Advent 16: Loved

Scripture: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10

Song: Reckless Love

In the retelling of creation in the Jesus Storybook Bible (my favourite children's bible!), God creates humanity and it says this: “God loved them with all of his heart. And they were lovely because he loved them.” The bible tells the story of a people who knew that there was a God and that that God loved them. He was their Creator and he had made them in love.

But sin marred the connection between people and God. People forgot that there was a God who loved them. They started thinking all kinds of different things about God instead: that he was a tyrant, that he was distant, that he was flippant and harsh, that he ruled over those he had made with indifference, that this God didn't really care about his creatures at all.

And as humans doubted their loved-ness so they became less and less lovely towards themselves and towards each other. Un-loved-ness spiralled out of control.

I question whether God loves me. With all my flaws and failings, it is difficult to comprehend that there is a God of the Universe and that this Almighty, holy King loves me. He loves me even when I turn my back on him. He loves me in the middle of all my mess.

But Jesus came to convince us of this truth - the truth of a God who loves us as we are even when we consider ourselves utterly unlovely. He came to put God's love for the world, and the people in it, on display in the most dramatic way possible. He came to prove to us that God is a God of love. He came to show us in a way that we could finally understand what love really looked like. Real love looks like dying in someone else's place. There is no greater definition of love than to willingly lay down your life for someone else, especially for those who have rejected and abandoned you. If we are waiting to know that we are loved then we need to look to the cross to remind ourselves of what love looks like. 

Reflection: 

In his book, Sacred Fire, Ronald Rolhesier remembers the words of a wise friend who was trying to teach him about prayer. He said this:
"You must try to pray so that, in your prayer, you open yourself in such a way that sometime – perhaps not today, but sometime – you are able to hear God say to you: `I love you!’ These words, addressed to you by God, are the most important words you will ever hear."

Spend some time in prayer this morning allowing God to address you in this way.