The Love of God … (February 2025 Update)
The love of God is a common doctrine that nearly everyone believes. However, this wonderful truth is often taken out of its context and treated in isolation to the other attributes of God. The problem is that, although almost everyone (Christians and non-Christians) speak about the love of God, the love of God they believe in is not the biblical love of God. D.A. Carson’s, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God is an excellent examination of this problem. Carson says that the problem is that “the love of God has been sanitized, democratized, and above all sentimentalized.” In other words, the love of God has been taken out of its biblical context and is used to justify behavior and ideas that are totally contrary to the God of the Bible. In fact, the same people who say they believe in the love of God would totally deny the wrath of God!
So, what does the Bible tell us about the love of God?
First, God is the source of real love. 1 John 4:8 plainly says, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” The love of God is not a sentimental love but is a love of passionate commitment to His creation. Love is WHO God is and all real love flows from Him. It is His essence. He is not only the supreme example of love; and He is its source.
Second, God is the initiator of love. The Bible tells us that God loves us first. Before we ever loved Him, He loved us. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” And 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Paul says the same thing in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before we ever had any love for God, He loved us. So God is not only love – He loved us before we ever loved Him.
Third, God’s love is affectionate. You might be tempted to look at the love of God and assume that it is fairly stoic and official. But the Bible presents a very different picture of God’s love. Over and over again, the Bible says things like God “rejoices over” us; that He “delights in you;” that He “exalts over us with great joy!” Luke 15 is one of the many examples of this when Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. When the father sees the son far away, he runs to him and rejoices that the son which was lost has now been found. Earlier in Luke 15, Jesus told parables about a lost sheep and a lost coin. After both of those parables, Jesus says that there will be more “joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” God’s love is affectionate.
Fourth, God’s love is sacrificial. God’s love is not just affectionate, and it is not just sentimental words; it is sacrificial. John 3:16 is the classic verse on this: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….” In John 15:13, Jesus told His disciples: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” God’s love for us is not just affectionate; His love is sacrificial. He acts out of His love and sends His only Son to die for us.
Fifth, God’s love is jealous. The attribute of God’s love is the most accepted and least controversial of all the attributes. Wrongly, many would make it the only attribute. But a truly loving God would also be a jealous and righteous God who would bring judgment. A truly loving husband would be jealous of his wife’s love for him. A truly loving judge would care that justice was carried out. In Exodus 20:5, God says to Israel that He is “a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Repeatedly, God speaks to Israel saying that He was a jealous husband. The jealous love of God is a total commitment to love us completely – so much, that He, like a good husband, will not allow any other lover to interfere with His relationship with us. God’s jealousy, which is seen in many passages, comes from His jealous love for us. If God truly loves us, then His love would be a jealous love that would require us to love Him only.
Sixth, God’s love is disciplining. The sanctifying discipline of our heavenly Father is a product of divine love. In Hebrews 12:5-6, we read, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” Far from being a proof of God’s anger or rejection of us, discipline is evidence of his fatherly love. Discipline, writes Philip Hughes, “is the mark, not of a harsh and heartless father, but of a father who is deeply and lovingly concerned for the well-being of his son.” We often tell our children, “We are disciplining you because we love you.” We explain that we care about the person they will become if we do not discipline properly. Parents who let their children do whatever they want are not really loving. God’s love is disciplining. It is real love!
Finally, God’s love is everlasting. One of the most wonderful things about the love of God is that His love never ends. Our love often wavers and changes, but the love of God endures forever! In Jeremiah 33:1, God says, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.” This is repeated in many places and sometimes says that “his mercy endures forever.” In the New Testament, Paul tells us in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that we have found in Christ Jesus. God’s love is affectionate and sacrificial, but most of all it is eternal.
Now how does the love of God affect us?
First, God’s love should motivate us to Serve Him More. In 2 Corinthians 5:14, Paul says, “For the love of Christ compels us ….” What motivated Paul and other Christians to serve the Lord in spite of all the difficulties they faced? It was that they had seen and experienced God’s love for them through Jesus Christ and it motivated them to serve Him.
Second, God’s love should motivate us to Love One Another. The New Testament is full of encouragements to love one another. In John 13:34-35, Jesus told His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” In other words, the way people know that we belong to God is that we love like He loved. Our love for one another is our greatest testimony for Christ! In fact, the Romans were attracted to the gospel because they said about the Christians, “My, how they love one another!”
Third, God’s love should motivate us to Love Others. In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus tells us to “love our enemies” and, in verse 48, he encourages us to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” His love leads us to love others – not just believers. In Matthew 5:45, Jesus says that we should love all people so “That you may be the children of your father that is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and unjust.” Our love should be like the Father’s love – even loving those that do not love us in return. That’s why he says, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In Galatians 6:9-10, Paul tells believers, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” It is the love of God that motivates us to love others!
On Valentine’s Day, people often celebrate romantic love. But St. Valentine was a believer who actively demonstrated God’s love toward other people. Valentine’s love had nothing to do with romantic love (that idea was added by the English poet, Godfrey Chaucer, in 1375). But he loved others because he had been loved by a loving God. John put it best when he wrote: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). In chapter 3, John reminded us about God’s love for us and how it should affect our love for others: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18). Valentine put his love into action, and he was imprisoned and martyred for his faith. But he loved because he was first loved by a loving God. God’s love motivated him and should lead us to share God’s love with others too.
Opportunities to Serve and Teach …
This month, I am helping a new teacher (and former student) teach Theology 1. He is using my notes and lectures, and I am helping him get ready to teach the class. He has already told me, that this class is “much more difficult for me than I expected. It’s like preparing for an exam, when, in one night, you have to cram a whole year’s worth of knowledge into your head.” It really is a massive undertaking, and I hope I can be a help to him as he teaches this year. This has been my goal since we moved here 3 years ago – to equip Ukrainians to teach all my classes. We are getting close to that goal. It looks like I will be teaching just 2 classes by myself this year and helping with two other classes. Pray for Dima as he teaches Theology 1 this month, and for me as I help him by meeting with the students on Zoom.
Katya and I are continuing the transition to helping more with training and missionary care for missionaries for GlobalServe International (GSI). In case you missed earlier updates, GSI sends missionaries to restricted access (or closed) countries, so this work is very different from our work in Ukraine. I have a lot to learn so that I can help more with this ministry. Last month, I talked with one of the directors and they want me to design a training program for caring for missionaries. This will require developing training for three levels: for local churches, for missionaries on the field and for members of the GSI Care Team. I will be meeting again this month to find out what are the most pressing needs so I can work on creating this program. Pray for me. While I have been a missionary, my teaching has been mostly in theology and history. Missions is a new area for me, so I have a lot to learn. I am reading lots of books on missions just trying to catch up so I can be more helpful!
The first week in February, Katya and I were able to attend GSI’s annual Sender’s Conference which was held this year in Fayetteville. GSI holds this conference annually to help train church leaders on how to best serve GSI missionaries on the field. Sending and supporting missionaries in countries closed to missionaries is very different from sending traditional missionaries. So, this conference is very important for churches with GSI missionaries. The conference provided some great information and some training for these churches that we hope with be valuable as they work with their GSI missionaries.
Family …
The family highlight for this month was celebrating Kristina’s 11th birthday. We were able to have 3 celebrations this year. First, we went to North Little Rock so we could celebrate with Joy and her family. Then we had our own family celebration. We had to delay celebrating with the Coopers because they were sick, and our girls got sick too but we were able to have a party with them a week later when everyone was well. Kristina has grown into a lovely young lady who loves to help and has a sweet heart for others. We also had a sleepover with Haven and Harlie and the girls all had a great time together!
We’ve had two extremes of weather this month. Even in the freezing cold, we’ve been able to get out and play around in the snow. But we’ve also had some 70F+ temperatures where we were even able to have a meal outside on our deck. And the girls have picked up a new hobby this month – they are knitting and crocheting. Sometimes they even look like a couple of old ladies sitting on the porch or around the woodstove doing their needlework!
During one of the cold spells, we traveled over the mountains and saw some really interesting ice formations. Of course, we had to check them out – up close and personal!
Finally, we celebrated Valentines Day early with the Coopers and had a great time. We exchanged cards and gifts and played a bunch of games together.
Pray for Ukraine …
Please remember to pray for Ukraine. Ukraine is in the news more this month because of President Trump’s attempt to bring peace to Ukraine. But all the talk seems to indicate giving Russia everything (including more territory than they even control!) without any real guarantees of protection from the West. Some are even suggesting that a peace agreement could be made without including Ukraine in the talks! If true, this is sad and unfair to Ukraine which has done nothing to create this war. Pray that Ukraine will be honored for its valiant defense of its territory against a blatant aggressor nation. Also pray that Russia will be held accountable for its war against Ukraine.
Most of all, pray for those in Ukraine who are still actively engaged in ministry. Our seminaries and many schools have built “bomb shelter classrooms” deep underground to protect from Russian missiles. Churches are continuing to minister to the many refugees escaping from the war zones. And we have many friends serving in the army and also many serving as chaplains ministering the gospel to those serving in the army.
Thank you for praying for us too. We are pretty much settled now in Arkansas and transitioning to working more with missionaries. It is our great joy to be able to serve so many in this way so that the gospel and the message of God’s great love in Jesus can go forth to the nations!
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya, Kristina and Nadia
If you missed previous updates or just want to read some short theological reflections, you can find these at our website at https://teachingresources.org/ .
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