1st John 4 says, "⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."  What does it mean that God is love? Well, it means that His very nature, His essence, is love, and we know this love in the death of His Son on the cross for our salvation. Jesus is our propitiation, our covering of our transgressions, our champion who consumed all the Father's alien wrath, in order that all we receive now is the Love of God in the forgiveness of our sins. God is not wrathful by nature, nor does His anger endure forever. No. God is love, His mercies are renewed for you every morning, and His kindness toward you never ends. 

My friends, may this comfort you and console you this day. God is love. He first loved you and will always love you. His love for you never ends. How do you know this? Well, Jesus died once for all your sins and is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. Because Jesus lives, His sacrifice on the cross means that God will always love you, no matter what may come your way in this life. His love for you never ends. This is why He forgives you in the means of grace, in order that you may be purified in His love and kept under His gracious mercy forever. No matter how far you've fallen, how many times you've messed up, or how many times you haven't loved God, this does not change how God loves you. He loves you unconditionally. This means exactly what it says. There are no strings attached to God's love for you in Jesus. So, be at peace today my friends as a recipient of God's unconditional and unmerited love that will never end for you in Christ Jesus your Savior.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the peaceful voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I love you. I forgive you. I claim you as My own forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull