How secure is the love of God? How strong is God’s will to save his people? Reading through the prophet Isaiah
there are a number of poetic portraits of God’s saving power. Consider these words from Isaiah 51.6:
Lift
up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath; for the sky will
vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment and its
inhabitants will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my
righteousness will not wane.
It’s as if God says, “Look at the most stable things that I
have created—the sky and earth.
These will disappear before my salvation love disappears!” Our God makes promises to bless his
people and nothing will stop him from keeping his word! A similar thought appears in Isaiah
54.10:
“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but my
lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will not
be shaken,” says the Lord who has compassion on you.
The earth may shake but there will be no shaking of the
covenant-love of God for his people!
Stepping into the New Testament we have even more reason to
be confident in the love of God.
The great measure of the love of God is seen in the giving of the Son of
God for us sinners. The apostle
Paul notes:
What
then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him over for
us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? (Romans 8.31-32)
God has spared no expense—he has given his greatest gift,
his Son. We can be confident in
this love no matter what circumstances we face. God will give us everything we need to love him and live for
him. He has already freely given
his Son—surely nothing else will be withheld from us that we need for us to be
conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8.29). We can be confident in the love of God. He tells us how strong his words of
love are and then he backs up his words with the greatest act of grace ever—the
free gift of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust in his love and rejoice in his grace!
