The closest our sin-feebled minds can come to understanding what Jesus did when He voluntarily took our human nature and paid the penalty of sin on our behalf is to look to the fireman. A fireman wakes every morning with the knowledge that there is a real possibility that he might have to sacrifice his life for some soul trapped with no way out. He stands before a raging inferno, he hears the cry for help, and he doesn’t wait until the fire has been knocked down and the greater part of the danger has passed. No, he runs into the fire, every portion of his being focused solely on saving a life. This is what Jesus did.
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:9, 10
“Christ came to this world to reveal the Father’s love for fallen man. In the heavens above and in the earth beneath, in everything that is beautiful and lovely, in the lofty tree, the opening bud, the blossoming flower, we see an expression of the love of God. There is no measurement by which the love of God can be computed.
“Standing before the cross of Calvary, we can gain some idea of the love of the heavenly Father. Behold Christ, the Son of the infinite God, dying on the cross for sinners. He clothed His divinity with humanity, that human beings might become partakers of the divine nature. In Christ we have a manifestation of the Father.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 18, 344
“How is it possible to set forth the love of God in giving His only begotten Son to die for sinners? The imagination cannot comprehend it. Men of the brightest intellects cannot, by mere speculative knowledge, form any conception of this love. Without a personal knowledge of God, men of the most brilliant intellects are unable to set forth divine things. They do not look through nature up to nature’s God, and see the expression of His love to man in the flowers of the field, which adorn the world with speaking beauty and loveliness. They know little of the length and breadth, the height and depth, of the love of God as revealed in giving His Son to our world, and they trace the expression of His love in nature with sleepy, benumbed senses. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has not yet shined into their hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
“God has declared His love; Jesus Christ is the expression of that love. ‘In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ O what love, what infinite love! ‘While we were yet sinners,’ the Father pitied and loved us. And yet when we are pressed with trials, how weak is our faith.
“The soul that keeps far off does not have communion with Heaven, though the Holy Spirit is promised to all who ask it. Jesus has brought this precious lesson within the comprehension of all: ‘If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?’
“The love of God is so deep, so full, that it could only be expressed in giving for our sakes His own beloved Son to poverty, to shame, to humiliation, to mockery, and to death. He was the most costly and precious offering that could be given to the world, and in Him all heaven was given. …
“Herein is the mystery of redemption, that the innocent, pure, and holy Son of the infinite God was permitted to bear the punishment of a thankless race of rebels against the divine government; that through the manifestation of His matchless love, these rebels might be inspired with faith in, and love for God, and might stand before Him repentant, forgiven, guiltless, as if they had never sinned. Angels in heaven marveled that the wrath of God should be laid on His well-beloved Son; that a life of infinite value in the heavenly courts should be given for the worthless life of a race degraded by sin.” The Bible Echo, November 25, 1895
“ ‘God is love.’ His matchless love for fallen man, expressed in the gift of His beloved Son … . Christ was the heir of all things, by whom also the worlds were made. He was the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the ‘express image of His person.’ He upheld ‘all things by the word of His power.’ In Himself He possessed divine excellence and greatness; for it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell. And Christ ‘thought it not robbery to be equal with God.’ Yet He ‘made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’
“The Son of God volunteered to die in the sinner’s stead, thus making it possible for man, by a life of obedience, to escape the penalty of the divine law, which he had transgressed.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, January 1, 1887
The love of God is
- Unselfish
- Unchangeable
- Softening
- Self-sacrificing
- Unexplainable
- Measureless
- Incomputable
- Subduing
- Fragrant
- Healing
- Sanctifying
- Covering
- Transforming
- Elevating
- Enlivening
- Enrapturing
- Purifying
- Ennobling
- Refining
- Humbling
- Perfect
- Diligent
- Broad
- Deep
- Abiding
- Flowing
- Forgiving
- Uplifting
- Strengthening
“In becoming man’s substitute, and bearing the curse which should have fallen upon him, Christ pledged Himself in behalf of the race to maintain the sacred claims and the exalted honor of His Father’s law. The Father has given the world into the hands of His Son, that through His mediatorial work He may completely vindicate the holiness and the binding claims of every precept of the divine law. This is the work of Christ, to convince men of sin, which is the transgression of the law, and through His mediation to bring them back to the path of obedience. …
“Christ is the center of the great plan of redemption, a plan which is a unit, and covers all dispensations. He is the ‘Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.’ He is the Redeemer of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam in all the ages of human probation. ‘Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.’ …
“In order to fully realize the value of redemption, it is necessary to understand what it cost.” Ibid.
“God’s gift to this earth was beyond all computation; nothing was withheld. The love demonstrated in the life of Christ, from the manger to the cross, the mystery of His divinity veiled in humanity, the bright beams of righteousness manifested to the world in His words and works. …
“Yield yourself entirely into His keeping; for His love is everlasting and unchangeable.” The Signs of the Times, November 19, 1896
“The love of God is a golden chain, binding finite human beings to Himself. This love passes our knowledge. Human science cannot explain it. Human wisdom cannot fathom it. … Tongue cannot utter it; pen cannot portray it. You may meditate upon it every day of your life; you may search the Scriptures diligently in an effort to understand it; you may summon every power and capability that God has given you; and yet there is an infinity beyond. You may study that love for ages, and yet you can never fully comprehend the length and breadth and depth and height of the love of God.” Ibid., July 13, 1904
Fredrick Martin Lehman immigrated to America along with his family when he was four years old. They settled in Iowa, where he spent most of his childhood. He gave his heart to Jesus when he was 11.
He studied for the ministry at Northwestern College in Naperville, Illinois, was a pastor at Audubon, Iowa; New London, Indiana; and Kansas City, Missouri. He spent most of his life writing and publishing sacred songs beginning in 1898. He compiled five song books and, in 1911, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and helped found the Nazarene Publishing House. This is one of his most well-known hymns.
The Love of God
“The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.
“When years of time shall pass away and earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray, on rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so pure shall still endure, all measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—the saints’ and angels’ song.
“Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made,
Were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill and ev’ry man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, tho’ stretched from sky to sky.
“O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure;
The saints’ and angels’ song.”