What He did, He did not have to do.
He did not do it in the days of Noah, instead He said, “The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Gen. 6:13) He did not do it when the people of Israel rebelled over and over again in the wilderness, He would have killed them all and started over with Moses if the servant of God had not stood in the gap for them. (Deut. 9:14) He did not do it in all the time of the judges, in the days of Jeremiah, He did it once, at exactly the right time, then He went back home and sat at the right hand of the Father.
Why go through all that, why kill everyone and almost everything on the planet, save for eight souls and some animals, only to watch mankind repeat the same scenario over and over again and again. I know what you want to say, and you are correct, it is love, not was love, is and always has been love, just not from us.
Look at the analogy that God put Habakkuk through, marry the town whore, have children with her, and when she goes out whoring around again, take her back and love her. Gee, thanks God, appreciate that. When your wife dies Ezekial, I do not want you to mourn for her, not one bit, even though I know how precious she was to you. (Eze. 24:17) Sooner or later, God says enough is enough, and it becomes time for punishment. A flood to cover the entire earth for a year, fire and brimstone upon the entire valley, destroying all that lived in Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, Zedekiah and all the people taken captive, seventy years in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the iron fist of Rome, no mercy, obey, or die.
Love. Love that you and I are never going to be able to comprehend, love we do not deserve, love that would have hung on that cross if you were the only one alive. Inconceivable.
I do not think enough people spend an appropriate amount of time on 1 John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.” We do a lot of “thank you’s,” we spend time trying to “pay Him back” as it were by works and church attendance, but we cannot comprehend a love that is spit on, denied, abused, cheated on, disgraced in public, hated, shamed, and ashamed, and still does not stop loving. Oh, my friends, we are such wretched creatures, every moment of every day of our lives should be spent in praise, every thought should seek to glorify His name, but we like sheep have all gone astray, (Isaiah 53:6) not one of us is righteous, (Romans 3:10) not one of us deserves the grace that has been offered to us.
Is it becoming clearer to you the price that was paid for you, the reason that those who deny Him will spend eternity away from Him, can you see the totality of complete hopelessness when there is no love. He did not have to do what He did, He did not do it for anyone but us, He gained absolutely nothing by hanging on that cross, there was no reward waiting for Him, He received no greater place in the kingdom for what He did, Christ already had everything, He made everything, everything that is is held together by Him, nothing is impossible for Him, He gained absolutely nothing by doing what He did. And yet He says we are far more precious to Him than all the rest of His creation, He says that besides us there is no other outlet for the depth of His love, for we are created in His image.
I am not worthy to write any of this, I cannot comprehend that depth of love, it is impossible for me to conceive. I know myself, I am the least loveable person on this planet, I do not deserve to be loved, especially with a love that will never end, a love that I can in no way express back to Him who first loved me. We do not need another reason to serve gladly, willingly, and without reservation, what He did, He did not have to do, but He did, and He did it for you.
You will never experience the wrath of God, you will never be left alone, you will always be loved, His love for you will never end.
