A Love That Lasts

By Hali Yau

Love – a familiar, universal concept that has captivated the inner-most thoughts
of authors, poets, and hopeless romantics since the dawn of time. The ethereal
nature of this intangible yet palpable force is shrouded in mystery – where does it
come from? Why does it exist? What exactly is love? Philosophers have been
pondering the answers to these very questions for centuries, yet have come to no
definitive conclusions. Will we ever have a chance at understanding such an
invisible, mysterious force as this?
One crucial aspect even the greatest philosophers have failed to explore is what
the Creator of the entire universe and all within has to say about love. The Bible –
the authoritative Word of God – is the perfect source of all truth, knowledge, and
wisdom. 2 Timothy 3:16 reveals to us that, “All Scripture is God-breathed and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness1,”; what a grave mistake it would be to neglect the Scriptures’
insight into the topic of love, when there is a wealth of information directly from
its origin to discover! Let’s take a quick dive into the inerrant Word of God and
see what treasures we can collect.

Love is Patient, Love is Kind…

So, what is love? If we take a gander at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we not only see what
love is, but what it is not. Scripture tells us that love:

Is patient Is kind Rejoices in the truth Bears all things Believes all things Hopes all things Endures all things Is not jealous Does not brag

Is not puffed up Does not act unbecomingly Does not seek its own Is not provoked Does not take into account a wrong suffered Does not rejoice in unrighteousness Never fails

 

That’s quite the picture being painted for us by God through the Apostle Paul. He
provides at least 16 different adjectives to describe agape (love). The Greek word,
agape, is not only used here in 1 Corinthians, but also in 1 John 4:8, where we
discover that God Himself is love:

“The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

This is not merely a physical or emotional manifestation of passion which ebbs
and flows based on mood or whim. Rather, love is an unwavering, faithful
commitment that seeks only the highest good of the recipient. God is agape; He is
benevolence; He is patience; He is kindness; He is truth; He is not puffed up; He is
not unbecoming; He is not unrighteous; He never fails. God is the perfect
fulfillment of all that encompasses love. It makes perfect sense that He would not
know fully understand but perfectly define what love itself is because He is love.

One Constant Amid the Ever-Changing

Now that we’ve established God as the original source of love, it begs the
question: how has He shown His love to us? Christ teaches us in Matthew 5:44-46
that, “[God] causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain
on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Psalm 145:9 tells us that, “Yahweh is good
to all, and His compassions are over all His works.” In Acts 14:17, we see that God
has made Himself known: “… and yet He did not leave Himself without witness,
in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling
your hearts with food and gladness.” — Acts 14:17.

It’s amazing to note that God is good to all people, to all of His creation; not just
those who love Him in return, but even to those who hate Him. We certainly
cannot say the same! Have we perfectly loved our neighbor? Been good to all?
Shown compassion toward all? Treated everyone with impartiality? The answer quickly becomes clear. Since all of mankind has sinned, we all fall short of the
glory of God, and this certainly includes falling short of His love (Romans 3:23).
Our love is flawed, fleeting, ever-changing; tainted by our sin nature… But God’s
love is true, pure, consistent, never-failing. Because He Himself is the same
yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), His love is not susceptible to caprice
nor swayed by the actions of His people; God’s love is unconditional and
unshakably faithful, regardless of our imperfect reciprocity (2 Tim. 2:13).

When Rubber Meets the Road

Far beyond sending rains for the crops and raising the sun day in and day out,
Yahweh has not only demonstrated but proven the endless depths of His love for
us… But how? What could surpass the worth of food to eat, clothes to wear, and a
stamp of approval on your yearly physical? While these are all fantastic blessings
that wouldn’t exist apart from God’s grace and mercy, there is an even greater gift
that God has freely given: the gift of eternal life.

When acts of evil are committed, Yahweh is obligated to punish wickedness
because all sins are against Him (Psalm 51:4); His perfectly holy character
requires the perfect execution of justice; God is eternal, therefore our sins against
Him are eternal. The debt we have incurred as a result of our depraved nature
cannot be paid for with any attempt at good works, which are like filthy rags
before Him (Isaiah 64:4). There is no way for us to settle the score and break
even, or earn favor with Yahweh. The punishment? Eternal condemnation;
eternal separation from His presence in a very real place called Hell. We all
deserve to be there… But that isn’t the end of the story.

God is just, yes… but He is also merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
abounding in faithfulness (Psalm 86:15). Though all of mankind has grievously
sinned against Him, He has looked down upon His creation with a heart of
compassion, desiring to display the beauty of His nature through a miraculous
plan of redemption. While it’s true that we cannot save ourselves, God has not left us without hope. In the greatest act of love this world has ever seen, God sent His
only begotten Son to absolve us of our guilt and rescue us from the punishment of
eternal condemnation we’ve earned for ourselves.

Jesus Christ came to this earth — fully God and fully man — and took our
punishment upon Himself through His crucifixion on the cross. He was able to
accomplish this because He is One with God: sinless, perfect, and equal with the
Father. Only a spotless, sinless sacrifice would be a worthy substitute (1 Pet. 1:17-
19). What God has promised cannot be changed and will be fulfilled (Hebrews
6:17-20), and what He has promised is this: anyone – irrespective of who they are
and what they’ve done – may freely receive the pardoning of all their sin (past,
present, and future) by placing their faith in Jesus Christ as their substitutionary
atonement. Not earned, not deserved — simply a free gift of God’s
incomprehensible love.

Christ: Our Captain

This type of love is not the love the world has to offer. Someone may display their
love for you by sacrificing their time, money, energy, resources… Perhaps even by
sacrificing their life. Who, however, has demonstrated a love so pure that it has
promised a path of eternal life? Jesus Christ alone. When He was crucified on the
cross, He didn’t just take the punishment for our sins — He arose from the grave
and conquered death to prove that those who place their trust in Him as Savior
will arise from the dead and into eternal life with the One who spared no expense
to redeem them.