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THE LOVE OF GOD

GOD IN HIS ALMIGHTY POWER and divine nature hovered in the wind before there was a place to stand and before the foundation of the world was laid; he, the infinite being, was alone in his glory. It seemed to him not enough to be alone, however, as there was nothing to praise and glorify his name, for he wanted praise. So in his wisdom, which endures forever and never changes, he created heaven and earth and filled them with his glory – that is, with all creation, the work of his hands in which we recognize his invisible being and eternal power, if we note and observe it. On looking at it, he declared that everything was very good, made according to his will and without blemish. But among them all there was no creature able to give him the praise he wanted, so he said, “Let us make human beings in our image,” that is, beings who are perfectly pure and completely without blemish.

Then he made a man and a woman and gave them dominion over all the work of his hands, except the tree of life and of the knowledge of good and evil. Regarding this tree, he said, “When you eat of it you shall die.” But the human beings whom God had made for his praise soon turned away and forgot their Creator’s command and all the good things he had given them. They exchanged obedience for disobedience and ate of the forbidden fruit. This caused them to fall, and their descendants also, for the wrath of God came over them. As a result the earth, too, came under a curse, and as a punishment bore thistles and thorns where they had hoped for good. God had expected goodness and obedience from them, but they had been disobedient and caused thistles and thorns to grow. Therefore eternal death and damnation came over them and all their descendants, and it became impossible for any of them to attain what the one man, Adam, had lost – that is, God’s favor and grace; for the wrath of God had come upon them and they lay in the power of death under sin, as under a heavy load that none of them could lift. Only the one eternally powerful God, against whom they had sinned, could do so through his dearly beloved Son.

But God in his very great wrath over us could not restrain and hide his love. This was impossible, for he himself is love. So he had to show himself and make himself known, and extend love to the human race, and after the curse give comfort once more through his promise. In order that man might have comfort and hope, he said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between your seed and the woman’s seed, and her seed will crush your head.” This seed is Christ our Savior, who crushed the serpent’s head, that is, robbed the devil of his power and dominion.

What great love that is! God comforts us, his greatest enemies, with such a glorious and wonderful promise to free us from death (which we had willfully deserved) and give us everlasting life freely, without our earning or deserving it. So loving is his compassion! Like a spring that overflows, his mercy flows over all who desire it, calling them to this grace and saying, “Everyone who is thirsty, come to the water, and those of you who have no money, come buy wine and milk without price!” Who has ever shown anyone such love as the ruler of all has shown, even to those who despised him? He still cares daily for them, and gives them food and drink, clothing, and all they need, also strength of body. Truly, what can we have that we did not receive from him? And what could we achieve that was not done by God beforehand and given us? Yet who is thanked less for a gift than the One from whom everything comes, the One who cares for us as a mother does for the child at her breast, and wants nothing evil to befall us, but wants to save us from it all, if only we listen to his voice? For as a bird cares for its young, he watches over us to help us, saying, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will hear you and help you.” He is a faithful God who soon forgets all our transgressions and favors us with his noblest gifts.

God’s love is seen in that he did not spare his dearly beloved only Son, but sent him into the world and gave him up to death as atonement for our sin. What great love that is! He makes his only Son whom he loves alive again in us who were dead, and leads us to his kingdom. What more should he have done than he has already done, or what more should he have shown us than he has already shown? God wants to give us everything with him. But not only that; he has already given himself to us to be our Father and accepted us as his children by freely forgiving our sins. We have not repaid him for this, nor does he want any recompense except that we believe in his name and in Jesus Christ his Son, whom he sent to be the Savior of the world.