I recently saw a YouTube video about a man who died and went to heaven. I am normally cautious about such videos, but he seemed like a sensible person. He said that upon returning to this earthly realm, he realised that through this experience, he learned that God loves us MADLY.
It was his choice of wording that grabbed my attention.
‘Madly’ implied that God was crazy about us, that he had an all-consuming love for us. Something way beyond the normal, so excessive that it was beyond human logic.
How could that be – that the creator of the universe was head over heels in love with us? That the all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent God should care for us at all? David said, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4)
How could God love me that much? It is much more than I love myself! I know who I am, I know my faults and failings (probably not all). I can’t say I always love myself and I certainly couldn’t say I am madly in love with myself. Yet is God?
As I pondered on this to consider if it was true, it occurred to me, how much love you would need to have for someone else, to be prepared to sacrifice your only beloved son for them. Not only sacrifice him but allow him to endure the most terrible agonising death.
Such love would have to be beyond all human boundaries, greater, more awesome, more intense, in fact, in our terms – crazy.
It defies all reason or logic, yet it is true that God did exactly that when he sent Jesus to die for us. If ‘madly’ doesn’t correctly describe God’s love for us, it’s a pretty close description – for to the human mind it does seem mad, almost insane.
Yet God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts. The Bible says that even his foolishness is greater than our wisdom.
I feel humbled in the face of such a pure love. There are no words that I can find that begin to comprehend and grasp this.
How can we respond to such excessive love? Nothing less than complete surrender of our will to him. Such love demands a response and to give him our imperfect love in return.
So, I am happy to rejoice in the thought that our eternal God loves us, madly.