9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.”
Indescribable love – unchangeable love – He knows us by name, He calls us His friends. His love is never limited, never conditional, never withdrawn and never uncertain. It is a vast, wide, deep, immeasurable love which passes knowledge and can never be fully comprehended by mere man. We are to rest our souls on this love and live under a constant sense of it.
"Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders." Deut 33:12 (NIV)
His love is proven. Our Lord Jesus – the eternal God, before whom angels veil their faces - unwrapped Himself of heaven’s glory cloaking Himself in skin of flesh on a mission of love to save the souls of men – what an amazing Savior – what an amazing love. His love – Agapao – “is to esteem, cherish, favor, honor, respect, accept, prize, relish, be devoted to; it is a love rooted in the mind and will of the subject and means to value, esteem, prize, treat as precious, to be devoted to.” Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible - New Testament Lexical Aids. Biblical love is vastly different from the love we see portrayed by the world. It is a selfless love and one that desires what is best for the beloved. It is the greatest and highest love. Jesus states a few verses later:
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (NIV)
“O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow, may richer fuller be. O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day, may brighter fairer be. O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain, that morn shall tearless be. O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee. I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.” George Matheson
3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)
It seems almost silly that Jesus would have to add: “Now remain in my love.” A love so magnificent, so valuable, so high and holy certainly should be a love that everyone would relish, yearn for and cling to. Yet, so often our desires to go our own way, to disregard what is offered, to not trust in the Truth of His love, to believe the lies of the adversary or of the world - interrupts our walks and our peace. We find ourselves putting self first, aborting our Lord’s commands – that are always for our good. If we are not careful, pride and worldliness will overtake peace and contentment in our lives. We will feel little hope and leave behind little evidence of our faith. The fault lies within us – not God. God has linked together holiness (obedience to His commands) and happiness (contentment) – this is the grand equation of both a joyful and fulfilling faith. Active dependence and loving obedience are proper and peaceful paths for a child of the King.
“Nothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord’s love and the Lord’s own self. To embrace our Lord Jesus, to dwell in His love, and be fully assured of union with Him – this is all in all... They who love God with all their hearts, find that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace...We fear not God because of any compulsion; our faith is no fetter, our profession is no bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.” C. H. Spurgeon
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:16-19 (NIV)