Knowing God Loves Me

Several years ago, a student in seminary class stood to his feet and announced to the professor, "I don't believe in God!" The professor, unraveled, replied, "Describe this God you don't believe in?" After the student had described an unlovely and vengeful God, the professor confessed, "I don't believe in that God either. My God is a God of love."

We hear this all the time, “My God is a God of love,” or maybe “How could a God of love let something like this happen?” Do we really want a God who will only love us on our terms? Or do we want a God who will love us no matter what? Knowing God loves me, this is what I want to ponder this morning. And what better place to start than with a description of God's love. To find this we will be looking at various verses throughout Psalm 103.

Psalm 103

I. The description of God's Love (vv. 8, 11, 13, 17

 How do you describe a rose to a blind person? How do you describe Handle's Hallelujah Chorus to a deaf person? How do you describe the thrill of Body Surfing to someone who has never been to the ocean? How do you describe the impeccable, infinite love of God to impure, finite humans?

One of the most vivid characteristics of God is that He is a God of love. The Psalmist was descriptive in recording the love-nature of God. He stated that God is “abounding in lovingkindness” (vs. 8). "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him" (vs. 11). "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him" (vs.13). And "But from eternity to eternity the LORD's faithful love is toward those who fear Him" (vs. 17).

As we read these verses we see the words love and compassion over and over. And if you were to look at the original Hebrew you would see that the word love translates into the word mercy. Folks, God wants to poor out His compassion and mercy on you. All you have to do is let Him.

Of course this is not a full description of God's love, but it is a good start. From description we move to definition.

2. The definition of God's love (v. 2)

The point is not simply that God "loves," but that He is love itself. Love is not merely one of God's attributes, but His very nature. The Scripture say, "And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him" (1 John 4:16).

To just say that God is love is not enough. God is love, and true love is found only in and through God. It may sound like I'm splitting hairs, but there is a difference. It's like there's a difference in me saying my dog is a girl and my girl is a dog.

God is love and true love is found only in and through God and this means that God wants the very best for you. God has your best interest in mind. He wants to give you good gifts and provide you with "all his benefits" (vs. 2).

The definition of God's love is, well God Himself. He is the very source of love and without Him there can be no love. Without God's love you can't fully enjoy all that He has for you. Why settle for second best, why not go to the source? Why not ask Christ Jesus into your life right now and start experiencing God's love full and free?

We have looked at a brief description and a quick definition of God's love; now let's look at some benefits.

3. The benefits of God's love (v. 2)

The Psalmist uncovers all the phases of life that God's love has touched and in turn benefited and blessed the recipient. 

• Spiritually (vs. 3, 12); Spiritually God's love removes the barrier that separates you from Him by canceling the debt of your sin so that you can enjoy a loving relationship with Him. God's love removes your sins as though they never existed.

• Emotionally (v. 3) Stress that you bring into your life and frayed emotions can be due to moral failure. In removing the sin and guilt from your life God's love brings healing to your emotional life.

• Eternally (v. 4); The pit is the pit of death. God's love rescues you from your own on destruction, and grants you eternal life.

• Authoritatively (v. 4); God's love places a crown of royal glory and authority on you. God's love ". . . made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father" (Rev. 1:6). We have been crowned with His love and given a new citizenship on this earth and in heaven.

• Physically (v. 5); Like a father God desires to give you good gifts of strength and endurance. Christ Jesus, the embodiment of God's love came enjoying life, and He wants His children to do the same. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.“ John 10:10

• Judicially (v. 6) Here you find a major difference between divine love and what so often passes for love among people. Often, love is expressed as a virtue that accepts everything. But, God's love always makes judgment calls. Divine love hates what is wrong and embraces what is right. God's divine love does judge, but it also delivers you from the penalty of judgment. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

4. The knowledge of God's love: What do I know of God's love?

God's love is all consuming; God's love touches every part of your life. Nothing - no calling or circumstance, no adversity or advancement, no pain or promotion, no status or station - escapes the brush strokes of God's love. 

God's love bleeds into every fabric and fiber of your life. God's love is all consuming. His love touches every area of your life. There is nowhere you can go to escape His love. There is no problem that you will encounter that is not touched by His love. There is no advancement that you will make where God is not already there. Even when your world falls apart, you can say, "God, I don't know why this is happening. I don't understand it, but I'm sure glad to know you love me."

We are like the little boy who got separated from his mom in the mall. He was looking around for his mommy, and getting scared. He began to cry because everyone was a stranger and everything looked so confusing and every store was packed and he didn't have his mommy. But all of a sudden, his mother found him and picked him up. His eyes began to dry, not because his surroundings were changed, but because of whose arms he was in.

When you have someone who loves you holding you, it doesn't matter anymore what everyone else does or what the circumstances are or even what the future holds. When you are in the arms of a loving God, when you have been consumed with His love, you share in His benefits. And all is right with the world.

God's love is personal; The Bible cuts through all the philosophical abstractions and declares that God is Personal. As a personal being God is capable of loving and being loved. And as a personal being He loves each one of us intensely personally. God's love is not simply for mankind as a mass. It is not a sentimental, vague, diffused feeling - something like the man who said, "I love mankind; it's people I can't stand." God really loves each and every one of you uniquely and personally. 

When Karl Barth, the famed German theologian, visited the United States, a student at a seminary supposedly asked, "Dr. Barth, what is the single most important truth you have learned as a theologian?" 

Barth replied, "The most important thing I have learned is this: 'Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'"

"Jesus loves me" is the central affirmation of the Christian faith and the cornerstone of the nature of God. When God says, “I love you,” He is saying that you matter to Him. You are a person of worth. You are valuable to Him. Regardless of what others think, in His eyes you are wonderful. This is the God who sent His son so that you might have life eternal. Why not call on the name of Christ Jesus now? 

God's love is beyond comprehension (vs. 13-14); Amazing, isn't it? God knows me and still loves me. God knows that I am a sinner, yet He forgives; I am diseased, yet He heals; I am in a pit, yet He pulls me out; I am ungrateful for His good gifts, yet He gives them anyway; and I deserve justice, yet He grants mercy. 

Vietnam veteran and Air Force Colonel John Mansur tells about an eight-year-old orphan girl who was wounded after a misdirected mortar attack. An American Navy doctor and nurse were called. They surmised that the little girl would die if a blood transfusion did not take place. A quick test showed that neither American had the correct type, but several of the uninjured orphans did. 

The doctor spoke some pidgin Vietnamese, and the nurse a smattering of high-school French. Using that combination, together with much impromptu sign language, they tried to explain to their young, frightened audience that unless they could replace some of the girl's lost blood, she would certainly die. Then they asked if anyone would be willing to give blood to help.

Their request was met with wide-eyed silence. After several long moments, a small hand slowly and waveringly went up, dropped back down, and then went up again. "Oh, thank you," the nurse said in French. 

"What is your name?"

"Heng," came the reply. 

Heng was quickly laid on a pallet, his arm swabbed with alcohol, and a needle inserted in his vein. Through this ordeal Heng lay stiff and silent. After a moment, he let out a shuddering sob, quickly covering his face with his free hand. His occasional sobs gave way to steady, silent crying, his eyes screwed tightly shut, his fist in his mouth to stifle his sobs.

The medical team was concerned. Something was obviously very wrong. At this point, a Vietnamese nurse arrived to help. Seeing the little one's distress, she spoke to him rapidly in Vietnamese, listened to his reply and answered him in a soothing voice. After a moment, the patient stopped crying and looked questioningly at the Vietnamese nurse. When she nodded, a look of great relief spread over his face. Glancing up, the nurse said quietly to the Americans, "He thought he was dying. He misunderstood you. He thought you had asked him to give all his blood so the little girl could live." 

"But why would he be willing to do that?" asked the Navy nurse. The Vietnamese nurse repeated the question to the little boy, who answered simply, "She's my friend." That's a glimpse of the kind of incredible, incomprehensible love God has for us. 

 

If you want a visible definition of love, look at what God did for us in Christ Jesus. "But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!" (Rom. 5:8).

If you really want to understand love, don't listen to love songs, or people who throw the term love around. If you want to get to the depths of what it means to love and be loved, look to the cross of Christ, because there God's love came to mankind. The cross is the ultimate expression of God's incomprehensible love to mankind. If you ever find yourself wondering if God loves you, look to the cross. God's final words to us are etched on a Roman cross, and they are blood red. They say, "I love you." What will you do with that love will you accept it or will you reject it? God loves you enough to let you decide, right or wrong.