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God's Unconditional Love - Part II
by Bro. Peter Rahme
 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matt 5:43-48
The reason the above scripture is in red is to emphasize that it is Jesus who is speaking. He showed us the true meaning of the love and the character of God. The Old Testament law taught “an eye for an eye”, but Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek. He didn’t only come to fulfill the law but to redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). 1 John 4:8-16 says God is love! Jesus is God personified in the flesh.
Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. (Click here to read God’s unconditional love Part I) Now that we have accepted Christ into our lives, we have the ability to love like God loves, to have the compassion He operated with, and the grace to reach out to others as He did. We can now love our enemies, and walk free from hatred, retaliation and fear. Hallelujah!
The God kind of love
 God did not put any conditions on His love. He sent His Son to die for us while we were still sinners, or unlovable. This love has always existed, because God is love. But is there a difference between the love of God and earthly love. How do we define the love of God?
The Oxford English dictionary defines the word love as: an intense feeling of deep affection, or a great interest and pleasure in something. Well, this kind of love is based on feelings. We love others because we are attracted to them in one way or another, this is based on feelings and conditions. As long as they make us feel good, or they appease us we will love them. This kind of love is far from the truth and reality of God’s love. God loves unconditionally with no strings attached.
Proverbs 10:12 says, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins”. We can only imagine how hard it was for the human race to love one another before Jesus came to set us free and demonstrate the love of God. He set us free from enmity, free from hatred, guilt and shame and now we are able to love with the love wherewith He loved us.
And as Isaiah said before: "Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah." Romans 9:29
Every kind deed we do for one another stems from the love of God. Whenever we reach out in kindness, it comes from the love of God. God’s Word says whatever a person sows, that they will also reap, so as we sow  love, we will surely reap.
God did not only give us His beloved Son, but He sacrificed His Son for us. This means He showed us a deeper love, a love far beyond what we could grasp with our natural mind. The moment we received Christ, the love of God began to work in us, and as we reach out to others, this love begins to grow in us and like any seed, as it is watered it will keep on growing to maturity.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Bro. Peter Rahme
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