Is God’s Love Endless?
The Right Question
As we tackle the subject of God’s love this week, I wanted to further our study from last week and look at not just who God loves, but the standards by which this love is given. In other words, I don’t just want to look at how God loves everyone, but for how long God loves those He claims to love. Right off the bat, I want to say if you haven’t read our last post, this would be a great time to do so. Not only are we going to refer back to what we learned last week, but we are also going to build on what we already know from what was discussed last week as well. For those who have read last week's post, however, we can remember that while everyone on earth can experience the blessing of God’s love, only those of us who have been saved by Christ can claim that we will experience the fullness of this love for eternity. Our basis for this comes right out of the most famous text in all of scripture, John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” It is clear in this passage that God loves everyone, but this love is not unconditional. By what condition must we meet to have this love for ‘eternal life’? We must believe in Christ. With this at the forefront of our minds, let’s dive into the vastness of this love to find where it ends.
The Lost & Found
For starters, the three aspects of God’s love we discussed last week were the universal aspect, the conditional aspect, and the complacent aspect. What we ended up discovering was that while God’s love is technically universal, in order to experience the fullest extent of this love, it does come with a condition (as discussed above), and it is in fact complacent (read last week’s post). So to answer the question of how endless God’s love is, the question is not simply, ‘Where does God’s love end?’ but rather, ‘Who is receiving this love?’ For the non-believer, this love that they experience on earth will indeed come to an end. Look at how Romans 2:5 shows us this, “5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Those who are stubborn and refuse to repent and believe the gospel of Christ, are only storing up for themselves wrath on the day of judgment. Now we know that there are beautiful aspects to life and blessings that we experience every day that God has shown us, and even the non-believer experiences these. Every day that the non-believer wakes up, they experience the love of God to some degree. However, when this person’s life comes to a close, this love and blessings will no longer apply to their lives. The amazing acts of love they got to witness on earth will be realized as temporary as they now are separated from God for eternity. This is why God’s love can be endless for one person and not another. It is not based on some sense of favoritism from the Lord, but rather on who has accepted the gift that He has offered mankind.
Now on the other side of the fence, we can clearly see that God’s love is endless for those that follow Christ. As John MacArthur so wisely states, “His love for His own is eternal. It is limited in extent and unlimited in degree. It is conditional and it is uninfluenced. It is a love based upon nothing but sovereign determination.” God’s love for His people is a different type of love and it is seen all throughout God’s Word and all throughout this world as well. The lost of this world, while they can claim to have seen the love of God, cannot, however, claim they have experienced the same kind of love that the believer has. To be able to grasp the saving love of Christ and understand that you did nothing to deserve this love is a different experience entirely. Not only that, it is only the believer who has been saved by Christ that can claim that this love is something that will be experienced even after death, not just on this earth. Again, the best picture for this comes from the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:38-39 “38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If this doesn’t convince you of the eternal love for those who are saved, I don’t know what will. It has been made quite clear to us in this passage that even death can’t separate God’s people from His love. If this is the case, then we can be sure that even when we die and go from this earth into heaven, God’s love for us will remain, and dare I say, be seen in an even better light than it has here. This is a huge reason why death for the believer really can be seen as gain when all things are considered.
Love In Hardship
Before we end this post, I do want to take some time and address the love that believers experience on earth, even when we may be sinning, walking away from the Lord, or even amid a storm. It has been made quite clear to us that as Christ followers, we experience a different kind of love than others and that it will be a love that we can personally claim as endless. But what about believers who walk away for some time or go through hardship? Is this love just not applicable in these moments? I want to point you to a very humbling, yet comforting passage. In Psalm 23:4-6, David tells God, “4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.” As those who have responded positively to the gospel, I can tell you first hand, it is much better to receive the caring love of discipline from God, than to only observe the love from God as a non-believer. Even though you may be going through hardship, you may be struggling to overcome sin, or even if you’ve walked away from the Lord for some time, I pray that you will always remember that the personal love from a disciplining Father is way more comforting than a detached love from a stranger we’ve never known. As you grow in the knowledge of God’s Word this week and take time to pray and thank Him for all He’s done for you, I hope that these posts have made you more grateful for the love of God over your life and more urgent to share it with others. May the Holy Spirit continue to lead you to the love of God and may this love continue to lead you to the lost who need be shown this love as well.
Sources
[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.
[2] An everlasting love: the love of God. (2004, March 11). Grace to You. https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/GTY160/an-everlasting-love-the-love-of-god
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