In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on knowing God through looking at the attribute of His great love for us, we discussed how the scriptures of the Old and New Testament describe the love of God. In this post and those following, we will consider some of the pictures that God has used to illustrate His love.
Abraham and Isaac
One of the pictures of God’s love, actually a foreshadowing of the coming of Messiah, was the story of Abraham and Isaac. You may recall the story recounted in Genesis 22 where God tests Abraham asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham takes his son, goes up with him to the mountain, binds his son to the altar that he built and proceeds to prepare to sacrifice his only son as God asked. As he is lowering the knife to slay his son, God stops him. God provides a substitute sacrifice (a ram caught in the thicket) instead of Isaac. This picture of God’s love is the picture of the substitutionary sacrifice. God had every right to require the first born child of his marriage to Sarah from Abraham. Nevertheless, because of His great mercy and His promises to Abraham, God provided a sacrifice to satisfy the blood requirement. This substitutionary sacrifice is seen again on Calvary, years later when Jesus died, once for all. He who knew no sin, died for those who were under sin’s curse.
Deliverance of Isarael
Another great picture of the love of God and His heart for Israel (and us for whom the wall of separation was removed by the blood of Jesus) is the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. You may recall this story from Exodus. The people of God are in captivity in Egypt. They have been reduced to slavery. Their oppressors fear them and make their life difficult. They are even forced to kill their children. God hears their cries from their bondage, and from within the their own ranks, God raises up a deliverer, Moses. By the hand of God on Moses, the people of God are delivered from their oppressors and allowed to follow their God and worship Him. This picture of God the deliverer is emphasized again and again by God in the Old Testament.
By these pictures, we begin to see God’s love. You may want to go back and read the stories in their entirety and ask God to speak to you of His great love.
In our next post, we will look at some more pictures that God provides to illustrate His gr eat and amazing love.
