We as finite human beings can image just a sliver of the depth of God’s love. But when we take the time to dwell on it, we find it really baffles our mind. Let us look into this subject and hopefully gain another small sliver of its depth.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9, we read, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
Our minds cannot truly envision the great things to come for those counted worthy to partake in eternity. We know that the streets shall be made up of gold, maybe similar as the below picture.
“And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”(Rev.21:21)
In dwelling on this subject this week, I was guided to the subject of Satan. Why would Satan be connected to God’s great love? Let us look at this connection.
Ezekiel describes Satan’s beauty, “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.” (Ezekiel 28:13-15)
We see that God spared nothing in creating a most beautiful exalted creature. Satan was endowed with not only beauty but exceeding wisdom.
Ellen White describes more on Satan, “Lucifer in heaven, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son. His countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His forehead was high and broad, showing a powerful intellect. His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. A special light beamed in his countenance and shone around him brighter and more beautiful than around the other angels..” (The Story of Redemption, p.13)
So what connection is there? I believe the depth of God’s love is this– God made a being so beautiful, so powerful, so intelligent, that God was putting Himself on the line! By that I mean, He took a daring chance that He created a being too beautiful, too powerful, too intelligent. God’s love went out on a limb, because He envisioned a being that the heavenly host could admire and love as well. The generosity of His love truly was a marvel.
But, as well all know, God’s hope and dream was not to be. Yet, what does this show us? That His love is truly deep and generous. Being God , He imparted those majestic qualities in Satan, along with Satan’s potentially dangerous freedom to exalt himself, which unfortunately he did.
In explaining what love truly is, apostle John, gives the straight answer, ” Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.(1 John 4:7-8)
So we see that one of the greatest ingredients of God’s love is to make beings that have free choice, free will. But included in this great ingredient is God’s divine rules and regulations, in other words–structure.
Some of us remember the hippie days of the 60’s. The popular phrase was “Free Love”. They had these bumper stickers on the back of their vehicles, often the popular Volkswagen bus.But we remember that often their free love turned out to be disease, fighting, murder and general destruction in many cases.
One of the great misnomer and false ideas is that of–unconditional love. There has never been nor never will be what is called unconditional love. All thinking and speaking beings are made to love, yet they always come with conditions. God for example cannot love in such a way to create a being that could destroy Him. Nor can He create a being and forever accept them, if they reject Him. He extends His love but His righteousness cannot disappear for the sake of “love”.
God has His supreme Law of the universe, called the 10 Commandments. One of His greatest acts of love for us, His human beings, is showing His great Law through His Son, our Lord, King and Savior–Jesus Christ.
Our King has clearly described in one place within the whole Bible that shows how we are to show we “love” Him.
“If you love Me, keep My Commandments.”(John 14:15)
Our prophetess speaks about His great love as our “first step”–
“The very first step in approaching God is to know and believe the love that He has for us; for it is through the drawing of His love that we are led to come to Him.” (M.B. p.155, 156)
When we really take the time to dwell upon how great and deep is His love, we cannot help but come to the conclusion that we are so blessed, as to be awe-struck at who our God really is.
When we draw close to Him we start to envision more about Him. For instance I have found myself in tears just thinking about His long-suffering and patience, He has had for my worldly sinful ways. Decades of them!
In closing, as Human beings, we cannot fathom the depth of God’s love but we can use our finite minds to try to put together some pieces of its depth. Our most important duty right now is–obedience. In His great and merciful love He has sent His last message of hope and instruction. After this message reaches His beloved church within His allotted time, He can do no more.
Let us learn from Satan’s mistake. We can become obedient to His word as said through His Elijah prophet, if we humble ourselves. Satan’s downfall was his pride. God’s deep love reached out to him, but he would not. Will we submit and believe and obey His last message to us?
“.. Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:13)
Godsloveandlaw's Blog 
October 10, 2019 at 5:06 am |
Do you think God’s love for us ceases when a person refuses to keep His commandments and that till the end of his/her life? Or maybe His love for them IS unconditional, only He has to make a choice of not allowing them to heaven to protect the peace and comfort of other people, who will enter.
October 10, 2019 at 6:00 pm |
No I don’t think His love ceases when we stop obeying His Commandments– how do I know? Well, every morning He gives us breath to repent until our days are done. I think the Lord pleads with all flesh to the last moment. The problem is that due to repeating our sinful life we become “blind” and “deaf” to the Holy Spirit.
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2)