His Love

God loves Côte d'Ivoire, Africa!  He loves the people!  He loves them into relationship with himself.  Thankfully this love is not based on anything they do, how popular they are or whether developed nations love them.  His love is real and his love is continuous.  I know this thought seems simple but it truly is profound.

I've been reading "Communion with God" by John Owen and he says "A man may love another as his own soul, yet perhaps with all that he love he can do nothing to help his friend.  He may pity someone in prison, but he helpless to bring him any comfort.  We may suffer with someone in trouble and yet be unable to help.  We cannot love grace into a child, nor mercy into a friend.  We cannot love anyone into heaven, though we may greatly desire to do so.  But the love of Christ, being the love of God is infallibly effectual.  It produces all the good things Christ desires to produce in his people.  christ loves life, grace and holiness into us.  He loves us also into a covenant of love with himself.  Christ loves us into heaven.  Love in Christ is his will to do good to the one he loves.  Whatever good Christ by his love wills to do to anyone is infallibly done to that person."

Christ loves the Ivorians!  He loves them enough to send 3 single guys and a family from the US to minister to college students.  Oh how I delight in the reality that he desires us to take the gospel to them.  I love being part of his plan.  Yet God's love does not stop there.  In and of ourselves we can do nothing.  As much as we want a student to come to faith, we cannot love that person to Christ.  We can show them Christ, we can love them in Christ like ways but we cannot save them.  Yet Christ can!  He loves people into a relationship with himself.  Our ministry is not "How I hope this works!"  Our ministry flows from a sovereign God who we know will move.  It may not look like we would like it to and it may be slower than we like but God will move!  His love for the people is infinitely greater than our love.

Owen says again that "Our love is like ourselves...We love someone one day and hate him the next.  But Jesus Christ is the same 'yesterday, today and forever' (Heb. 13:8; 1:10-12).  His love will not end.  What great joy to minister under this truth.

Craig Hauquitz