We have
never experienced love that is comparable to God's. Human love is
conditional.
Unattractive
people are hard to love. Even though it was my first visit, the lady at the
post office counter greeted me with a very friendly smile. I visited that town
after 30 long years. She acted as if she is meeting a friend, but her
appearance scared me so that I did not greet her or smile back. The left side
of her face was charred, and she had lost the left eye. Her gums and teeth were
visible since the left portion of her lips were burnt too. Her smile was
frightening.
A young
man, envious of her relationship with another person, threw sulfuric acid at
her face, disfiguring her. As a result, her real lover abandoned her since she
was no longer as beautiful as she was before the accident. It turned out that
we were friends at school thirty years ago, which explains her friendly smile.
At school, I remember her as a vibrant and winsome girl. One of the conditions
we set for people to deserve our love is their physical attractiveness.
A
morally acceptable behavior is also a requirement for our love. Criminals,
muggers, women who sell their bodies for a living - who will love them? She is
not even beloved by her own customers, even if they hire her body for the
evening.
We tend
not to love people who are not useful despite their physical beauty and moral
uprightness. My friend is an engineer who moved with his family to another
country to find a better life. His preferred job was not available. He became a
burden to his family since he was dependent on his wife and daughter, who were
the only earners in the family. Therefore, the wife turned hostile, the
daughter joined in, and they conspired to send him back to his country of
origin. As soon as he landed, they revoked his visa, so he cannot return. His
wife and daughter live in the land of promise while he lives on charity. Her
marriage vow of love was only valid if he helped her.
God's
love, however, differs from ours. God loves those who are unlovable by human
standards or even by his own standards–sinners. God loves us even if we do not
love ourselves!
The
cross is the greatest display of God's love. The Bible says that "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).
The love
of God does not have any conditions, so he loves everyone regardless of their
appearance, their purpose, or how useless they are. In Romans 5:8, Saint Paul
addresses this aspect of God's love. "God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." In other words.
"God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved
us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ…." (Eph 2:4).
The love
of God is unparalleled, unsurpassed, and all-surpassing. It has not been fully
explained or understood. Christ's love "surpasses knowledge" (Eph
3:19), according to Paul. God's love is self-initiated, without riders. John
the apostle of love, declares in a note of jubilation: "In this is love,
not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).
Most
importantly, it is not outdated, but it is still relevant today. "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his
blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be
glory and dominion forever and ever" (Revelation 1:5-6). Even
though the King James Version translates all the verbs in a sentence to align
them with the past tense – “freed us” and “made us.” The Greek uses the present
tense, as in, “loves us,” currently.
In the
first century, the present reality of God's love was relevant to the
communities suffering persecution for their faith in Christ. They need to know
that Christ still loves them. God does not abandon Christians when they go
through pain. They suffer, but God's love is not diminished. Yet God continues
to love them despite everything. Love from God is a reality now. God gives us
this assurance even when we find it difficult to love ourselves.