The Father’s Love: Part 2

The Demonic Lie

     The tragedy of humanity’s rebellion against God, and its turning to darkness and sin, lies in the demonic deception that God is not love. Satan has distorted man into thinking that a God of all power would never allow the world to suffer as it has.

     If any could shake her fists in the face of Satan and lay a swift

rebuke to his lies, it would be Corrie Ten Boom, who suffered the

horrific terrors of the Third Reich in Hitler’s Germany. Raped and

abused, witnessing her sister murdered in a German concentration camp, she could have wondered how a God of love could allow such inhumane treatment to occur. Instead, this was her famous response: “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” — The Hiding Place. Her words forever remind us that even in suffering and loss, God’s love reaches deeper than despair.

     Humanity possesses an innate belief in God. However, because of his guilty conscience and sin, humanity perceives that God is angry and somehow God must be appeased; thus, the explanation for so many superstitions and religions existing around the world. These religions do not understand the God of love and therefore keep God at a distance. Many do not desire to be close to God; they want to appease His anger.

     Demonic delusion is the foundation of these false religions,

designed to prevent humanity from coming to God. Humanity, detached from God by sin and scared of God by nature, has failed to perceive the love of God.

     Agapē is God’s kind of love. It’s love based on choice, not

emotion; commitment, not convenience. The Greek word agapē refers to a divine love that seeks the good of others without expecting anything in return. Unlike other Greek words for love —

• Eros (romantic love),

• Philia (friendship or affection), and

• Storgē (family love),

 

Agapē love is:

• Unconditional — it is not based on your performance.

• Sacrificial — it gives without seeking return.

• Active — it is shown in deeds, not just words.

• Enduring — it never fails or fades.

 

     Paul describes it beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is

patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude… Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

     Even among believers—born-again believers—there lingers a

struggle to believe in the Father’s love. Many question His heart and live without intimacy with Him. Paul understood this and prayed that believers would experience a mighty work of the Holy Spirit within their inner man, so that they might grasp, with all the saints, the immeasurable dimensions of God’s love. Tragically, too few believers ever pray this prayer for themselves, and fewer still live in its reality.

     Profoundly, A.W. Tozer confronts this demonic accusation about

God’s love: “The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us.” — The Root of the Righteous

 

JESUS, THE WAY TO THE FATHER

     The mission of Jesus was to bring us to the Father. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Yet many believers have only come as far as church. Some have gone a bit further and received the promise of the Holy Spirit. Others have even dedicated their lives to pursuing the love of God. But far too few have entered the sacred joy of truly being loved by the Father. Just imagine

what the Father’s love would do within these believers. Think for a moment what that same love accomplished for the sinner.

     He did not withhold His love from me when I was reprobate. When I was a sinner, He died for me. When I played the prodigal, He never stopped loving me. There was always a place reserved for me at His throne of grace. Oh, what love—no greater love! Grace, how can it be that in my sin—yes, even then—He shed His blood for me?

     If He did not withhold His love from me as a sinner, surely, He will not withhold His love for me now that I am His saint! Beloved, He loves us all. Jesus said that God loves the whole world. If—while we were His enemies, while we were the murderers, while we were unworthy and undeserving of salvation—He gave us His Son, will He now withhold His love from us? We may change, but He never does. God’s love for us is Agapē. Agapē love is the highest and most complete form of love revealed in

Scripture. It is the very nature of God Himself—a love that is selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional.

     While we were sinners, He expressed His love for us. It was then He offered us hope. It was then He defeated our death. It was then He paid for our crimes. It was then He destroyed our master, Satan. It was then that He loved us.

     If He loved us then, how much more does He love us now!

     If He loved us in death, how much more does He love us in

     life!

     If He would go to the cross for us, then surely He will go to the

     Father for us now!

     If He would not abandon us in our sinful state, He will not

     abandon us in our redeemed state!

     If sin could not prevent His love then, can it prevent it now?

     If our filthy, rebellious hearts could not turn away His love

     then, could they now?

     If, as His enemies and murderers, He desired to purchase us    

     as His own, then how much more must He desire every one of

     us now that we are His own!

     If, when we were gross sinners, He died for us—then is there a

     gross saint today He would not rescue and restore?

     If, when we hated Him, He loved us—now that we love Him,

     would He hate us?

     If, when we wanted nothing to do with Him, He laid down His

     life—now that we long for Him, would He forsake us?

     If He loved us as sinners, will He not love us even more as His

     children?

     If He was so good to us as unbelievers, will He not be far      

     better to us as believers?

     If you still hesitate to believe God loves you, meditate on the

cross. Take a minute and consider the sufferings of God for you on the cross. Open your Bible and read Isaiah 53. See that it was the Father who bruised the Son, it was the Father who sacrificed His beloved Son that you may be free and forgiven. Doubt no more, dear friend.

 

WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED TO QUESTION THE FATHER’S

LOVE:

1. DISCERN WHO THE LIAR IS

     Satan is the accuser. He is always slandering someone—especially God. Jesus said of Satan, “He was a murderer from the beginning… for he is a liar and the father of it.”— John 8:44.

We are the ones who reject God and His ways. We pursue our own desires, and when we suffer the consequences, we want to blame God for being unkind. We were the mean ones and the wrongdoers—yet, true to our rebellion, we curse God when we have cursed ourselves.

     God created us with the knowledge of how we are meant to

function and live. How audacious of us to live contrary to that design and then blame God when life does not work well. It is like buying a truck. The owner’s manual tells me how to operate it, how to drive it, and where to drive it; yet I choose to use it like a boat. I drive it into a river, and when it breaks down, I blame the manufacturer for making a bad truck—accusing him of being mean because he “let” it fail. How foolish the thought, yet we often blame God for the defects in life that come from misusing the way life is meant to be lived.

     Every time you hear a thought that accuses God of being harsh, distant, or unloving, recognize its origin. The enemy’s goal has always been to distort God’s character so that you will withdraw from His presence. He knows that if you doubt God’s love, your faith will weaken, your prayers will falter, and your heart will close. So, the first step is discernment: That thought is not from God.

 

2. REMEMBER THE CROSS WHERE GOD DEMONSTRATED HIS

LOVE.

     The cross is the eternal proof that God’s love cannot be

questioned. It was there that God laid down His Son for those who hated Him. God sacrificed His Son for us, not when we loved Him, but when we were His avowed enemies. Look at the cross, the suffering of His Son, the brutal rejection of humanity, and then tell me, “God is not love.” Look at the cross and tell me, “God is not good.” And might I ask, “How can I tell that you love God? What sacrifice have you made for love’s sake?” Paul said, “… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8

     When the devil says, “If God really loved you…”, point him

to Calvary. There, love didn’t just speak — it bled. The cross is the

unchangeable evidence that God would rather die for you than live without you.

 

3. BELIEVE AND PREACH THE WORD OF GOD TO YOURSELF

     Let the Word of God speak to you by preaching the Word to

yourself. Stop listening to the liar, stop trying to understand God by your circumstances. Know God by the Word and the historic

revelation of His goodness to all humanity.

     When Jesus was tempted, He didn’t argue with the devil;

He spoke the Word. Say aloud what God has said:

     “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

     “He loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

     “The Lord is good and His mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 100:5)

     There is power in confessing Truth until it silences the lie.

The Word of God is Truth. The Word reveals the Father:

     “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and

plenteous in mercy.” — Psalm 103:8

     The Father’s heart is not eager to punish but to forgive.

Jesus came to reveal that heart:

     “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” — John 14:9

     Look at Jesus healing the sick, feeding the hungry, forgiving

the fallen — that is what the Father is like.

     Rest in the Scriptures, not your emotions or heart. Your

feelings are valid, but they do not validate the Truth. Feelings can lie; Scripture cannot. When condemnation or fear

whispers that God has abandoned you, stand firm on His Word:

     • “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” — Jeremiah

31:3

     • “Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of

God.” — Romans 8:39

     • “Perfect love casteth out fear.” — 1 John 4:18

Faith is not a feeling; it is choosing to believe God’s Word over every contrary emotion or accusation.

 

4. BY FAITH, LET THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKE THE TRUTH

EXPERIENTIAL

     The Holy Spirit will bear witness of the Truth. The Holy Spirit will make the Father’s love practical, tangible, and undeniable. God does not love in word only; He loves in deeds. Those deeds of God are seen by believers who seek an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s ministry is to remind your heart that you are loved. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” — Romans 8:16

    Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your inner man. When He fills

your heart, the love of God becomes not just a doctrine, but a living experience (Romans 5:5). The most dangerous lie in the world is that God’s love is uncertain. The most powerful Truth in the universe is that it never changes. When the enemy attacks your confidence in God’s love, run to the cross, rest in the Word, and remind your soul: The Father has set His love upon me, and nothing can undo it.