God's Love is Different

INTRODUCTION Before I began writing this book years ago, I thought the subject of love would have produced many volumes of literature. After searching diligently, at that time, I could not find many theological or scholarly books written solely about the love of God. Years later, I discovered a few books that would be considered systematic theology books. Many theological books refer to the love of God as one topic among many, but not many are solely dedicated to God’s love. Still, some may ask, ‘Why write something about which everybody already knows?’ That's just it. Many of us think we know, but do we? Consider this: I have been a believer for over half a century and involved in church from childhood, but as recently as a few years ago, I did not know then what I know now about God's love. While the love of God can be as simple as the verse “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so,” The reality is that we cannot walk in His love unless He reveals it to us, but our execution of love is limited while God’s is infinite. His Love is Different! As I see it, God reveals His love to us in many ways. In a certain manner, He unfolds His love before our spiritual eyes, depending on our capacity to receive it. This unfolding truth concerning God’s love positioned me to research this subject in the first place. As I began to study the love of God, I discovered that some mainstream perspectives on this subject are limited and have, furthermore, gone unchallenged for quite some time. My dilemma is that when discussing the purpose and productivity of God’s love in a public forum, the content must be straightforward enough for the younger audience to process yet scholarly enough for intellectuals to respect. Hopefully, this book will accomplish both goals, but at the very least, I hope it will encourage you to study God’s Word and draw closer to Him in worship. From your studies, exploring God's love could send you into the world with a new vision and greater perspective of something special, even powerful, about your relationship with the God of the Bible. My sincere prayer is that it will ultimately produce in you a greater understanding of all things, both seen and unseen. If you believe you have heard everything there is to say about God’s love, you may want to think again. We are talking about the everlasting Father, the Alpha and Omega, the Great I AM, the creator of all things, who is before all things and defies our ability to comprehend what could exist without Him. Malcolm Gladwell, an author who explored how much experience qualifies someone to be an expert in their field in his book Tipping Point, concluded that 10,000 hours of practice typically results in mastery of a particular skill or content area. Nevertheless, even with 10,000 hours of study, raised to the 10th power, we could still not fully navigate the depth of God’s eternal love. Some may deem that statement debatable, but my desire is for us to seek out the width, depth, height, and length of God’s amazing love through the study and application of scripture. Anyone who claims they can teach everything about God’s love might reveal how little they truly know about this topic. The information covered in this book will not be comprehensive but selective. At the same time, the book should give readers insight into God’s love and lead them in the right direction of thought and study. When reading John 14:21, thoughts may cross your mind about Jesus being serious when He says He will manifest Himself to you because you love Him; whether or not your love is merely a display of strong emotions; the major differences between man’s love and God’s love; and how lives are altered and manifested by the presence of Jesus’s love. I hope to address those thoughts in this book. Men, women, and seekers of God, have we come to terms with what manner of love God has for us? Traditionally, when the church world addresses our walking in the God-kind-of-love, the discussion always involves the saints having to do something or work for His love. While doing something is needful, we must first receive a revelation of who God is—in and through us—before this love can come alive. For now, let's say that Jesus meant what he said in John 14:21 (KJV) — “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Many of us do not know how to process that information. Jesus describes a love whose meaning cannot entirely be discovered through lengthy discussions or ambitious explorations. It may not be clearly articulated with human words nor found or contained exclusively in a book. To a large degree, it must be encountered and experienced on a personal level. John, the Apostle, states brilliantly the manifestation between man and his love for God. God is more significant than life, imagination, or reality. He exists in a world more extensive than the human eyes can see and more potent than the natural mind can conceive. The writers of the Holy Bible used a variety of adjectives to describe our God. King David, on several occasions, and in an assortment of ways, described the Lord as being good (Psalm 25: 8; 34: 8; 118:1 KJV). Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declared that God is wonderful, mighty, and everlasting (Isaiah 9:6 KJV). In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter described the Lord as gracious (1 Pet. 2: 3 KJV) while Paul, in his unique way, spoke of the Lord as being supremely humble (Phil. 2: 6-9 KJV). God is described in numerous ways, but perhaps the most definitive and well-known description came from the Apostle John, who used a metaphor to describe God simply as love. John furthermore stated that we can know God as much as we know and share pure love (1 John 4: 8 KJV).