If we filled the ocean with ink...
A bite-sized lesson in doctrine: 1 Concept, 2 Definitions, 3 Passages...
Here is your bite-sized lesson in orthodox Biblical doctrine in 3 simple steps:
ONE concept explained
TWO concise definitions that must be kept distinct
THREE Scripture passages to meditate on
Concept: The Love of God
Love is a primary attribute of God. That is to say, love was intrinsic to His being before there were any creatures to love. True love is not a nebulous emotion or a neediness to be “made complete” by another (as our culture tends to think). God gives love concrete meaning since His essence is that of love. The statement, “God is love,” congeals when we consider His Triunity since, before creation, God the Father was eternally loving God the Son in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Additionally, His love is displayed in creation and redemption when He gives of Himself for human’s eternal benefit. The love flowing between the three persons in the Godhead brimmed over, and He created humans to share in the loving union He has within Himself.1 After the fall of man, we sinners—who were severed from God’s love—need His redeeming love to restore this union. If true love is giving sacrificially for the good of another, and God is man’s highest good, then the greatest thing God can give us is Himself. He did so in the person of Jesus Christ, who demonstrates true love in that while we were sinners, He died for us, taking upon Himself the judgment that we deserve. We do well to keep the cross in our view and sink the roots of our souls deep into the everlasting love of God; it is then that we will be filled with all the fullness of God.
“Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made; were every tree on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.”
Definitions/Distinctions:
Common grace: This refers to the general benevolence and love that God has for all mankind, even those outside of Christ. The provisions of daily life, such as health, food, and shelter, can fall under this category.
Electing love: This refers to the special, covenant love that God has for His elect children, whom God gave to the Son before the creation of the world.
Passages:
“…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:17–19
“…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:7–8
I’m indebted to Micheal Reeves in Delighting in the Trinity for helping me see this.