Experiencing the Amazing Love of God: Beyond Feelings

As believers in Jesus, we hold a special place in God's heart. We are His precious children, and He loves us deeply. However, it's important to remember that God's love for us is not meant to become our sole focus or idol. While He does make much of us through His adoption, His intention is to draw us out of ourselves and into a deep relationship with Him, where we can fully enjoy His greatness.

Imagine for a moment that Jesus came to spend a day with you. He sits down beside you on the couch and says, "I really love you." How would you spend the rest of the day with Him?

Many songs and sermons tend to emphasize the recurrent feeling of being loved. They make it seem like the pinnacle of our joy would be in constantly affirming, "He loves me!" "He loves me!" While it is indeed joyful to know and experience God's love, this shouldn't be our primary focus.

So, what does it mean to be loved by God? What lies behind the words "I am loved"?

Rather than fixating on our own feelings of being loved, the greatest and most Christ-exalting joy can be found in watching Jesus throughout the day and being overwhelmed by His amazing attributes. We should be bursting with awe and proclaiming, "You're amazing!" "You are amazing!"

Consider the incredible things Jesus did during His time on earth. He answered the most difficult questions with wisdom that left people astounded. He showed compassion by touching a filthy, oozing sore. He even raised a dead woman back to life! His power, foreknowledge, fearlessness, and divine authority were all truly amazing.

Instead of merely focusing on the fact that He loves us, we should be walking alongside Jesus every day, utterly amazed at what we are seeing.

It's crucial to understand that God's love for us is not simply a warm, fuzzy feeling. His love is demonstrated through His eagerness to do everything necessary, even sacrificing His own life, so that we can marvel at Him without being incinerated by His glory. The acts of redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, and reconciliation are all acts of love. However, the ultimate goal of God's love is for us to be in His presence, beholding His glory, and being astounded by Him. In those moments, we forget ourselves and are captivated by His majesty.

Therefore, I urge pastors and teachers to go beyond teaching about the acts of Christ's love and lead their congregations to the ultimate goal of His love – the enjoyment of Jesus Himself. If our understanding of redemption and forgiveness does not lead us to a deep relationship with Jesus, it falls short of true love.

This is what Jesus Himself prayed for in John 17:24, where He said, "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory."

We must press on in this pursuit. We need to guide people through the acts of Christ's love and help them reach the destination of His love – being in His presence, beholding His glory, and experiencing the fullness of joy that comes from knowing and being known by Him.

It's important to remember that the Bible is our ultimate source of wisdom and truth. Throughout its pages, we find countless references to the love of God and His desire for us to be in relationship with Him. One such reference is found in Ephesians 1:4-5, which says, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."

This passage emphasizes God's deep love for us and His purpose in adopting us into His family through Jesus Christ. It reveals that God's love for us predates the creation of the world itself. This truth should fill us with awe and wonder, as we consider the magnitude of God's love and His desire to bring us into His presence.

Another powerful reference to God's love is found in Romans 8:38-39, which says, "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

These verses assure us that God's love for us is unwavering and unconditional. No matter what we face in life, His love remains constant. This truth should give us great comfort and confidence, knowing that we are secure in His love and nothing can separate us from Him.

In addition to these references, there are numerous other verses in the Bible that speak of God's love for us. From the well-known John 3:16, which states, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life," to the comforting words of Psalm 136:26, "Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever," the Bible is filled with reminders of God's deep and abiding love for His people.

As we continue to explore the depths of God's love, let us not become fixated on ourselves and our own feelings of being loved. Instead, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). May we be captivated by His amazing attributes and overwhelmed by His love for us. May we strive to know Him more deeply and to walk in the fullness of joy that comes from being in His presence. And may we, like the psalmist, declare with awe and reverence, "You are amazing, O Lord!"