God’s love is covenantal at its core. God’s love is not abstract, airy, or generic. God’s love is specific, focused, and directed toward his bride — his covenant people composed of Jew and Gentile and every tribe and tongue of the earth.
Given our depravity, this means that God’s love is and must be a pursuing love. To keep his own holy terms, God must go get us. He must rescue us. He must ransom us. He does through the shed blood and life-giving resurrection of his precious Son.
Those whom God pursues, he gets. He never forsakes them.
He binds us to himself. His love altogether transforms us; God’s pursuing love shapes our own love. In this sense, God’s love becomes our love. We do not love as unbelievers love; we love out of the overflow of holy love.
Divine realities shape daily realities. In union with Christ, we pursue those we are called to love.
This is true of us all; let me make application to men.
Men, in love we must pursue
- the wife of our marital covenant,
- our children,
- our straying friends,
- unbelievers.
We must lead in loving pursuit.
We Christian men are not those who give up easily. Out of the overflow of divine pursuing love, we are called back over and over to pursue those we are called to love. This is hard. It is very challenging to sinners like us.
We will all have days when we find our love low; on these days, we must confess our sin, repent, and get back to the divine call to love, forgive, repent, and pursue.
Rinse, wash, and repeat.
Read deeply and daily about the covenant love of God: Always In God’s Hands
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