The Steadfast Love of the Lord

1. Biblical Love Transcends Worldly Definitions

My definition, the Bible’s definition, is that “love” is acting and speaking in such a way that the object of one’s affection is blessed in this life and in the age to come.

Defining love. The world often defines love as unconditional acceptance and affirmation of all choices, even those contrary to God's word. This distorted view, exemplified by contemporary figures, suggests that to challenge someone's lifestyle is "hateful" or "bigoted." However, true biblical love prioritizes the eternal welfare of the beloved, even if it means speaking difficult truths.

Ultimate authority. The core of this distinction lies in one's ultimate moral authority:

• Self: Personal preferences, feelings, and desires define truth.
• Scripture: God's inspired word defines truth, good, and evil.
  To genuinely love someone means directing them toward beliefs and behaviors aligned with their eternal destiny, even if it incurs social or personal cost.

Loving concern. While upholding biblical truth, Christians must denounce dehumanization and treat all individuals with dignity, compassion, and a desire to help. The church should be a place where those struggling with sin, including same-sex attraction, find the Holy Spirit's power to overcome or live a joyful life of celibacy, rooted in God's steadfast love.

2. God's Steadfast Love Endures Forever

The Father’s love for his children is immutable, unchangeable, enduring, unyielding, unalterable, constant, undeviating, and eternally fixed.

Rare jewel. In a world where human love often proves conditional, fleeting, or even betraying, the concept of "steadfast love" (Hebrew: hesed) can seem foreign. Many have experienced the pain of abandonment, leading to a reluctance to trust. Yet, God's love stands in stark contrast, being infinitely more reliable than any human promise.

Covenant loyalty. Hesed primarily describes God's covenantal loyalty to His people, a love that remains constant even amidst their rebellion. The Psalms repeatedly affirm this:

• It's the motivation for worship and thanksgiving (Psalm 5:7).
• The basis for deliverance and protection (Psalm 6:4).
• A source of comfort in distress (Psalm 31:7).
• It endures "all the day" and "forever" (Psalm 52:1, 100:5).

Unfailing presence. God's steadfast love is not merely a theological concept but a practical reality meant to strengthen and sustain souls through the worst circumstances. It is "full" and "extends to the heavens," reminding us that wherever God is, His unwavering love for His children is abundantly present.

3. Jesus's Humility Reveals Unfathomable Love

Instead of letting thoughts of his own greatness exempt him from serving others, instead of using the truth of his own preeminence and power to justify ignoring their needs, instead of letting his own exalted position lead him to think that this ragtag group of sinners was beneath his dignity as Lord of the universe, he loved and served them by washing their feet.

Counter-cultural service. In John 13, Jesus, hours before his betrayal and crucifixion, chose to wash his disciples' feet. This act defied all social norms, as foot-washing was a task reserved for the lowest household slave, never a superior. This profound humility magnified his love beyond comprehension.

Overcoming obstacles. Jesus's love was not deterred by:

• Situational chaos: He knew his "hour had come" and that Judas would betray him, yet he remained in control.
• Divine power: With "all things into his hands," he chose service over self-exaltation.
• Eternal origin/destination: Reflecting on his pre-incarnate glory and future exaltation, he still focused on serving "his own."

Unending affection. Jesus loved "his own who were in the world" (amidst their weakness and sin) and "loved them to the end" (to his last breath, without wavering). This intimate, steadfast love extended even to Judas, demonstrating how we are to love our enemies.

4. God's Love Cleanses the Unclean and Redeems the Unlovely

No one is too sinful, too leprous, to be excluded.

Leprosy's stigma. In ancient times, leprosy (Hansen's disease) was not just a physically disfiguring illness but also carried immense social and religious stigma. Lepers were considered ceremonially unclean, forced to live outside the community, and cut off from all human touch. This disease symbolized the devastating and disfiguring presence of sin.

Jesus's compassionate touch. When a leper approached Jesus, defying custom and risking stoning, Jesus, "moved with pity," stretched out his hand and touched him. This act was revolutionary:

• It broke social and religious barriers.
• It conveyed profound compassion and acceptance.
• It demonstrated Jesus's power to cleanse, not just heal, without becoming defiled himself.

Redeeming the outcast. This steadfast love is further illustrated by Hosea's marriage to Gomer, a prostitute. God commanded Hosea to marry and redeem her, symbolizing His relentless love for unfaithful Israel. Just as Gomer was bought back, we, spiritual fornicators, are redeemed "not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ."

5. The Holy Spirit Empowers Experiential Love

The bottom line is that we need help, the sovereign, supernatural help of the Holy Spirit, to energize our souls to believe what we just saw in John 13 and in our Lord’s response to Peter on the night he betrayed him.

Beyond intellectual assent. It's possible to intellectually grasp God's steadfast love from Scripture yet fail to experience it in a personally transformative way. This disconnect can lead to spiritual dryness, doubt, and disillusionment. True Christian experience is rooted in biblical truth but also involves feeling, sensing, and enjoying that truth.

Paul's prayer for strength. In Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul prays for believers to be "strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being." This strength is needed to:

• "Comprehend... what is the breadth and length and height and depth" of Christ's love.
• "Know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge," a paradox emphasizing its immeasurable, yet knowable, nature.
• Be "filled with all the fullness of God," experiencing His moral perfections and empowering presence.

Divine infusion. God's love is not merely understood but "poured into our hearts" by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). This is an exuberant, boundless, and deeply subjective experience, like an ever-flowing stream. It's a "settled state" of being suffused with God's affection, silencing doubts and anxieties, and providing an undeniable sense of His delight in us.

6. God's Love is Sacrificial and Universal in Offer

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Multifaceted love. God's love is not monolithic; He loves different people and things in different ways. While He loves Himself perfectly, His creation generally, and Israel covenantally, His love for the elect is a saving love that overcomes rebellion and leads to faith. John 3:16 highlights this unique, saving dimension.

Loving the "world." The "world" in John 3:16 refers not to quantity but to quality—its sinfulness and opposition to God. God loved the moral antithesis of Himself: light loved darkness, holiness loved wickedness. This makes His love astounding, as He chose to love enemies who hated Him, not because of any inherent worth in them.

The ultimate gift. God's love is fundamentally a giving love. He "gave his only Son" as the ultimate sacrifice, not to win His love, but as its demonstration. Both Father and Son willingly participated: the Father sent, and the Son "gave himself" (Galatians 2:20). This costly, undeserved gift is the preeminent expression of God's steadfast love, offering eternal life to "whoever believes."

7. Suffering Deepens Our Hope in God's Unwavering Love

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Counterintuitive joy. Christianity presents a paradox: justified believers, at peace with God and destined for glory, are called to "rejoice in our sufferings." This runs contrary to human intuition, which expects God's love to shield us from pain. Yet, Paul, who endured immense suffering, insists on this joy.

The chain of transformation. Suffering, when met with faith, initiates a transformative process:

• Endurance: Hardship "toughens us up," strengthening our resolve to persevere.
• Character: Enduring faith purifies us, burning away hypocrisy and deepening our authenticity.
• Hope: This proven character builds an increasing confidence in God's promises and our future inheritance.

Secure hope. Our hope "does not put us to shame" because it is grounded in God's steadfast love, which "has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit." This is not merely a logical conclusion but an undeniable, subjective experience of God's boundless affection, assuring us that our future with Him is eternally secure.

8. God's "Much More" Logic Secures Our Eternal Salvation

If the greater task was for God to send his Son to die for us while we were his hate-filled enemies, how much easier and more readily would he save us from the coming wrath now that we are his friends, indeed, his sons and daughters?

Eternal security. A common fear among believers is whether God's love will last, or if their sins might eventually cause Him to abandon them. Romans 5:6-11 provides an airtight logical argument for the eternal security of those justified by faith, rooted in God's steadfast love.

The "much more" argument:

• Premise: Christ died for us "while we were still weak, at the right time... for the ungodly... sinners... enemies." This was the greater act of love and sacrifice.
• Conclusion: "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." If God did the hardest thing (reconciling enemies through Christ's death), He will surely do the easier thing (preserving His now-reconciled children).

Not based on our worth. God's love is not a response to our inherent value or merit. We were "hell-deserving rebels" who deserved only wrath. Christ's sacrifice was required not because we were so valuable, but because our sin was so evil and God's holiness so glorious that only His Son's blood could satisfy justice. God's love is a free, sovereign choice to make "treasures and trophies of His grace" out of the unlovely.

9. Nothing Can Separate Us from God's Love

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Confronting fears. Paul directly addresses the deepest fears that threaten a believer's assurance:

• Enemies: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" No adversary, human or demonic, can overcome God's sovereign purpose for us.
• Needs: "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" If God gave the greatest gift, He will surely provide all lesser necessities for our spiritual journey.
• Sins: "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died... who is interceding for us." Our sins are paid for, and Christ's intercession silences all accusations.

Unbreakable bond. Paul then lists every conceivable threat to God's love—tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, death, life, angels, rulers, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, and "anything else in all creation." His resounding "No" to separation affirms that in all these things, "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." God's commitment is absolute and eternal.

10. Divine Election is Rooted in God's Eternal Forelove

That God foreknew us is but another way of saying that he set his gracious and merciful regard on us, that he knew us from eternity past with a sovereign and distinguishing delight.

Foreknowledge as forelove. The biblical concept of "foreknowledge" (Romans 8:29) is more than mere intellectual awareness of future events. In Scripture, "to know" often implies a covenantal, intimate, loving relationship. Thus, God's foreknowledge of His elect means He "foreloved" them—He set His affection and sovereign delight upon them before the foundation of the world.

Predestined in love. "Predestination" (Romans 8:29-30, Ephesians 1:3-6) is God's eternal decree concerning those He foreloved. It's His decision to conform them to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. This act is:

• Pre-temporal: Occurred "before the foundation of the world," unaffected by human deeds or merit.
• Personal: The objects are "us"—individual believers.
• Purposeful: To make us "holy and blameless" in His presence, ultimately reflecting Christ's perfection.

God's good pleasure. Election is ascribed to God's "good pleasure" and "will," emphasizing that it's a joyful, sovereign choice, not an obligation based on foreseen faith. God delights in choosing hell-deserving sinners to be His children, and this choice is always "in Christ," meaning salvation is accomplished solely through His redemptive work.

11. The Father's Passionate Love Leads Him to Sing Over Us

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

God's emotional life. While God is impassible (not subject to fickle human emotions), Scripture reveals He experiences profound feelings, including delight, pleasure, and joy. Zephaniah 3:17 offers a stunning glimpse into the Father's passionate affection for His children, declaring that He "exults over you with loud singing."

A heavenly aria. This "loud singing" is not an inarticulate shriek but a "ringing cry" of jubilant celebration, akin to triumphant shouts of joy. It signifies God's intense, uninhibited delight in His people. When God thinks of His child, His heart explodes in glad celebration, a divine glee that words alone cannot capture.

Unfathomable intimacy. This verse also reveals:

• God's presence: "The Lord your God is in your midst," always with us, even in doubt.
• God's power: He is "a mighty one who will save," fighting on our behalf.
• God's quieting love: He "will quiet you by his love," silencing our protests and anxieties with His deep affection.
  God's steadfast love is so profound that He is either moved to speechless contemplation or bursts forth in ecstatic song over us, His beloved children.