Love Manifest in the Flesh - Lee Brainard

The Bible contains many statements that fall upon the heart like bombshells if we stop to think about what we are reading. One of these is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, “Love suffers long and is kind … does not seek its own things, is not provoked, does not hold things against people, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

This is not like my feeble efforts at love or mankind’s frail efforts. This is not like the love of any man that ever lived, except one — the one born in a manger … whose name was Jesus … who did miracles … who died on the cross for the whole human race.

But how did such love dwell in a human breast? Because he was more than a man. He was “God manifest in human flesh” (John 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16). And if Jesus is God, and “God is love” (1 John 4:8), then Jesus is “Love manifest in the flesh.” This mystery is as sweet as it is great. He is the essence and fragrance of God in a man.

Let this love win your heart. You hear the call of the gospel. You know it is true. But you balk at the cross, the narrow path, and turning from the pleasures of sin. Trust him. He will make it worth your while to believe (Rom. 8:32, John 1:12, Rom. 8:17, John 3:16).

~Lee Brainard, June 13, 2015