As I said earlier, I don't have a hard time believing in the sovereignty of God, or in his wisdom, but in his love? That one has been a little harder. I know what I'm like. I know my weaknesses. I know I'm not deserving. That's probably why trust is a big thing for me and why I'm writing a book about it. Because like I've said, if God was only sovereign and wise, but not loving, I would still be full of fear, not trusting. The good news is this....

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16

God is the very definition of love. We cannot see God, but we can see his love through his actions, with the ultimate expression of his love, which is stated simply as this,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

We needed this expression of love more than anything. We did not deserve it. It is pure grace. Sometimes grace is a hard thing to accept. We think we need to do something to earn it. We can't. Without God’s love we have no hope.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

Propitiation is a word that comes from the Latin propitiāre, "to appease;" from propitius, "gracious”. God is just, and a price was paid for sin, in order for justice to be served. Jesus was the only one who could satisfy the judgment against us.

I like how Jerry Bridges describes this amazing gift of grace in Trusting God, where he says,

“Calvary is the one objective, absolute, irrefutable proof of God’s love for us.”

God is perfect in love and his love is for all of us. Because of this, we can trust in his goodness, and we need not fear.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18

Another place we can look at for the definition of love is here,

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Because God is love, another way to read this verse would be, God is patient and kind…and continue to replace his name wherever you see the word love. When we believe in the love that God has for us, then we too, are to demonstrate this love in our own lives because we are in Christ and he is in us.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9

God’s love changes us. As we meditate on how much he loves us, we become more able to fully place our trust in Him.

“Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.” -Tullian Tchividjian

I’m trusting in God’s perfect love. I’m trusting in his infinite wisdom. I’m trusting in his complete sovereignty. I don’t think there’s any safer, more perfect, more loving place to rest. My soul will rest in his embrace….

I’ll write more about that next time.

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God is Trustworthy Because He is Perfect in Love