This kind of agape love is self-giving and goes the extra mile. Furthermore, it is unconditional. There are no strings attached. Agape love makes no prior demands. It lays down no conditions. It doesn’t say, "For me to love you, you’ve got to fulfil these qualifications." It cannot be earned. That’s one of the most difficult things for the religious mind to comprehend – the love of God cannot be earned. And if we give people only love that they’ve earned, we are not giving them God’s love, we’re not giving them agape love.

There’s a little verse from a hymn that’s always made a deep impression on me. I don’t think I even know the tune of the hymn, but these are the words:

“How sovereign, wonderful and free, the love of God for sinful me.”

There are three words there that speak about God’s love. "How sovereign, wonderful and free." It’s sovereign. No one tells God what to do with His love. He’s under no obligation to account for His love.

And then it’s wonderful; it’s amazing. If we go only by what is reasonable and probable, we just cannot believe in the love of God because it is most unreasonable and most improbable.

John 3:16 says:

“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him won’t perish but will have eternal life.”

God’s love is sovereign, it’s wonderful and then it’s free. That’s such a beautiful word. It does not have to be earned; it just has to be received. I trust you’ll go through the rest of this day saying that to yourself. "How sovereign, wonderful and free, the love of God for sinful me."

For reflection and prayer

How sovereign, wonderful and free, the love of God for sinful me.

b4:Tdee,

So far, we have focused on the supreme purpose of life as Jesus declares it in John 17:3:

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (NKJV)

Now, let’s think further about the nature of God as it’s uniquely revealed in the Bible. First, God is love; and second, God is light. The first statement – God is love – is found in the first epistle of John, chapter 4, verses 7 and 8:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (NKJV)

The second statement is also found in the same first epistle of John, chapter 1, verses 5-8:

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practise the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we sa

The Love Of God

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