If a building is only as strong as its foundation, so are our lives.  Our firmly-founded and firmly-rooted faith on the Love of God is most essential, the utmost establishing factor to have a day-to-day victorious life.  His Love never fails and it was powerfully demonstrated when He gave His only begotten and beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to indwell us in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

“There is, in fact, only one foundation, and no one can lay any foundation other than Jesus the Anointed.”  (1 Corinthians 3:11 Voice)

When His love is revealed to us experientially, it embeds our faith deeper and deeper.  Daily discovering His love, being more aware of how He unveils it to us in various ways and walking in it bring forth freedom and peace, most especially in unlikely situations when we see ourselves falling short of His glory.  Many a time, we hide ourselves from Him with shame, guilt and condemnation, just as what Adam and Eve did when they disobeyed God in the garden.  But the GOOD NEWS is, when we come to know what the finished work of Jesus Christ had accomplished and how powerful the Blood of Jesus is that still speaks to today, by His mercy and grace, we can come boldly into the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace in time of need.  No matter what we feel, we are still found in Him, seated in Christ in the heavenly places where He positioned us to be. This is the confidence that we have in Christ.  How God sees Jesus Christ is how He sees us through His Blood.  How He loves Jesus is how He loves us.  How He receives Jesus is how He receives us. 

Haven’t you noticed that when we are guilty of something we’ve done, before we could even run to Him to repent, His undeserved goodness has already overtaken us?  He has already shown Himself strong to us with His love and mercy embracing us, reassuring us that there is nothing that can separate us from His love.  There is nothing we can do to make Him love us less.  “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23) 

Look at the dictionary definition of the word “steadfast”.  It means resolutely and dutifully firm.  It means unwavering, loyal, faithful, committed, devoted, dedicated, dependable, reliable, steady, constant, true, trustworthy, determined, relentless, and a lot more.  And yet, none of these can be equated to the divine definition of what steadfast means. 

The Love of God is the word “Agape”.  Rick Renner’s Sparkling Gems from the Greek states that the word “Agape” occurs when an individual sees, recognizes, understands, or appreciates the value of an object or a person, causing the viewer to behold this object of person in great esteem, awe, admiration, wonder, and sincere appreciation.  Such great respect is awakened in the heart of the observer for the object or person he is beholding that he is compelled to love it.  In fact, his love for that person or object is so strong that it is irresistible. 

This means when God looked upon the human race, He stood in awe of mankind, even though man was lost in sin.  God admired man; He wondered at man; He held mankind in the highest appreciation.  Even though mankind was held captive by satan at that moment, God looked upon the world and saw His own image in man.  The human race was so precious to God and He loved man so deeply that His heart was stirred to reach out and do something to save him.  In other words, God’s love drove Him to action. 

Agape is a love that loves so profoundly that it knows no limits or boundaries in how far, wide, high, and deep it will go to show that love to its recipient.  If necessary, Agape love will even sacrifice itself for the sake of that object or person it so deeply cherishes.  Agape is the highest form of love – a self-sacrificial type of love that moves the lover to action.  Its awe of the one who is loved is so deep that it is compelled to shower love upon that object or person regardless of its response.

“For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Truly, there is no weightier wrongdoing that can possibly be more powerful than the Blood of the Lamb of God.  When we humanly think that what a person has done is unforgiveable, His word says, He came not to condemn the world but to save, by grace through faith.  And the best thing that could ever happen to us is that when we make and acknowledge Him as our Savior, knowing and accepting the truth that we cannot save ourselves, He immediately breathes in us His Spirit.  We become His holy habitation who carry potent faith and power to overcome disobedience, not by our might nor by our power, but by His Spirit.

There are many accounts in the Bible of how Jesus reconciled people to Himself and each one is unique in its own way.  Such vast variation always amazes me.

The woman who was caught in adultery was brought in the midst of a crowd with teachers of religious law and Pharisees. “They said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say? (John 8:4-5)

Jesus’ response to them was way above one can dare think or imagine.  “They kept demanding an answer, so He stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”” (John 8:7).  When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one until none was left to condemn her.  “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:10)

How do you think the woman responded to the love of Jesus though it wasn’t literally said?   Indeed, she who was forgiven much loved much.   At one point, when she was still lost and in sin, she had no ability to love Him back, yet Jesus showed and showered her without any thought or expectation of receiving love in return.  But because she has experientially received the all-surpassing knowledge of the love of Christ, that incorruptible seed of love surely would have grown and would eventually be expressed in sinning no more, for sin has no longer dominion over her who encountered the grace of God (Romans 6:14). 

A crowd of accusers may have brought her to Jesus expecting to be condemned, but she amazingly collided with the love of God that brought her freedom from sin, guilt and condemnation.  Truly, whom the Son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36)

Nothing and no one can separate us from Him and His love.  Regardless how deep we have fallen, His love is deeper.  Regardless how far we want to run away from Him to hide, the width and length of His love is farther.  Regardless of how we regard ourselves higher in pride, His love is higher.  In Him, there is HOPE, our confident expectation and joyful anticipation that His good plans and purposes for us are at hand.  We have this hope as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure and this hope never disappoints. Therefore, the Lord our God is constantly inviting us to lean only on Him and His love for us, and relinquish self-reliance that blocks His absolute watchful and affectionate care for us. 

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15 AMPC)

I love the Message Paraphrase of this verse that says, God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,
    has this solemn counsel:
“Your salvation requires you to turn back to Me
    and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
    in complete dependence on Me.”

When we see His undeserved and unequalled goodness manifest in our lives, our hearts become more tender to receive His unmerited favor that become seeds of love sown in the ground of our hearts with full potential and power to grow and bear fruit.  What we receive empowers us respond to love Him back Who loved us first, and make us love others as His love fills and spills over through us.

You and I are agape love carriers called to die to ourselves so that the life that we live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God Who loved us and gave Himself to us. We are destined to diffuse the fragrance of His love until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of His glory as the waters cover the sea.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24)

 

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for Your great, unwavering and unconditional love for us that moved You to send Your only Son Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.  Jesus, thank You, for fulfilling the will of the Father with exceedingly joy knowing that with Your finished work at the cross, reconciliation and redemption were made possible.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, for opening our eyes, our ears and our hearts to recognize and acknowledge our need for the love of Christ to fill and flood us.  May 2025 be another year for us to be strengthened with all might to comprehend with all the saints what is the height, width, depth and length, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that we may be filled with the fullness of God.  Amen!