The Unfolding Love of God

Fruit is pretty incredible. Because fruit has seeds. And if you see a seed for its potential it is more than a seed. It is a tree. And it is even more than a tree. It is an orchard! Because God created seeds to unfold and unfold and unfold in creation.

Fruit shows up in the Bible for the first time in Genesis 3 – a familiar story. We, humans, took the fruit God told us not to take. That decision sprouted sin between us and God. It separated us from God. And the seeds of that decision unfolded and unfolded and unfolded throughout human history: Cain killed Abel. Humans enslaved humans. Nations destroyed nations.

But then God became a man. And through living a perfect life and dying a death we deserved and then rising from death, Jesus created a way for us to be reconnected with God. Jesus told his followers: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). And then just after that Jesus said this: “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

Fruit comes from a branch connected to the vine. Love comes from a life connected to Christ. And the seeds of God’s love, through Jesus, unfold and unfold and unfold in and through our lives… and throughout human history.

And that’s the story of love: “Not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

As you interact with others today, be reminded that God’s deep, sacrificial, all-of-the-time, for-all-of-time love can only be given if it is first received. We love for this reason: God first loved us!

So how are you abiding in God’s love for you today? And what is threatening to disconnect you from the Vine?

May you find your identity in your abiding connection with Christ, and may God’s love unfold and unfold and unfold in and through you.