1 Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails.”
Our focus this past year has been “learning to love others as Christ loves us.” As I have shared before, my definition of love has differed from God’s definition of love. God is teaching me that HE is the authority on all things. In light of that truth, if my definition is different than His, my definition is wrong!! “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29).
This week, we bring our study of 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 to a close. We will be looking intently into verse 8. What does it mean that “love never fails”? Take a moment to reflect back on what we have been learning as we have mined our way through 1 Corinthians 13:1-8. We have learned that God commands us to love others as HE loves us. These powerful verses hold a detailed outline of what true, Christ-like love is and how we are to demonstrate that love but it also reveals the very character of God! 1 John 4:8 tells us that “God is love…” God’s love was demonstrate in its upmost glory on the cross where Christ Jesus died as a payment for our sin!! “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
My Friend, BEFORE we were even conceived, God loved us enough to provide a way for us to have an intimate relationship with Him. HE sacrificed His own Son to be a ransom for us. Christ Jesus became a substitute for us so that we would not have to face the wrath of God. God is love and HE is holy!! His holiness demands payment for sin and His love provided that payment! When we look deep into our focal passage - “(Love) never fails” – we cannot help but see the glory of God and His grace and mercy flowing from the cross!! God's love is absolute, unchanging, complete, perfect and NEVER failing! Because of who can is, we can trust every word HE says! God's word tells us that His love, demonstrated on the cross, saves sinners and transforms them into children of God - blameless, new, and complete in Him! (see 2 Cor. 5:17; John 1:29; Rom. 5:8).
The entire first portion of 1 Corinthians 13 is describing agape love. A love that is a deliberate choice on the part of the one who loves…It is NOT based on the worthiness of the one who is loved. In other words, for us a Christ-like love is a deliberate choice and an attitude of the heart. God commands us to love and HE alone equips us to love according to His command. When we truly understand who God is and what HE sacrificed to redeem us, then we will desire to obey His every command. We know full well that we are fully equipped by the Holy Spirit to glorify the Lord God completely (see Ephesians 1). We are without excuse! If God calls us to love as Christ loves, then HE has already provided all that we need to accomplish that calling!
Christ Jesus is the Supreme Example of how we are to love one another. And because of that truth, we are able to be and do all that God has called us to do! “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). We are able to forgive, to love, to serve, to minister, to sacrifice, and to proclaim truth. Let us remember that we were not created for ourselves but rather we were created to glorify the Lord God and to point others to Christ. This world is a very UNloving place but God’s children CAN be a light that shines in a dark and dying world and we CAN love others in a way that points them to the cross where they too can find forgiveness of sin, an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, restoration, and healing!!
What a joy is to study the Word of God with you! I am looking forward to next week as God continues to guide and direct our time together. Until then, may the Lord ignite in each of us a passion to love as HE loves, to serve as HE serves, and to minister as HE ministers. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
