Where to see God's love (Alexander Somerville)

Some time ago, our astronomers were desirous of making researches into the nature and the structure of the sun; and, for their purpose, they despatched many competent parties to different regions of the globe, in order to take observations of the great luminary, and scrupulously to record the results. Strange to say, the critical opportunity selected by them for gaining insight into the structure of the orb of light was that afforded during the few moments of total eclipse. The brief season of entire obscuration of the sun was found better than any other for attaining their object. 

So it is with the Divine love. Would we know the qualities and intensity of that love, we must conduct our enquiries at the place, and at the time when the Father's face was hid from the Son of His love; when, in the deep gloom of Calvary, the Son of God was made a propitiation for our sins, and that cry rang through the darkness, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' It is in the Cross, where our great substitute died for the guilty, where, to use the emphatic language of scripture, Christ 'was made a curse for us,' that we acquire our best acquaintance with the 'great love' of God (Alexander Somerville). 

The incarnation tells us God is love (Thomas Chalmers)

The veil, which hides the unseen God from the eye of mortals, must be somehow withdrawn. Now all this has been done once, and done only, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, He being the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person. 

The Godhead became palpable to human senses; and man could behold, as in a picture or in distinct personification, the very characteristics of the Being who made him. Then truly did men hold converse with Immanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us. They saw His glory in the face of Jesus and the very characteristics of the Divinity Himself may be said to have appeared in authentic representation before them, when God manifest in the flesh descended on Judea, and sojourned amongst its earthly tabernacles. 

By this mysterious movement from heaven to earth, the dark, the untrodden interval, which separates the corporeal from the spiritual, was at length over come. The King eternal and invisible was then placed within the ken of mortals. They saw the Son, and in Him saw the Father also so that while contemplating the person and the history of a man, they could make a study of the Godhead.

And it is thus the unequivocal demonstration has been given, that God is love. We could not scale the heights of that mysterious ascent which might bring us within view of the Godhead. It is by the descent of the Godhead unto us, that this great manifestation has been given; and we learn and know of God, from the wondrous history of Him who went about doing good continually. 

We could not go in search of the viewless Deity, through the depths and the vastnesses of infinitude; or discover the secret, the untold purposes, that were brooding there. But in no way could a more palpable exhibition have been made, than when the eternal Son shrined in humanity stepped forth on the platform of visible things, and on the proclaimed errand to seek and to save us.

We can now read the character of God in the human looks and in the human language of Him who is the very image and visible representation of the Deity. We see it in the tears of sympathy which He shed. We hear it in the accents of tenderness which fell from Him. Even His very remonstrances were those of a meek and gentle nature; for they are remonstrances of deepest pathos, the complaints of a longing and affectionate spirit, against the sad perversity of men bent on their own undoing. 

When visited with the fear that God looks hardly and adversely towards us, let us think of Him who had compassion on the famishing multitudes; of Him who mourned with the sisters of Lazarus; of Him who, when He approached the city of Jerusalem, wept over it, at the thought of its coming desolation. And knowing that the Son is like unto the Father, let us re-assure our hopes with the certainty that God is love.

Enjoying the love of God

C. H. Spurgeon preached two or three times on Romans 5:5, a verse that describes the divine activity of the Holy Spirit in pouring the love of God into the hearts of his people. In one of those sermons, he highlighted some ways of preventing this divine blessing from being enjoyed. Here they are, in his words.

 

Reason 1

‘The common sin of God’s people is slackness in prayer. If there is one sin that needs to be preached about more than another just now, it is the sin of the omission of secret dealings with God. This is the secret of our spiritual leanness, the secret of many of our trials, of our lack of joy, our loss of confidence in God.’

 

Reason 2

‘I am persuaded, too, that a great many of us lose a good deal through neglecting the means of Grace. I do not think that this applies to the most of you as a congregation… But it is not so with some professors. Step into most of the places of worship in London and look at the weeknight service — and in some country places they have to give up theirs because there are not enough to come to make it worth their while to hold such meetings. There is a sad deficiency in some places of a love of the means of Grace. 

 

‘There are some professors who, when they get by the seaside, or a little away in the country, are always glad of an excuse not to go out to hear the Word of God. They know but little of the emotion of David when he counted that to be a dry and thirsty land when he could not go up to the public worship of God! Brothers and Sisters, we must use the means of Grace or else, as we despise them, we must not expect a blessing!’

 

Reason 3

‘May we not also say that many Christians lose much joyous fellowship with Christ because of idleness? Christ is a worker. If we are idlers, we shall not have communion with Him. “The Father,” says He, “works hitherto, and I work.” If your possessions are unconsecrated, if your talents are unused, if your time is misspent, you cannot wonder if the Lord Jesus Christ should give you the whip! The “whip is for the ass, and the rod for the fool’s back.” Idle Christians must expect to feel the whip or the rod, but if we will do what we may for Christ, we shall have sweet consolation in the doing of it, and the love of God shall be shed abroad in our hearts!’

 

Reason 4

‘Is it not, also, very probable that our little faith prevents this love of God from being shed abroad in our hearts? If we trusted Christ more and honoured Him more by resting upon the faithful love of His Father, would we not find His love shed abroad in us?’

 

Reason 5

‘And may it not also be our ingratitude as to past favours. We have not thanked God enough for the comfortable seasons that we have enjoyed and, therefore, He keeps us hungering until we thank Him for what He did in days gone by.’

 

Reason 6

‘And, dear Friends, is it not because we do not sincerely seek conformity to the likeness of our Saviour, that we have not, as we might, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts? It is even this, my Brothers and Sisters, it is even this! If you have ever known the sweetness of the love of Christ, you understand that I cannot exaggerate when I praise it. It is the sweetest, best and happiest thing of which a mortal can sing. It is a bliss which angels might envy — the sense of the love of God in a man or woman’s heart! Then how is it that you and I can endure to be without it?… 

‘How is it we can endure, as some professors do, day after day, not to have a word from His lips, or a smile from His countenance? Do we really love Him, or is it all mere talk? Has our heart any deep affection for Him, or is it only formal profession? Have we caught it up from others? Have we stirred merely natural emotions in ourselves and then thought we loved Him? Oh, I do hope we may say, “It is not so, we do love Him! We would be very wretched if we did not. We might sooner wish to die than cease to love Him. He is the Chief among ten thousand to our hearts – we feel He is.”’