3 Ways the Love of God Pursues Us
All month long, we will be diving into the love of God. What does His love for us look like in action? And how can we share His love with others and love the way He loves us? Today, we will take a look at how the love of God pursues us… even to the darkest of places. How has the love of God pursued you personally? Please feel free to share your story in the comments below and to follow along as we discover what the Bible has to say about God’s love for mankind.
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For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son… – John 3:16
God pursues us and invites us into relationship.
Truth be told, the word “invitation” isn’t strong enough on its own to describe how God pursues mankind. Sending someone an invite is a passive activity. You send the invitation from a distance and simply wait for a response. But that isn’t what God did for us.
Jesus humbled Himself, came down to earth, and died… all so that we could be invited.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8
This was so much more than simply “inviting” mankind into relationship. He had to defeat sin and death and die a humiliating death to do so. If this isn’t love… what is?
God pursues us… knowing that we might not love Him in return.
Jesus died and rose again to defeat sin and death and to take away the sins of the world. This truth is the very foundation of our faith. The Bible tells us that He did this for the “sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) ALL have the same invitation. Jesus made the ultimate grand gesture of love in His pursuit of ALL mankind. But… and this is a very big but… not all will accept His invitation. Some will reject Him.
But that didn’t stop Him. He endured the cross anyway with joy in His heart looking ahead to all who would receive Him.
…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2 (emphasis added)
God continues to pursue us even when we fail.
Here’s the truth… God never stops pursuing us. Ever.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. – Psalm 139:7-12
The Bible also tells us in Romans 8 that absolutely NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.
The love of God pursues us and follows us all the days of our life… even when we fail… even when life is hard… and even when we find ourselves in dark places. His love never fails to pursue us.
*Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
**Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash