GETTING TO KNOW MY FRIEND

HE LOVES ME

Both nature and the written word speak of God's love for me. My Father in heaven is the source of my life, my wisdom and my joy. When I see the beautiful things in nature -- the sunshine, the rain, the hills, seas and plains -- and I think of their use supplying not only my needs but also the needs of all creatures, I see the love of my Creator. It is God who supplies the daily needs for all His creatures. David said:

"The eyes of all look to You,
and You give them their food at the proper time.
You open Your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing."Psalm 145:15,16

Originally, God made us happy and fulfilled. The earth, as it came from the Creator's hand, had no decay or curse. All pain, suffering and death that now exists was brought on by deliberate choice against God's love. The ground was cursed, after the fall, for my sake."... Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life." Genesis 3:17 God's plan to rescue me from the ruin of sin consists of trials and troubles in my daily life as part of my training. Yet the world, though fallen, is not all sorrow and misery. Even nature provides messages of hope and comfort. After all, there are flowers on the thistles, and roses cover the thorns.

On every new bud and every spire of grass is written, "God is love." The birds filling the air with their happy songs, the air perfumed by delicatly tinted flowers, and the tall forest of living green, tell of the care of my God and His desire to make me happy.

The written word, also reveals God's character. When Moses prayed, "Show me your glory," God showed His infinite love by answering, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you.""Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.' And the LORD said, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Exodus 33:18,19 I am "the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.""Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and procalimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfullness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the thrid and fourth generation.'" Exodus 34:6,7 I "delight to show mercy.""Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy." Micah 7:18

God has bound me to Himself by innumberable tokens in heaven and in earth. Through nature and the deepest of human relationships, God has tried to show Himself. However, these imperfectly represent God's Love. Despite all this evidence, the enemy has blinded me so that I still look at God in fear; I think of Him as severe and unforgiving. Satan leads me to concieve God to be a severe judge -- a harsh, exacting creditor. He paints the Creator as one waiting for me to error so He can crush me. It was to remove this lie, by revealing God's infinite love, that Jesus came to earth to live.

The Word of God came as a son of man to show God's true character. "No one has ever seen God, the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known.""No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known." John 1:18 "No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.""All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Matthew 11:27 When one of the deciples asked "Show us the Father, Jesus said, 'Don't you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.'""Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' Jesus answered: 'Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?'" John 14:8, 9

Jesus' mission was "to preach good news to the poor", "proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and to release the oppressed.""'The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,'" Luke 4:18 Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by Satan. There were whole villages where there was not a moan of sickness in any house, for Jesus had healed them all. His work gave evidence of God's divine annointing. Love, mercy, compassion were revealed in every act of His life. (He took on my nature so he could reach my wants.) The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. Little children climbed upon His knees without fear.

Jesus always spoke the truth and always in love. He exercised the greatest tact and attention when communing with the people. He was never rude. He never pained a sensitive soul needlessly. He did not censure human weakness. When He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief and iniquity, tears were in the scathing rebukes. He wept over Jerusalem. They had rejected Him, but He always had tender reguard for them. His life was one of self-denial and thoughtful care for others. Every soul was precious in His eyes. While He ever bore Himself with divine dignity, He bowed with the tenderest regard to every member of the family of God. In all Men He saw fallen souls whom it was His mission to save.

The life Jesus lived reveals God's character. It is from the God's heart that the streams of divine compassion, as seen in Jesus, are flowing out to me. Jesus, the Saviour, was God who "appeared in a body.""Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: 'He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.'" 1 Timothy 3:16

It was to redeem me that Jesus lived and suffered and died. He became a 'Man of sorrows' that I may partake in everlasting joy. He came from a world of fantastic glory, to this world, darkened by the curse of sin. He left a place where He was loved and adored to suffer shame, insult, humiliation, hatred, and death. "The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.""But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 In the wilderness, in Gethsemane, on the cross; the guiltless Son of God took as His own my sins. He, who had been one with God, felt the awsome separation that sin makes between God and I. He cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me.""About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' -- which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" Matthew 27:46 It broke His heart. He died.

Don't forget this: Jesus did not die to appease an angry god! "God so loved [me] that He gave His one and only Son, that [If I ] belive in Him [I] shall not perish but have eternal life.""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." John 3:16 God loves me, not because Jesus died, but rather, He provided the sacrifice of Jesus because He already loved me. Christ became the 'pipeline' through which God could pour His limitless love to me. "God was reconciling [me] to himself in (through) Christ.""that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:19 God suffered with His Son. The heart of Infinite Love paid the price for my redemption.

Jesus said, "the reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life -- only to take it up again.""The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life -- only to take it up again." John 10:17 Or, in other words, "My Father has so loved you that He even loves Me more for giving My life to redeem you. In becoming your Substitute, by surrendering My life, by taking your liabilities, your transgressions, I am endeared to my Father; for by My sacrifice, God can be just and yet the Justifier of you who beleves in Me."

No one but the Son could accomplish my redemption, only someone who knew the full height and depth of God's Love could show it. Only the infinite sacrifice of Jesus could express God's love for me.

"God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son." God gave Him not only to live among men, to bear my sins, and die my sacrifice. God gave Him to the fallen race. Christ has identified himself with my interests and needs. He has linked himself with me through ties that will never be broken. Jesus is "not ashamed to call [me] brother.""Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." Hebrews 2:11 He is my sacrifice, my advocate, my brother, in human form before the Fathers throne. Throughout the eternal ages, He will be one with me whom He redeemed. And all this, so that I may be lifted from the degradation of sin, that I may reflect the love of God, and share the joy of holiness.

The price paid for my redemption, which is the infinite sacrifice of My Father in giving the Son to die for me, can give me exalted conceiptions of what I can become through Jesus. As the inspired apostle John saw the height, depth and width of the Father's love for this perishing race, he was filled with adoration and reverence. He said, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!""How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." 1 John 3:1 What a value this places on me! Through transgressions the we became subjects of Satan. Through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, I, a child of Adam, may become a child of God. By assuming human nature, Jesus elevates humanity. I am placed where, through connection with Jesus, I may indeed become worthy of the name "child of God".

Such love is without parallel. I?! A child of the heavenly King?! What a promise! This is a theme for the most profound meditation! God's matchless love for one who did not love Him! The thought has a subduing power on my soul, and brings my mind into willing captivity to God's will. The more I study the Divine Character, especially in the light of the cross, the more I can see mercy, tenderness and forgiveness mixed with equity and justice. And, the more clearly I can see an infinite love, even surpassing a mothers sympathy for her wayward child.

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