Each and every day, as we walk the life of a Christian, the love of God should take central stage, but do we really have a grasp on what that means?The love of God seems to be an endless debate, especially in recent days. I’ve heard the arguments, listened as many re-cast the love of God in terms of human understanding. Only, the reality is that this love is demonstrated in a way we would least expect.
God’s love is displayed in the way He allowed the brutal murder of His only Son. God’s love shines in sacrifice and blood and death. God’s love isn’t some human, fluffy romance novel, feel good, self-serving emotion. In contrast, the love of God is passion that engages justice, requires holiness and lays down its very life to provide us with a choice, the opportunity for salvation.
God’s love is bound up in the message of the cross. By pouring His love into the cross God hides
His love from those who would reject His reign.In Matthew 9:13 Jesus said, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ ” And in Matthew 12:7, Jesus told the Pharisees “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”
In these two verses Jesus is quoting from Hosea 6:6 where God says, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice. And acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."
The Hebrew word used for mercy in this verse is “Hesed”. God says, "I desire hesed."
Books have been written on the meaning of Hesed and when we read the word mercy we don’t even scratch the surface of what Jesus is trying to say. I can’t begin to do justice to the term in this one blog post, but consider the implications.
Michael Card says, “'Hesed' is a Hebrew word that describes the indescribable, that defines the un-definable. Put simply, hesed is the defining characteristic of God in the Old Testament."
Hesed is connected with grace, mercy, truth and the covenant keeping love of God. Hesed is personal and relational. And most of all, hesed is the love of God reflected in terms of covenant. The hesed love of God for His people is all about them living under His reign.
The hesed love of God is about the people of God living under His reign.
Isn’t this what the cross was all about? The kingdom of God came to earth. Jesus died, was buried and rose again so we could find forgiveness and the invitation to enter into a new kingdom, rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son.
So that we could find salvation in an everlasting covenant. So that we could live under the perfect reign of a loving God.
This hesed love of God is reflected when people love Him, serve Him, seek to be like Him and give Him thanks while living under His rule. It is mercy. It is Grace. It is Relationship.
The love of God is the cross of Christ transforming lives. This is how we practice the meaning of the Christian life. We live the hesed love of God, making the invisible kingdom of God visible. Jesus told us to learn what this means, and to practice this truth with our lives.
I desire hesed, not religion.
May the loving-kindness of God be expressed in your life today and always as you come in contact with those around you. Then you will truly be revealing the love of God in the World!
God Bless
Roger
(the idea for this article came from "Sojourner's Journey", April 13, 2011)
