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Love in a Lost World

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A painting of a broad shaft of warm light breaking through heavy cloud into a dark valley, carrying the article title and the Time Is At Hand name and address

Matthew 24:12 — And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

We all grow up feeling a void inside, a void that can only be filled with the presence of Christ, a void so deep that most of us if not all, experience some kind of suffering. Suffering so intense that many people drop by the wayside, some choose to commit suicide. As sin increases, narcissism and self-indulgence grow, and men and women find themselves ridden with the consequences of their own actions and those of others. What then is the answer to this perpetual crime?

The answer lies in the one who laid down His life for us: Christ.

Philippians 4:13 — I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

We need not be troubled nor let our hearts be anxious, as God has promised the victory for those of us who are in Christ.

What agape love is

Love has many forms. On the one hand there is romantic love; on the other extreme there is platonic love; and where God is concerned there is agape love: the kind that comes forth from no other than our Saviour.

Agape love is the all-consuming and unconditional love that God has towards His children, that which is selfless and sacrificial in nature.

It did not begin at the cross

Agape love did not just begin at the cross, as many would choose to believe. No — God’s love for us began at the beginning of creation.

Genesis 2:7 — And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

A painting of bare red earth at first light with luminous mist rising and a single green shoot at the centre, carrying Genesis 2:7 — and man became a living soul
Love with a date on it If agape begins at Calvary, it is a response to our failure. If it begins here, in the dust, it is why we exist at all.

God chose to share this world with us. He chose to fashion man in His image and bestow unto us all the characteristics of Himself, which includes agape love. It is in this outpouring of His love for us that God provided a solution for humanity to be restored unto Himself.

The measure of it

John 3:16 — For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

A painting of a single empty cross silhouetted on a hillside against a burning dusk sky, carrying John 3:16 — he gave his only begotten Son
The cross is empty in this picture Deliberately. John 3:16 is about a gift that was given and a death that did not hold — not a scene to linger over.

God loved us so much that He took our sins upon Himself and provided the way of escape from death and eternal punishment.

The plan was set in motion at the beginning

Genesis 3:15 — And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

From the very outset God had designed a plan to ensure Satan would be destroyed and death would be overcome. We can therefore cling to this promise and be rest assured that although we may suffer for a moment and have trials and tribulations, our Saviour is soon returning to take us up with Him into heaven and the new earth, where we will spend eternity with Christ and there will be no more suffering and no more tears.

No more tears

Revelation 21:4 — And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

A painting of an immense expanse of perfectly still water at sunrise with no cloud and no wave, carrying Revelation 21:4 — and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes
Four things ended, one at a time Death, sorrow, crying, pain. The verse does not generalise — it names them and puts each one in the past.

Amen.

If this study has raised something you would like to talk through, the team reads every message: ask a Bible question, or send a prayer request.

On the love this article is about, Getting to Know Jesus takes up Philippians 3:10 and what it is to know Him personally, and The Everlasting Gospel sets out the message of Revelation 14 and the hour of God’s judgment. On the promise it ends with, Time Shall Be No More takes up the close of probation and the end of the conflict.

For the care of the whole person in the meantime, the Ministry of Healing section takes up health, healing and the mind at rest, and the Overcoming Obstacles series works through what Scripture asks us to overcome and what is promised to those who do.

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