"Oh, love of God . . ."

1 John 3:1-3 is a short paragraph filled with multiple insights on the love of God the Father for his children. The apostle is amazed at the magnitude of God’s love. He writes that God has “lavished” his love on us. While the NIV’s descriptive word “lavish” is somewhat interpretive (the Greek is a simple “give”), the translator was undoubtedly caught up personally in the wonder of God’s love and had to use a word that carried that rich meaning. It calls to mind such adjectives as “extravagant,” “unrestrained,” or “exuberant.” And that is exactly what His love is. In letting context control interpretation, the NIV has done justice to the greatness of God’s love for each of us, his children.
       Think about it for a moment – God actually loves you. He cares about you, about everything you do, about your future. You are a child under his care and you need guidance. Left by yourself, you would learn only by a long series of mistakes. God’s love smooths out that path to maturity. It has a very real dynamism. You experience it, you feel it, you are blessed by it. After all, you are one of his children. I loved my father here on earth. We had a great relationship. He was always there at every football game, every track meet, etc., not because someone suggested that attention like that helps in the “bonding” process, but because he loved me. It was that simple.
       I have another Father as well, he is my heavenly Father. As my dad, Mr. George Mounce, cared deeply for me, his son, how much more does my heavenly Father, God, care for me in love! In fact, He “lavished” his love on me (and that doesn’t diminish the love of my other dad)! The unique and wonderful thing about God’s love is that he loves all of us equally! When he sent his son into this world he didn’t intend that his love be greater for the cultured than for the common. God has no requirements for us other than to love him back. There are no more eloquent words of praise for God’s love than Frederick Lehman’s great hymn “The Love of God” (1917). Let’s let him close our time together.

“The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell;
       The guilty pair, bowed down with care, 
       God gave his Son to win;
His erring child he reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.

       Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
       How measureless and strong!
       It shall forevermore endure --
       The saints’ and angels’ song.”