INFINITE LOVE

Rather than a follow-up discussion, I began this family devotional with a few a big questions.

• What is your understanding of infinity?
• If one were to travel to the leading edge of the rapidly expanding universe, what would be just beyond that; and still further beyond that?
• How do you conceptualize nothingness? If all the matter and energy were reduced to a single particle, and then that particle was eliminated, all that would remain would be theoretical nothingness. Even that concept is meaningless because with absolute nothingness, there is no long reference point in creation. In the beginning, God created the universe out of nothing—that is to say, He spoke it into existence by "the Word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3).
• And finally, how long is forever (eternity)? 

TWO CONCERNS

     Christians commonly use words and phrases that are loaded with great depths of meaning— words like sovereignty, incarnation, and atonement—or phrases like justification by faith, the Word of God, and the Son of God. In the course of a 10-minute devotional, it would be very tedious to unpack the full meaning of a concept every time it was referred to it. Loaded words packed with meaning enable us to communicate powerful messages in a timely fashion. However, Christian leaders should always be mindful of two concerns.

     The first concern is that new believers gradually adopt Christian jargon but with only a superficial understanding of the theology behind the word or phrase. For example, people’s perceptions are naturally bent toward an image of God that looks a lot like themselves. We think of God’s love as really good human love, God’s holiness to be similar to the best of human holiness, and so on. Instead of seeing human virtue as a far fallen and dim reflection of the infinite divine nature, we interpret the nature and character of God as merely a magnified image of human virtue or of human depravity.

     The second concern is that long-time believers become so familiar and matter-of-fact with biblical truth that the most astonishing things become commonplace. A new believer might say with great excitement, “Wow, God is love! Isn’t it incredible!” A more senior believer might simply reply, “Amen, brother, however, mildly smirking at their new believer’s naïveté, they think —Yes, of course, God is love. We all know that.

     Over time truth about God’s infinite love and perfect justice have settled in their heads like sediment in the bottom of a pool, rarely stirred in such a way that their hearts are renewed with a deeper revelation and experience of infinite love. Periodically, we all need to stir up the sediment by examining those old familiar concepts least we forget the depth and power of their meanings.

FLAT-EARTH PERSPECTIVE

     Most would agree that the Bible is a story of an infinitely wise and all-powerful Creator. But as strange as it may seem, the word translated as “infinite” is used only three times in the Bible and only once to describe an attribute of God. "Great is our Lord and abundant in strength. His understanding is infinite" (lit. innumerable) (Psalms 147:5). The Old Testament writers’ concept of infinity was not as sophisticated as modern mathematicians and cosmologists. They were still operating with a flat-earth perspective. Consequently, they commonly used linear-spatial metaphors to describe things that were infinite. In Psalms 103:11-12, “High as the heaven are above the earth” is an expression of God’s measureless and infinite love. “As far as east is from the west” was their way of describing of God absolute and complete cleansing and forgiveness.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

     So, how high is God’s love?

     Couldn’t be higher!

     How far is a believer’s sin removed?

     Couldn’t be farther!

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT…

     At the last judgment, God’s perfect justice will be fully manifest for all to see. Then every knee shall bow and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. None will be able to say, “Unfair, unfair. You have not judged us righteously.” The nature and character of God’s judgement are infinitely perfect in every conceivable way. That is to say that there is nothing the omniscient God does not know. A terrifying thought indeed. For the omnipresent God, every place is here. For the eternal God, every time in now. John Calvin, John Wesley, and C.S. Lewis all embraced differing theological perspectives, but they all agreed that God exists above and beyond time and space. In other words, the “eternal now.” The crucifixion was not a tragic sacrifice that happened 2,000 years ago. In the eyes of God, it is happening even as I speak. It is ever before him. In the same way, our service and sacrifices in the name of Jesus, our sin and shortcomings are always before him. And there is nothing the omnipotent God cannot do—except that which is inconsistent with His own infinite perfections. Concerning the character of God, for an infinitely just and righteous God, no act or thought could be anything but perfectly just and righteous. Redemption and grace are not arbitrary gifts imputed to our accounts. It’s not a matter of what God cannot do but of what He will not do. He only justifies the sinner on the basis of faith alone in the sacrifice of the Son as propitiation for our sin.

THE TAKEAWAY

     It would be inconceivable to imagine that the infinitely perfect Being could be just “a little bit loving” or a “little bit forgiving” of those redeemed by the blood of Christ. I can imagine a Creator who after the world was brought into being, was ambivalent about anything related to it. However, if God loves at all, His love must necessarily be supreme, incomparable, and unadulterated. I personalize it this way: Either God loves me full-throttled, pedal-to-the-metal, without restraint, restrictions, conditions, or reservations—or He loves me not at all. I cannot imagine anything in between.

    What’s even harder to imagine is that God has chosen to fix His infinite love upon me—EVEN ME with all my sin and shortcomings. The late Dr. Timothy Keller put it like this: Suppose a young bride looks into her husband's eyes and asks, "My dear, why do you love me so?" The young man at that point needs to answer very carefully. He could comment on how beautiful, how sweet, or how kind she is. He could praise her for her creativity, her outstanding hospitality, or her home management abilities. However, as the couple age, their outward beauty and skills diminish. Sometimes they fade away to the point that they exist only as a distant memory. What then is left? The best answer (the only meaningful answer) young man should offer—"I love YOU because I have CHOSEN YOU."

     Again, we're back to thinking about God's love as the best of human love. But marriage is still a dim reflection of something infinitely greater. God has by His sovereign grace, chosen to fix His love upon us. That is not to suggest that He winks at the worship of sin and self—He is still the God of perfect and exacting judgment. As I have said on many occasions, if only when we (on the one hand) could comprehend God's perfect justice by which every word, deed, and intention heart's intention... and at the same time comprehend God's the infinite love and imputed righteousness... then and only then do we begin to understand the grace of God and the significance of His sacrifice.

     God did not give His only begotten Son because He had SOME LOVE for the world. God gave because He SO LOVED the world.

Walt Walker