KNOWING AND EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE

It seems that the more we come to believe in and accept the sovereignty of God over every event of our lives, the more we are tempted to question His love.

We think, “If God is in control of this adversity and can do something about it, why doesn’t He?” There is no doubt that the most convincing evidence of God’s love in all of Scripture is His giving His Son to die for our sins. The extent of God’s love at Calvary is seen in both the infinite cost to Him of giving His one and only Son, and in the wretched and miserable condition of those He loved.

Any time we are tempted to doubt God’s love for us we should go back to the Cross.

We should reason somewhat in this fashion: If God loved me enough to give His Son to die for me when I was His enemy, surely He loves me enough to care for me now that I am His child. Having loved me to the ultimate extent at the Cross, He cannot possibly fail to love me in my times of adversity. If we are to trust God in adversity, we must use our minds in those times to reason through the great truths of God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and love as they are revealed to us in the Scriptures. We must not allow our emotions to hold sway over our minds. Rather, we must seek to let the truth of God rule our minds. Our emotions must become subservient to the truth. This does not mean we do not feel the pain of adversity and heartache. We feel it keenly. Nor does it mean we should seek to bury our emotional pain in a stoic-like attitude. We are meant to feel the pain of adversity, but we must resist allowing that pain to cause us to lapse into hard thoughts about God. The infinite, measureless love of God is poured out upon us, not because of who we are or what we are, but because we are in Christ Jesus. It is very important that we grasp this crucial concept that God’s love to us is in Christ. Just as God’s love to His Son cannot change, so His love to us cannot change, because we are in union with the One He loves. God’s love to us can no more waver than His love to His Son can waver. God does not look within us for a reason to love us. He loves us because we are in Christ Jesus. God’s sovereignty is exercised primarily for His glory. But because you and I are in Christ Jesus, His glory and our good are linked together. Because we are united with Christ, whatever is for His glory is also for our good. And whatever is for our good is for His glory. God cannot forsake us because we are His children, in blessed union with His Son. We cannot be cut off from His sight. But we can be cut off from the assurance of His love when we allow doubt and unbelief to gain a foothold in our hearts. The Bible’s assurance of the sovereignty and constancy of God’s love does not mean that we should not expect adversity. We mistakenly look for tokens of God’s love in happiness. We should instead look for them in His faithful and persistent work to conform us to Christ. God in His infinite wisdom and perfect love will never over-discipline us; He will never allow any adversity in our lives that is not ultimately for our good. God disciplines us with reluctance, though He does it faithfully. He does not delight in our adversities, but He will not spare us that which we need to grow more and more into the likeness of His Son. It is our imperfect spiritual condition that makes discipline necessary. God’s love is unfailing; His grace is always sufficient. But there is even more good news. He is with us in our troubles. God’s unfailing love for us is an objective fact affirmed over and over in the Scriptures. It is true whether we believe it or not. Our doubts do not destroy God’s love, nor does our faith create it. It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with His beloved Son. But the experience of that love and the comfort it is intended to bring is dependent upon our believing the truth about God’s love as it is revealed to us in the Scriptures. Doubts about God’s love, allowed to harbor in our hearts, will surely deprive us of the comfort of His love. We are just as dependent upon the Holy Spirit to enable us to trust in God’s love as we are dependent upon Him to enable us to obey His commands. But just as we are responsible to obey in confidence that He is at work in us, so we are responsible to trust Him in that same attitude of dependence and confidence. With God’s help we, too, can come to the place, even in the midst of our adversities, where we will be able to say, “I trust in Your unfailing love.”

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 295-296). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

What observations about God’s love can you make from these verses?

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Psalm 103:11 ESV

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

God’s love is so much bigger than we think.

Isaiah 54:10 ESV

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

God’s love is steadfast and will not move.

Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 296). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

God’s love saves, rejoices, comforts and sings over us.

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Zephaniah 3:17

How does God feel about the afflictions He allows us to suffer when we sin?

Nothing can separate us from the love of God

Lamentations 3:

Lamentations 3:32–33 ESV

but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 297). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

In what event do we see the supreme demonstration of God’s love for us?

1 John 4:9–10 ESV

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

John

Restate in your own words.

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Restate these verses () in your own words

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 297). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 297). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Based on , how does being “in Christ” affect God’s love for us?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 294). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

We Are:

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 298). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Blessed

Chosen

Adopted

Lamentations 3:17–24 ESV

my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

What feelings did Jeremiah express in verses 17-20?

How did he deal with those feelings (see verses 21-24)?

How do you deal with your feelings of discouragement and defeat?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 299). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

What can we learn from about why God disciplines us?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 299). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Hebrews 12:5–11 ESV

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 299). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

When have you experienced God’s discipline?

What did you learn?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 299-300). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Did you feel God’s love through it?

God gives us the grace we need each day. We don’t have the grace today for the “what ifs” of tomorrow.

Describe a time when it was especially important for you to focus on God’s daily grace without looking ahead.

Summarize what God promises in the following verses.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 300). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Psalm 32:10 ESV

Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 300). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 300). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43:2–3 ESV

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Psalm 13 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Have you ever felt as David did when he wrote ? If so, describe those feelings in your own words.

How did David end this psalm (see verses 5-6)?

How do you think it is possible to get from the feelings of verses 1-2 to the decision in verses 5-6?

What do you think is the major barrier keeping you from feeling God’s love for you?

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (pp. 301-302). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.

Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God (p. 302). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.