It is arguable that before the coming of Jesus, apart from the revelation of God's steadfast love in the Old Testament, there was faint hope of the love of God. Apart from the Bible and the influence of Jesus Christ there is little thought of the love of God in the world. It is Christ who has brought us the depth of this conviction through his death on the Cross.

Can you see the love of God in creation? Those who believe only in the scientific theory of evolution find no evidence of a loving, divine purpose in nature. Instead they see a pitiless, material universe where the survival of the fittest, generation after generation, is based on our selfish genes parasitically devouring one another. There is no divine intervention or guidance. Instead there is a purely random natural selection that has no purpose or meaning. There is no such thing as love, but only self-interest, and self-protection.

Where do you see the goodness and love of God in nature? What about the terrifying effects of storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and other natural disasters? Even the beauty of nature is in the eye of the beholder. It has no moral content. The beauty of a sunset, a flower, a tree, or a butterfly is neutral until it is imbued by the viewer with value.

Where do we see the love of God in human life? The headlines of our news bring evidence of the callousness and cruelty of men and women. Violence stalks the earth. Abuse of the most vulnerable is commonplace. Society is littered with human suffering, dysfunctional families, selfishness, and wretched, hopeless lives. Corruption permeates political life. There is little evidence outside of Christ to make it absolutely certain that God is love.

When we look inside ourselves our conscience accuses us of our own shortcomings. We see in our own lives the effects of jealousy and resentment, pride and anger. We know that we are sinners and fear that God will judge us for our failings. We do not want others or God to know our inmost thoughts which often accuse us when we are honest with ourselves.

The love of God is not a self-evident axiom - it needs to be proved to us, demonstrated to us.

How do we know that love towards us exists in another's heart? By their actions. We want something more than words. There must be some conspicuous and unmistakable act to prove the love of God. The apostles do not go back to Christ's words to prove the love of God. They do not point to anything Christ says, but the one thing that he did: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." (1 John 3:16) "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Christ's death upon the Cross proves God's love because Christ is Divine. How could God prove his love by having someone else die? God cannot prove his love by the death of a religious prophet, or a great moral teacher, or a philosopher like Socrates, or Moses, or Gandhi. God does not prove his love by the self-sacrifice of a missionary, or a rescuer. Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) "God so loved the world that he sent his only Son." (John 3:16)

Christ's death upon the Cross proves God's love because it is a death for us. He died for us. The story of a martyrdom is all very well in bringing glory to the martyr, but what good does it do me? The death of Jesus does not mean anything unless he died instead of us. "The Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45) He died for the sins of the whole world. He died for us, not because we were lovable, or deserving of such sacrifice, but because of our need as unlovable and undeserving sinners; and because of his true nature as the source of love.

The theological word for this sacrificial love is 'vicarious', which is defined as suffering in the place of another, taking the place of another person, serving as a substitute. When somebody has taken the hit for us, when we deserved it, we know that they love us, and we are filled with love for them. When it is God who does that for us, we know that he loves us.

Do you look upon the death of Christ as a death for your sin? Are you touched by the love of God as seen in the Cross? How do you respond to that love? You can respond with gratitude and undying devotion, with unselfish service, with humility and repentance.

(Adapted from Alexander Maclaren 1826-1910 in Classic Sermons on the Cross of Christ, compiled by Warren W. Wiersbe, 1990) You can sign up for my blog at www.ameliachapel.com/blog