Radical Love
When you chose a grateful heart, God will give you joy. In this world, joy is a difficult thing to come by. Christmas reminds us of all that we have to be grateful for. The things of this world will steal our joy. However, Joy is not the absence of pain. Rather Joy is the presence of the Lord. The greatest Christmas present is the presence of the Lord.
The birth of Jesus reminds us that unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. As Mary said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit doth rejoice in God my savior.” Christmas is the greatest gift of God’s love. For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son so that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The love that our Father gave us is radical and revolutionary. The love of God is designed to remove the root of the disease of sin. Sin is separation from God. Sin is the root of the problem. God removed the stain of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ… For though your sins be as scarlet, you shall be as white as snow. A heart of awe and gratitude is rooted in the knowledge of our Lord.
The love of God is outrageous. It’s love that exceeds the limits of the usual. Agape, the love of God is unlike any other type of love. It’s different from love of family. Broken relationships are normal in immediate and extended families. Other types of love are conditional on the other party’s response. However, the love of God does not love because of our response. He loves because of His nature not ours. God loves because he is gracious and merciful.
The outrageous love of God says turn the other cheek. It says, first humble yourself, forsake your pride, and then you can approach the throne of grace with a humble and a contrite heart. This type of love lacks reason and logic. Love begins with surrendering our rights and looking unto Him. The love of God lives in the grace and mercy of His divine nature. As Psalm 1 said, blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The love of God is genuine and spontaneous. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things…love never fails. Love is the heart’s response when our Joy is in the Lord.
The love of God is dangerous. This type of love is illogical and crazy according to the world’s standards. The love of God rejoices in the Lord not in the works of man and the power of pride. The love of God frees us from seeking our own “human rights.” As Jesus said, “blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven.”
The love of God is to love the unloveable. It is the pure act of giving from a heart that is grateful for God’s grace and mercy. This is the love that Jesus Christ himself had for us. He humbled himself and became obedient even unto death on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above all names…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.
Agape love makes no sense according to the world’s standards. Because of the love that our savior had for us, even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Even though we were dead in trespasses and sins, He paid in full our debt of sin. He for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and is set upon the right hand of God. His joy was your salvation and mine.
The love of God is the greatest love of all. The best Christmas present is the presence of God in Christ in us the hope of Glory. He gave us his son and the good news of reconciliation so that we can give it away… May our prayer be according to 2 Corinthians 5, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he who was without sin, became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. This is the radical love of God.
May God richly bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael