We use the word “Love” frequently during the Christmas season, and rightly so. Love is the very heartbeat, the very center of Advent. God, before time began, purposed to move in love by speaking creation into existence. He breathed into the dust of His creation and made man. He knew mankind would rebel against his commands, yet out of His great love, He moved in time toward humanity by sending a savior who would cleanse His people from their sin. When we describe love for Advent, it can be summed up by this phrase: “Love came down because of divine initiative.”
Why is it important to think about love as a divine initiative from God? To answer that question, we remind ourselves that humanity cannot succeed in reaching upward to God in salvation. Salvation has been brought by God himself by providing Himself to take the penalty of sin on himself. Divine initiative. This love is not distant, theoretical or undefined. God’s love was made manifest in flesh, dwelt among us and was purposeful. This love was costly. This love is God with us. Immanuel.
God’s Love Revealed in Redemption
One of the most recognizable verses in scripture is John 3:16. It is a profound statement that defines love as redemption.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
We see this love not being accounted for in the depth of emotion or feeling, but through action. The Father’s love for the world was proven by the sending of His only Son, the second person of the trinity. Jesus came into the world with the purpose of redemption, even though he would be rejected. Verse 17 proclaims glorious truth of why God moved toward us in love.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
This verse highlights a few things for us. First, man stands guilty and rightly deserves condemnation for sin (See John 3:18 – as we were condemned by our sin already). Second, God made a way for redemption and salvation. The fellowship and communion broken by the fall of Adam, man’s first representative, can be restored because of God’s mercy through His son Jesus. God’s love moves toward His people with salvation in place of judgement. Love described in Advent shows us that not only did Christ understand our condition, He came to save us from it. This is a glory of the incarnation that we must understand rightly. Jesus walked among us, knew our weakness, conquered the temptations we face and He took our sin on himself.
J.C. Ryle wrote that this truth should serve as both a reminder and motivator for us.
“The incarnation is a truth which we out to be ever handling reverently, humbly, and thankfully. It is the very foundation of our hope.”
God’s Love Demonstrated and Defined in Jesus’ Sacrifice
One of the most impactful verses in the New Testament on God’s demonstration of love toward man comes from Paul’s letter to the Romans in chapter 5.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
What an incredible, soul shaking statement inspired by the Holy Spirit. That God would move toward sinful man in love by providing His Son as the only acceptable atoning sacrifice. We who have rebelled, we who have turned to our own way, we who reject God’s commands, were loved by a Holy God.
You have probably heard the phrase, “Actions speak louder than words.” In Christ, the Word was given through the divine act of God’s love.
AW Pink is quoted,
“The love of God is not a mere abstract quality, but something that expressed itself in definite acts – and the greatest of these acts was the giving of his son.”
In John’s first epistle, he would write in chapter 4, verse 9: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
Advent love is a showcase of life being brought to us because of the self-sacrifice of Jesus. Verse 10 goes on to say this:
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Christ’s love was shown by His substitution for the sinner. He came to take on the whole of God’s wrath, he satisfied God’s justice in the punishment of sin, and he became a ransom for many. The manger in Bethlehem cannot be separated from Golgotha’s hill.
Kent Hughes says this about the incarnation in view of Calvary:
“God’s love is not theoretical. It is love that enters the mess, bears the cost, and accomplishes redemption.”
God’s Love Changes Us, and is Demonstrated Through Us
1 John 4:11 goes on to show us what this transforming love should accomplish in the believer. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Cutting it straight, all who have experienced the love of God in Christ are to reflect that love to others. We do not do this to earn justification, but this will be evidence of justification.
Paul Tripp writes in his book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands:
“You cannot experience the redeeming love of Christ and remain unchanged in the way you relate to others.”
This divine love will mold us from the inside and work its way outside.
God’s Love Promised, and His Love is Present
This Christmas, we celebrate the love that was promised and prophesied. God in His great love acted by sending His Son to redeem us. The Father sent His only Son, His very Word became flesh, grace was extended and applied through the blood of the cross. Now, the believer lives in the present love of God in Christ forever. We now live in the truth that nothing can separate the redeemed from His love.
“Nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:39
Suggested Readings:
- John 3:16-17
- 1 John 4:9-11
- John 1:1-18
- Romans 5
- John 15