No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. (John 15:13)

The third thing our text teaches us about the love of God is the greatness of that love. We see His love in the greatness of the gift He offers us-eternal life. It means a life that is perfect and divine in its quality as well as endless in its duration. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

I thank God for a life that is perfect in quality and that will never end. Most of us will have to die before long, as far as our physical life is concerned. Eighty years from now , you and most of your family and friends will be gone, unless the Lord comes back first. You may say that eighty years is a long time. No, it is not. It sounds long to young people, but when you get older, it looks short. When eighty years are up, what then? Suppose I had a guarantee that I was going to live two hundred years in perfect health, strength, and prosperity. Would that satisfy me? No, it would not. For when two hundred years are up, what then? I want something that never ends, and thank God, in Christ, I have something that never ends-eternal life! Who can have it? Anybody. “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Somebody asked a little boy. “What does whoever mean?” The little fellow answered, “It means you and me and everybody else.” When I read that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” I know that means me. Thank God it does, and that it includes everybody else.

R. A. Torrey

We measure time for life here on earth is limited. The Bible says that the average person’s life span is “three score and ten or 70. When you are young with most of your life before you 70 is a long time but somehow the years rush swiftly by and it’s not long before we approach that age. Some by the grace of God live much longer, but every person will at some point have an appointment with death.

“And just as it is appointed and destined for all men to die once and after this [comes certain] judgment, so Christ, having been offered once and once for all to bear [as a burden] the sins of many, will appear a second time [when he returns to earth], not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly and confidently waiting for Him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)

From Adam’s day until this present day, humans live a finite number of days on this earth. The love of God has provided this incredible gift of eternal life and for the most part, the very concept of timelessness and countless existence is far beyond our comprehension. All we know through experience is a beginning and an ending and that the distance between them is short.

“Man, who is born of a woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil. “Like a flower he comes forth and withers; He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.” (Job 14:1-2)

Everything we know is finite and yet God in His love offers us eternal life and not only to us but everyone. The infinite love of God offers us the gift and privilege of living forever in His presence, joined by loved ones who have also taken advantage of this offer of God. God has made it so simple and easy to tap into eternal life. We must only receive His Son as our Savior and make Him Lord of our lives. We return back to Him the love that He poured out on us and in exchange we are given the gift of eternal life. I have often wondered why anyone wouldn’t take up this offer. Perhaps it’s because it’s too good for us to believe. Maybe we think there’s a catch or that it’s a fantasy or a myth, something outside the scope of our thinking. Many attempt to place God into the human understanding and fail to see that His love and mercy and grace are far beyond what any human, no matter how good, kind or loving, can give. We can comprehend giving to those who “deserve” our love. We have no problem helping “good” people. Our measure of forgiveness is limited at best and our mercy and grace is much shorter than we’d like to admit. Even the love we have for family, which is the most likely place in which we find love operating the strongest, has its limits. There is a point when the behavior of someone separates them from even those who love them because as humans our love ability is limited. Most of us have a sense of justice that often overshadows love.

This infinite love of God which has no end is beyond anything we can think. The very idea that God loved us so much He was willing to give up His Son is an amazing revelation and when we see that God didn’t just love the world, but that He loved us specifically, what a transformation we have. I have told people over the years that of all things God has revealed to me, and there have been many, the greatest revelation is that God loves me. He loves me now, He loved me in my sin, He will love me in my future here on earth, and He will continue to love me throughout eternity.

The love of God never ceases and His grace knows no boundaries and His mercy is renewed toward us every day. God is faithful and unchanging in His love for us. Even those who reject God are still loved by Him. Those who choose to remain in sin and receive the penalty of sin-separation from God eternally- are still loved by God. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, nor what you’ve done can quench the love of God. The very second you turn to Him in repentance, His infinite love washes you, receives you, forgives you and in this rebirth, you are granted eternal life.

Mercy Me wrote a song some years ago entitled, “I Can Only Imagine.” In the song the writer is trying to imagine what it will be like to stand before God in eternity. What it will be like to lay down this earthly life and to live in the eternity provide by God with all its blessings? And like the rest of us the writer comes to the conclusion that it’s beyond imagination. The apostle Paul states the essence of this unimaginable eternity that awaits us:

“but just as it is written [in Scripture], “ Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man , All that God has prepared for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed].” For God has unveiled them and revealed them to us through the [Holy] Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things [diligently], even [sounding and measuring] the [profound] depths of God [the divine counsels and things far beyond human understanding]. For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the [wonderful] things freely given to us by God.”

1 Corinthians 2:9-12

Though the infinite love of God and all that He has prepared for us has never been seen or heard or even imagined by human thought, thank God He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit who will make known to us by revelation through faith what God has in store for us.

Why don’t you ask the Holy Spirit to make known the love of God for you. Why don’t you ask Him to affirm in your heart that you are loved and cherished by God? Why don’t you ask the Holy Spirit to give to you the assurance of the eternal love of God and the eternal life in that love? Though it may beyond our mental capacity to comprehend this incredible love of God, it is not beyond the capacity of our spirits and hearts to believe this infinite love of God. When you struggle with whether God loves you and the world, look to the cross, look to Calvary, look to Christ who gave up His life for you and let that be sufficient proof of the infinite, incomprehensible, and immeasurable love of God toward you.

Dr. John Thompson