cross. Who was he? He was a human being like you and

me and yet there’s more... He said that he had come down from God and would

return to him. When credible reports that he had been resurrected from the dead

began to circulate, there was much consternation amongst those who had

contrived to be rid of him. Conversely, such a wonderful event certainly validated

what Jesus had said about himself and brought much joy to those who had

trusted in him.

What was the point of the death and resurrection of Jesus? The Christmas story

helps us a good deal here.

A devout man named Joseph was pledged to marry a virgin named Mary. He was

informed by a heavenly messenger that she was to bear a son as a result of a

miraculous conception. Joseph was told that the infant was to be given the name

Jesus because he would save his people from their sins (the name Jesus means

‘God saves’). We read about this in Matthew’s gospel where we also read that the

child would be referred to as Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us’. On the night

of the birth of this baby, rejoicing angelic messengers appeared to shepherds

outside Bethlehem confirming the unique things spoken earlier to Joseph.

Luke’s gospel records much about Mary’s own revelations of what was to take

place in the coming months and years. The gospel of John expands this more

when he identifies Jesus as the Son of God who predated time but latterly had

clothed himself as a human just as we are.

The man Jesus never erred in thought, word or deed. He was a person of

excellence and yet he was killed by people who recoiled from his light - this

because it showed up the darkness of their own self-centredness. We naturally do

the same and the Bible calls this sin.

Jesus’ coming (which we call Christmas) and his death and resurrection (which

we call Easter) bring forgiveness of sins and a radical change of heart for all who

will humbly believe. This is how we can be reconciled to God and this is the ‘glad

tidings’ that we sing about each Christmas.