ERICA DUNOMES

What is the magnitude of God’s love, and how many of us are there that can say that we truly know it? That’s what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about the magnitude of God’s love.

As I sit mulling over in my head the right words to use to describe the love of God, I realize that God’s love is so great, that words really will not do it justice. So, therefore, I am torn, really, as to what to say to you. But if there is one thing that I absolutely want you to know, as was stated in a previous post, it is this:

GOD LOVES YOU.

Now, I realize that I could tell you that all day long. However, I understand that until you experience His love, you will never fully believe in His love. Friend, have you experienced the love of God, or are you one who is on the doubting side?

Maybe you are one who knows of the love of God, but you’ve messed up in life so bad that you feel His love has changed towards you. Maybe there have been some things that have happened to you in your life that have caused you to feel that if God loved you, He wouldn’t have allowed such things to happen to you. Whatever the case may be, I hope to be able to shed some light for you on God’s love.

By the end of this post, I want you to scroll away with a newfound assurance of the love of God towards you and just how great that love is. The best way to do that is to just simply take you right to the Bible and let the Word of God do the talking. So, here we go.

God is Love.

God is not just a God who loves. He is love. Love is His nature, His character, and His disposition. Love is born of God. To know love is to know God (1 John 4). This is the most important thing that you need to know about the magnitude of God’s love.

And we have known and believed the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
~1 John 4:16

The meaning for love in this verse is described as agape love which is the highest form of love there is. It has to do with the love God has for man and man for God. Agape love is a love of affection and benevolence.

To further explain, agape love is a love that is based on devotion, dedication, compassion, kindness, goodness, and generosity. It is a love that seeks the good of others. The greatest display of God’s love ever given to mankind was when He gave Jesus, His one and only Son, to die on the cross for our sins.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
~John 3:16

God cared so much about our good that He gave us everything that He had to save us from an eternal death. He loved us so to the point that everything of Himself, He wrapped up in Jesus, then sent Him to us.

God’s love makes us His children.

God provided a way for every man to be saved by way of salvation. It is through salvation that we become spiritually connected to God which in turn brings us into a right relationship with God. God becomes our Father and we become His children.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God! ~1 John 3:1

Being a child of God comes with many blessings. We learn and become knowledgeable of the proper way a parent is supposed to love and care for their child. Here are some ways that God as our Father loves and cares for us:

• He teaches us right from wrong. As parents, we are to be our children’s number one teachers. We have the responsibility to teach them what is right to do and what is wrong to do. God does that for us. We are to follow His example. Also, it is the nature of a child to want to please their parents. We help them do that when we teach them. In the same way, God helps us please Him by giving us the wisdom to do so (James 1:5).
• He provides our every need. Children know what they want but do not always know what they need. They can’t always communicate what they need either. Water, food, clothing, and a roof over their heads are some of the things a child needs. Parents are to provide that for them. That’s what God does for us (Matthew 6; Philippians 4:19). There are times that we don’t have to ask God for what we need. He gives it because He already knows.
• He protects us from harm. Children are not only taught right from wrong by their parents because it is the right thing to do. Parents also do it to protect their children. We know the dangers that some of their actions can get them in and so we set up rules to protect them. These rules provide the boundaries that if our children stay within them, they will be kept safe. Again, this is what God has done for us. He gave us commandments to follow to protect us (Exodus 20; Matthew 22).

You are a child of God. Giving your life to Jesus makes Him responsible for you. He is not a God who will ever leave you. He is a God who loves and greatly cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). He will always be there for you.

God’s love covers a multitude of sins.

Becoming a child of God gives you a fresh start and a clean slate in life. The word of God says that the old person you once were dies and that in Jesus, you become a new person.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 
~2 Corinthians 5:13

At the point of your repentance, confessing Jesus as your Savior and Lord, and receiving salvation, the sins of your past are wiped away. God, through His amazing love takes them and covers them under the blood of His Son Jesus (1 John 1:7).

The word says that He forgets about them (Isaiah 43:25). God remembers those sins no more. This does not at all mean that He is a God who forgets like humans may forget. You know, when you have to pick your child up from band practice, but you forgot she had it in the first place? No, not that kind of forgetting. God’s kind of forgetting mentioned in the stated verse is that, in His mercy, He intentionally chooses not to remember.

Guess what else? God not only forget your past sins, but He also forgets your present and future sins. He loves you so much that He was willing to cover ALL of your sins.

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. ~Proverbs 10:12

The meaning for the word cover in the Greek, as used in the verse above, means to clothe or to hide. God is a holy God who cannot look on sin.

The first sin that God ever covered was the sin of Adam and Eve after they disobeyed Him. The word says that he made them tunics of skin and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). He covered their sin. This was also the first blood sacrifice ever made to cover the sin of mankind. Animal sacrifice then became the way of sin-covering. That is until He sent Jesus to die on the cross to cover our sins once and for all by His blood. So, the fervent love God has for you has made a way for you to have your sins covered.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ~Hebrews 9:12

Repentance is also a way to have your sins covered. To repent of sin is to show God that you are deeply sorry for your wrongdoings. Two things happen when we repent:

1. God forgives us.
2. God covers us.

Repentance is God’s gift to us that guarantees that our sins remain covered under the blood of Jesus. Let’s praise Him for that, shall we?

God’s love is everlasting.

Something everlasting means that it is built to stand the test of time. It is built to last forever. God’s love is that kind of love. His love is not the kind that is here for one moment and then gone the next. Human love apart from God is that way. Your life here on earth is that way too, which is all the more reason why you should believe in and know the love of God.

God’s love is a love that can be trusted. All the time. It is not predicated on what you do or don’t do. It is based solely on who God is. Remember, He is love.

My son, when he was eighteen years old, revealed something to me about himself that left me heartbroken. For a moment, I had no response as to what I should say. I knew that I didn’t want my response to be anything coming from my flesh. So, I asked God for what to say. This is what He told me. He said,

“Tell him, that just as he is not separated from My love, he is not separated from your love.”

~God, Jesus, Holy Spirit

Friend, can I tell you that the same applies to you? What you do or don’t do will never cause you to lose His love. Whether you have accepted Him into your life or not, He still loves you. He will always love you.

God will not ever separate one person from His love. For Him to do such a thing would mean that He sent Jesus to die in vain. God’s love went to the cross for you and me. There has and will never be a greater love ever shown of this magnitude ever again.

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:37-39

Here’s a story to inspire you.

The testimony of Kim Walker-Smith from her encounter with Jesus is one that I will always and forever remember. In it she tells of the moment that Jesus told her to ask Him one of the two questions she had been wanting to ask Him. One question she wanted to know was how much she was loved by Him. When she finally mustered up the courage to ask, she stated in response that Jesus stretched His arms long and wide and said, “I love you this much!” Then He proceeded to let out the most hysterical laugh. She stated that she looked to see how much Jesus loved her and His arms were stretched out so long that she could not see an end. Kim learned the magnitude of God’s love for her that day.

God is no respecter of persons when it comes to His love. He loves everyone the same. The same fervor, intensity, and power of love He has for one person, Sis, He has for you too. Do you believe that today?

Before you scroll away, take a moment to enjoy this beautiful song about our God’s amazing love.