“Love Story”

   The human race loves love stories.  Whether told first hand to each other, or in printed literature, or on the screens of television, the movies, and now, the computer, we love the idea and portrayal of romance, affection, devotion, commitment and the sharing of life.  Solomon long ago spoke to this truth.

     “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: the way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid”  (Proverbs 30:18-19; emphasis added).

     Love fascinates us because the God who “is love” created the human race in His image (I John 4:8).  Thus, we were made for love, that is, to be loved by God, to love Him in response, and to love each other as the fruit of Christ’s unselfish presence within our hearts. 

    “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10).

     "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.  This is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Mark 12:30-31).

     “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).

     Sin distorts our understanding, assimilation and expression of love, as defined by God (the only definition that matters).  We think of it primarily in terms of emotion, mentality and physical expression until we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thereby discover the essence of love to be a spiritual reality.   “God is love” declared the Apostle John, revealing the origin and heart of love to exist in and as our Creator (I John 4:8; 16).  Until we know this, we really do not know love.  Moreover, only as we grow in knowledge and application of the truth that God is love will we experience the genuine reception and expression of this most sublime feature of His character.

“When I think of love, my blessed Lord, I only ponder Thee.

For true love shines only in the face

of the Christ of Calvary.”

      

     Every experience of true love we have ever known resulted from God’s origination and bestowal (regardless of the vessel or means by which we received such a gift).  Every experience of authentically loving flowed within and through us by the power of Christ’s selfless presence within us.  “Without Me, ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).  Rightly understood and apprehended, therefore, love drives us to our knees and faces to worship the living and true God whose very essence comprises the wellspring of love’s otherness.  Love then raises us up to become the conduit through which our Lord’s winsome character and nature flows to our particular sphere of influence. 

     The love story of the ages and of eternity sings only of the God who forever dwells in the triune devotion of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit loving each other in the perfection of selfless devotion.  This is love in its essence, to be known forevermore as God, and God alone.  Wondrously, however, the trusting heart is drawn into the story of such glory through the redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus, whereby we receive and then distribute God’s love by His Spirit’s indwelling presence.  This is love, this is The Story, and this is the reality of this moment and forevermore for all who, when thinking of love, think of God.

“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God.”

(II Thessalonians 3:5)

“And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

(John 17:26).