"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13.13, NIV).
Today I listened to a sermon delivered by one of my favorite professors during my time at Dallas Seminary, Dr. John D. Hannah. Dr. Hannah isn't flashy. He is not the best communicator. He is not even that easy to listen to. But he helps his students love God better and that is why I chose the major I did and why I took as many of Dr. Hannah's classes as possible. One of my favorite classes was The Works of Jonathan Edwards. The main requirement of this class was to read and understand nearly 2,000 pages of Edwards' writings and sermons - an overwhelming task to say the least! As I listened to Dr. Hannah explain 1 Corinthians 13, I was reminded of my favorite book from that semester, Charity and Its Fruits. This book is a publication of a series of expositions he delivered to his congregation in Northhampton, Mass. in 1738. The final sermon in the series is worth the price of the book: It's title - "Heaven, a World of Love." Edwards explains that because God dwells most fully in heaven, heaven is rendered
a world of love; for God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven, fills heaven with love, as the sun, placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day, fills the world with light. The apostle tells us that "God is love;" and therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient being, it follows that he is a full and overflowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love. And in that he is an unchangeable and eternal being, he is an unchangeable and eternal fountain of love (326-327).These are the words from a sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards! This Reformed Puritan who is best known for his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, also had an extraordinary appreciation for God as an infinitely loving being and we must not forget this distinctive feature of his theology. According to Edwards, the God who is angry at sin is also the God who is the fountainhead of all love. And because God is love, eternity will be a world filled with "oceans and oceans of love and love again." This is why 1 Corinthians 13.8 declares "Love never fails." Faith and hope will pass away, but love is greatest because it will never pass away. There is coming a day when there will be no more faith and no more hope because we will see Christ, the object of both our faith and hope. The permanence of love is why Edwards encourages us to think of eternity as a renewed heavens and earth filled with only love. So the famous "love chapter" can be understood as describing the God who is love and the world we will inhabit with him for eternity.
So imagine a world filled with patience and kindness. Think about a world that does not know envy, boasting or pride. Picture a human family in which no one is rude, self-seeking or angry and there is never any score-keeping or grudge-holding. Visualize a world in which everyone is protected and trustworthy. We must dream about these things now because one day our dreams will be reality!!
We must also dream about these things now because of what Paul commands us in 1 Corinthians 14.1. Paul says, "Follow the way of love." Through the power of the Spirit we who are promised a future of love, must make love our priority now.
Because in the end love will be the last thing standing we must make love our priority now.
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