Durable Love
“Never was man so afflicted as our Saviour in body and soul from friends and foes, by heaven and hell, in life and death. He was foremost in the ranks of the afflicted. But all those afflictions were sent in love, and not because his Father despised and abhorred him. ‘Tis true that justice demanded that Christ should bear the burden which as a substitute he undertook to carry. But Jehovah always loved him, and in love laid that load upon him with a view to his ultimate glory and to the accomplishment of the dearest wish of his heart.” – Charles H. Spurgeon
“His (Jesus’) affliction indicates God’s willingness to let humanity go to the very end in rebelling against God. It also indicates Jesus’s willingness to go to the end of being the embodiment of the love of God as God carries the sin of the world. In Jesus, God bears the totality of human rebellion.”- John Goldingay
One of the amazingly comforting realities of God’s love for us as expressed in the person and work of Jesus is its durability. Jesus has loved us in a way that is sturdy. That is to say that it doesn’t break. In fact, as Paul states in Romans 8 (see verses 31-39) there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is of great help to us because, we are not so durable. Our lack of sturdiness and steadiness makes our love fickle. Not so with our God. His love is unwavering. We know this because it is His promise but, we experience this personally in and through His Son. Jesus’ incarnation is God up close, God in a way we can understand. He is human and that we understand. His birth though was not the end game. Rather His first Advent was a prerequisite for His death. He could not be the full embodiment of God’s love unless He went to the cross. That is where we saw with undeniable evidence the full measure of God’s love. He loves us and we know it because He dies for us. His love is durable because of His willing death in our place. It is both a means, a measure and a proof of its durability. God loves us as sons and daughters because of the cross. God loves us enough to send His Son to the cross. God’s love is durable because even Jesus’ death was not too high of a price. The implications to this are multitude but, I want to focus on just one. It seems of late that doubt is all the rage among “Christians.” Deconstruction (which has more than one meaning) is a new word to describe when people doubt their orthodox Christians beliefs to the point of discarding or dismantling them in part or the whole. Exvangelicals is a trendy word tied to this phenomenon. Prominent people have added their voices to this movement which has encouraged and accelerated the trendy nature of the words and added to the number of people who would describe themselves as part of the exodus from orthodoxy. And while we have crafted new language, doubt is not new to faith. Passages like Psalm 22 prove the point while offering a healthy and faith building way to handle heavy duty doubt. Verses 1-2 of the psalm are some of the most gut-wrenching in the Bible:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
In them though, the Psalmist points not to giving up on his faith or dismantling the parts he does not understand. Rather, he lays a path of giving doubt its full vent while holding on to God. The rest of the Psalm follows these opening words’ theological cue. For 21 verses, there is great pain and grave danger which are given their due right alongside accounts of God’s past faithfulness and pleas for rescue. Then the rescue comes and praise and worship follow. The beauty of this Psalm for us is that we know Jesus took it as His own when He demonstrated the Father’s love for us in its highest form. So, when we take it as our own, no matter the weight of the doubts or intensity of the pain or the level of danger we face, we know the rescue comes because, we know the Rescuer has come. To feel doubt and pain and experience danger in living this life as a follower of Jesus should not disorient us to the point of leaving our faith behind. On the contrary, such has always been the experience of the people of God. Rather in feeling doubt and pain and facing danger, we should be reminded of the ultimate durability of God’s love for us. He has rescued and saved at great cost. He will not break His promises to us. We know because His promises to rescue and save have all come true in David’s greatest Son- Jesus. Might God’s love flood your heart as you celebrate our Savior’s coming to us as a babe in a manger. And might God’s love hold you tight as you journey through life’s doubts and pains and dangers until Jesus’ second advent or His call to bring you home. Merry Christmas!
“It shall never be said that any man’s affliction or poverty prevented his being an accepted suppliant at Jehovah’s throne of grace. The meanest applicant is welcome at mercy’s door.” -Charles H. Spurgeon