Death, rejection and rebellion can deeply inflict pain on our hearts to its very core. Each of us can relate to experiences when love has hurt. A person could probably say that if a person never loved, they would never suffer. Yet, the great poets and song lyricist would contend that if a person never loved, they would never live. This leads us to conclude that there is always an element of risk to love. With hopeful hearts, we step out in love, recognizing the risks involved. The future potential of love returned drives us in determining the risk to be worthwhile.

One of the greatest love stories is when God created the world. He took the “risk” of love because he created us out of perfect love. Tragically, human history continually withdraws and turns its back on God. In the Old Testament book of Hosea, God portrays himself as one who is married to, and deeply in love with a wife who is repeatedly unfaithful to him. Though continually rejected, God still calls out to his people, his bride, back to a faithful relationship with him. And there lies the problem. Sin and disobedience has transformed perfection into evil. Imperfection has separated us from God and our world suffers from its consequences.

God’s creation of the world was “risky” in that it involved him becoming human flesh and dying a horrible death on the cross. He loved the world so much that he was willing to take upon himself all the pain, rejection and the consequences sin produces so that we may receive an eternal relationship with him. Jesus died on the cross so humans could live eternally in the peace and joy of God (heaven). The promise given to us in Scripture is that heaven will be such a place that our present sufferings can never be compared to it. We must remember that we are mortal. Our life on earth does not last forever. If there is no heaven, then all the sufferings, tears, and cries of the anguished will go unanswered. All the hopes, longings and struggles would come to nothing. In other words, the promise of heaven, made possible through Christ, makes all the sufferings in life worth it.

 

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