388. 1JN 4:8. BENEVOLENCE OF GOD
1Jn_4:8. Benevolence of God
"God is love."’971Jn_4:8
That is, benevolence, pure, universal, eternal benevolence.
I. Look at the Works of Nature.
See not only the fitness of things, but see how all bears the impress of love and kindness. Look at the necessities of man, and how abundantly they are met; look at the framework of his body, how constituted for enjoyment; look at the senses, what sources of pleasure. Look at the vital parts, how they are protected from injury. Look at man, as gifted with rationality; this gives him superiority over all the brute creation. This enables him to rise higher than the eagle, to move more swiftly than the race-horse, and to emulate the courage and the power of the lion Look at the dignified inhabitant of the body, the eternal, undying soul; its capacities of knowledge, reflection, and spiritual enjoyment. Then look at the world, and its profusion of comforts, for the dignity and happiness of man. The earth is covered with a soft and verdant carpet; the expanse of the sky is of a most beautiful blue; the salubrious air is impregnated with the balm of life; thousands of rivers send forth their living streams; the fields yield their roots and grain, and the trees spread their richly-laden boughs to the hand of man, with an abundance of food and necessary raiment; the earth yields from its own bowels the materials of comfortable heat; the great orb of day sheds his golden beams, illumines the landscape, and makes all nature to rejoice; the darkness of night administers to man’s repose, while balmy sleep, as nature’s great restorative, prepares for the scenes of the coming day; the wind purifies the atmosphere of its baneful exhalations, and the lightning causes it to dispense its contagious influences abroad; the sea, by its saltness and motion, retains its healthful purity, instead of becoming a stagnant lake, which would destroy the world by its pestilential vapors. This, my friends, is a very rough sketch, a very imperfect outline of the truth which nature affords, that "God is love." Had he been malevolent, then the world would have been the very reverse of what it is. The benevolence of God is engraven on all his works. This truth is evident,
II. From the original moral Condition of our first Parents. See,
1. The dignity and dominion with which he invested man.
Made him ruler over all the other creatures, and but a little lower than the angels, &c.
2. The law which he gave him.
It was plain, easy, and therefore practicable.
3. The moral garb in which he clothed him.
His own image. He endowed him with every moral excellency; he had light, love, and strength to honor God, and to remain happy. That God is love, is evident,
III. From his Conduct to Man as a Sinner.
Man’s crime was voluntary. Man’s sin was a compound of an evil. He had no claim except to judgment; no merit but to deserve death. Here, then, we are called to behold the triumph of divine benevolence over the claims of justice, and unworthiness of man And his love did triumph.
1. Behold his forbearance.
Adam flees, when arrested, trembles; but the blow is suspended, he dies not, but lives.
2. Behold the provision.
Sin must be punished; holiness must be exalted; truth must be vindicated, and yet love must be victorious. A substitute is found, one of sufficient dignity, one who volunteered for the work. God yields his Son to poverty, to reproach, to agony, to death, to endure the penalty of sin. "God so loved the world," &c. "Herein is love." Here, God revealed himself as he never had done before; God appeared in the form of man.
3. Hearken to the proclamation of the gospel.
The sacrifice has been offered, and the sinner redeemed; but he might remain ignorant of it; the gospel is therefore sent heralds are called, qualified, and sent to tell a rebellious world of the expedient God has devised for their restoration to himself. There are two things in this proclamation deserving of particular attention.
(1) The generosity of its conditions. The way of return to God is graciousness itself; no tortures; no self-inflicted pains’97a softened heart, a supplicating and believing spirit. He might have appointed a course of bodily and mental penance, &c.
(2) The universality of its extent. This proclamation is as universal as the boundaries of our rebellious world; extends to every creature.
4. Consider the provision of race.
The gospel reveals an antidote to all the miseries of man; it restores him to the favor of God, image of God, family of God, and enjoyment of God.
5. Contemplate the riches, the glory.
Who can tell what God has laid up for them that love him? Think of the regions of immortality, the temple of life, the joys of eternity; oh, yes, every thing proclaims that, "God is love." The winds waft the sounds, &c.; the waves reflect it from their transparent bosom; it is emblazoned in the sunbeam; it is this which is the melody of the spheres. I hear no other sound in the groves of Paradise, in the walks of Eden, until the cloud had settled over the guilty heads of our first parents. I see the first promise exhibiting the same truth; I see it in all that Jesus was, and said, and did; his life taught it, his death ratified it, his resurrection justified it, and all his words in heaven plead it; while thousands of thousands all join in one swelling chorus in the church on earth, and through the extended temple in the skies. Let me notice, before we conclude, some objections to this subject.
1. The existence of misery. Now, the sufferings of men are the result of wilful iniquity; both bodily and mentally, this is true.
2. None suffer in proportion to what they enjoy.
3. The number are but as those in the hospital to the healthy in the city.
4. None suffer as they deserve.
5. All suffering in this life is designed as corrective.
6. The future punishment of the wicked. A monarch is not malevolent because he restrains violent rebels, &c.; a father is not malevolent, because he preserves the members of his family from the violent, merciless members of it. Observe, God does not design to punish, he tries all methods, it is his last and strange work, only when his love is trampled under foot.
Application
1. Repenting sinner, believe it. Here is hope 2. Believer, rejoice in it.
3. Those who despise his love must endure his wrath.
Autor: JABEZ BURNS