Those of us who are parents know the
joy of watching our children grow.
Often we have their photos held up by
magnets on our refrigerator door.
So every time we grab a snack, we
see the photo of our little darlings smiling
at us.
Or we keep photos of our children in
our purses or wallets.
I keep a photo of my daughter in
my wallet even though she's a grown woman
now.
The photo I keep of her is when
she was eight years old on the back
of a horse.
She just loves to ride horses.
But every time we look at those photos,
our hearts melt within us with our love
for our children.
We would do anything for them.
When we read our Bibles, we see a
picture of a love story between God and
his people.
How he woos them and wins them and
cares for them and fights for them and
keeps them.
He has a fatherly parental love for them.
Even Jesus displays this parental devotion in the
narrative of Matthew's Gospel where Christ weeps over
Jerusalem in its coming destruction.
And he laments, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets and stonest them which are
sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered that children together even as a hen
gathers her chickens under her wings and ye
would not.
When we think about the love of God
toward us, it's often hard to fathom the
depths of that love.
Our human love only reaches so far and
often it is inconsistent or conditional toward the
one we love.
But the love of God is truly amazing
that it humbles and inspires.
At the same time, we see the apostle
Paul marveling at this great sacrificial love of
Christ.
In Galatians 2 20 we read, I am
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the
life which I now live in the flesh
I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself
for me.
It's a personal love.
We even get a clearer picture of the
love of Christ in the story of the
young man who truly wants to follow the
Lord.
But upon closer examination, he has a self
-discovery of his heart and he determines to
follow his wealth instead of following the master.
In the text from Mark 10 21 reads,
Then Jesus beholding him loved him.
It broke Christ's heart to watch that young
man turn his back on him and walk
away.
The love of God cannot be measured on
human terms.
It's a galaxy in itself.
And this brings us to our text today
friends.
We are in Isaiah chapter 49 and in
verses 15 through 16.
When I read this passage, it absolutely melts
me with the love of God.
I cried just like a little baby.
Listen to this striking passage of scripture about
God's fantastic love.
Can a woman forget her suckling child?
That she would not have compassion on the
son of her womb?
Yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee?
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms
of my hands.
Thy walls are continually before me.
In Jewish tradition, there is a story representing
Israel as God's daughter who asked him to
stamp a seal of her on his heart
and arm from a reference to Song of
Solomon.
God replies that such a seal cannot always
be seen.
So he has instead ascribed her upon his
palms.
And inscribed means a picture, a picture of
you like the one I carry in my
wallet of my daughter.
But the love of God soars to such
astounding heights.
We have here a picture of the son
of God with the nail prints of Calvary
in his palms.
And on top of that picture, on top
of that palm is your picture friend.
He loved you so much.
He laid down his very life for you
so you could live.
And he loves you so much.
He carries your photo on top of that
nail print to remind him continually of his
wonderful love for you.
Who can resist that kind of love?
I don't know, but some do.
Herein is love.
Not that we have loved God, but that
he loved us and sent his son to
be the propitiation for our sins.