“The love of God does not find but creates that which is pleasing to it.” – Martin Luther

Do you understand the importance of that statement? If you do, then it is life changing! It is the gospel at its very core. The message that changed the world over for the last 2000 years!

What it means is this: God does not find someone good and lovely and decides to love on them. Rather, God’s loving them makes them lovely. This is hard to understand not because it’s intellectually challenging but because it’s so contrary to human love.

How do we love? Who do we love? The ones who are lovely. The ones who are good. The good students, if you are a teacher. The obedient child, if you are a parent. The good looking boy, if you are a teenage girl. The great sounding voice, if you are The Voice panel judge, etc.

The world loves those that are pleasing. But God’s love does not! God does not survey the world to see who’s righteous and lovely, and then decides to love them and save them. Rather, while all were unrighteous (ugly and dirty), Christ loved on us by dying for us!

For example, why did God choose David to be the king of Israel? “Because he was a man after God’s own heart,” you say. But did God choose David because he was a man after God’s own heart or is it that God’s choosing Him made him to be a man after God’s own heart? Which came first? David’s loveliness or God’s love?

Read 1 Samuel 16 carefully where it talks about how God chose David even though he had 6 older brothers. He doesn’t say why God chose David over his older brothers. We assume it was because he was of the greatest character. But if we understand the gospel correctly, it’s not that he was chosen because of but rather in spite of!

God knew David would commit adultery and murder. But He still chose him.

If you are a Christian, abandon the thinking that God chose you because somehow you were better than others. Somehow you deserved it more than others. It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with God and His grace.

Would you worship this God whom you cannot control?

PH