God's love for you
Day 1
by Gini Crawford, MSW
God's actions of love
When I first decided to do a study on God's love many years back, I was going to look up every Bible verse on love and go from there. However, the Holy Spirit made it clear to me to write about what God has done for us - this is His love for us.
In many instances, love has just become a meaningless word that we use to sound loving, because we fail to put our love into action. Even Christians who should be loving, can fail miserably. I think we would all agree with the old adage, actions speak louder than words. Sadly, right now, I would imagine you can think of a person or two in your life who has said, "I love you," but their actions do not show it.
God's love is filled with loving action. God says He loves you, and He proves it with the many things He has done for you. In this daily study you will cover the many ways that God shows His love for you - creation being just the beginning. Each day will bring new insights into His love, allowing you to experience the transformative power of His love in a profound and personal way.
Why know God and His love
Why is it so important as a Christian to truly know God and His love? It is because God asks you to have faith in Him and love Him (Mark 12:28-30; Hebrews 11:6). And how can you possibly have faith in and love someone whom you don't know? God also asks you to believe that He loves you. And how can you believe that He loves you if you don't know that He does? (1 John 4:16).
Each day of this study will add to your familiarity of God and His love. Leading to a beautiful picture of Who God is and His infinite love for you. The truth of His love will motivate you to in turn love God back, love others and to live for Him.
The foundation of God's love
The foundation of God's love is Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:19 says, "and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." So naturally this daily study will focus in on God’s unwavering love for us, vividly demonstrated through Jesus.
In this study you will explore how Jesus specifically created you to love you, and purposed you for a relationship with Him. It will delve into the strength of His unyielding love, even after the first sin. It will discuss in depth what it meant for Jesus to be God but born as a human, to walk this earth, and ultimately, to die to take God’s wrath. His burial, crucifixion and resurrection will be examined. Jesus' many actions of love – His sacrifice as our Lamb, becoming our mediator, willingly being our propitiation, sacrificing to offer atonement, also giving us forgiveness, righteousness, holiness, glory, mercy, grace, kindness and so on will be looked at. The many promises we have through Him - the gift of the Holy Spirit, the concept of a new body in eternity, our redemption from the chains of sin and its dominion, providing our heavenly inheritance and our transformation through adoption will be explained. Did you know the foundation of God's love is Jesus Christ?
Life Application
The Bible illustrated
To know God you must know His Book, which just makes sense, doesn't it? The only place that you can truly learn of and understand the One True God is through His Word, the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, called the Bible. Other books can surely explain the One True God rightly if their understanding of God comes from His Word.
Do you know God through His Word?
The Bible is a book filled with adventure, mystery and romance. The Bible conveys how the God of the universe is our King of Kings, Who is fighting for us, His Beloved. It even has dragons in it, and a special sword for us to fight the strongest Serpent of all. The Bible is full of God's mysteries - the greatest of all is Jesus Christ, and what He did for us. The Bible is a book that tells of the greatest romance of all - God giving His very life, so we could become His. You should read God's Book like you would a book that someone you love and who loves you authored. (Job 40:15-18, 41:1-2, 18-21; Zephaniah 3:17; Ephesians 2:1-10, 5:25-27, 6:11-17; Colossians 1:26-27).
I think many people are curious about the supernatural and spiritual, because these themes are popular in a number of books and TV shows. I know I can enjoy a fascinating story on these themes. Yet, the only book that has the real storyline about the supernatural and spiritual is the Bible. It just makes sense that the God, Who created all things, including the spiritual realm, would write a book that explains the real supernatural, the true spiritual reality and eternity. His Book also gets us ready to live in the far reaches of the universe or heaven, in victory and serenity; not in a battling existence where star wars and who has the strongest force wins (1 Corinthians 2:6-13).
The Bible is a non-fiction book. It's a history book that is filled with marvelous real life stories. It is a book that has the wisdom of the ages in it, so you can easily read it as a how to book. It is also God's autobiography, explaining Who He really is. I have read the Bible since I was a child, and can honestly say, it is a book that never gets boring or irrelevant. It is truly a living Book. (Isaiah 55:8-11; John 8:31-32; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
Do you read the Bible? I would guess so since you are doing this study.
The reality of God's love has literally changed my life from one of despair, to one of strength, peace and never-ending hope. So I guarantee taking the time to learn about God's love will not be a waste of time for you. If you are diligent to read and look up all the Bible verses in this study, it will give you a great start in getting to recognize how much our amazing God really loves you. If you think about it, it can only be a win-win situation for you.
Write a sentence committing to doing this study.
Reflect on Psalm 119:24 today.