What does it mean that God's love is unlimited?

That love is the very nature of God, and is the source from which have sprung all His activities toward us. It was declared to us when we were yet sinners, when we were ungodly and helpless, and it was manifested towards us in the death of His only-begotten Son. This is the measure of it. Immeasurable by the creature! Like to the sun in the heavens, we may bask in its beams; we may rejoice in its living light, and comfort our hearts with the thought that it knows no change, and if it cannot be greater it can never be less toward us than it was in its manifestation in the death of Jesus. Its expanse is beyond the vision of our souls, its depths are infinite; it is higher than the heavens, it encloses in its rayonnant and ravishing embrace the utmost limits of redeemed creation. We may bathe in its life-imparting depths, we may endeavour to comprehend its illimitable vastness, we may occupy ourselves with its glorious infinitude, but its shoreless tides shall laugh at our finite creature efforts: those tides that flow from the heart of the eternal God, and which break forth before our mental vision amid the darkness of cloud-swathed Golgotha, and which have only been prevented from deluging a fallen world by the unbelief of a devil-deceived creature.

275 NOTE. - The completeness of God's love, its perfectness, was shown in a double way - He could not give more, He would not give less. It is infiniteness in the fact and perfectness of the will - I mean of the will in love.

The completeness of God's love, its perfectness, was shown in a double way: He could not give more, He would not give less. It is infiniteness in the fact and perfectness of the will - I mean of the will in love.

But the assumption that His blood has no scope beyond the elect is a serious error. Not that to me God's electing love is a doubtful question, but as sure as any other truth of revelation, and a spring of solid comfort to the household of faith, humbling to man's pride and glorifying to the God of all grace. One may be quite willing to allow, therefore, that election is behind the second goat, if such an expression may be allowed. For there limitation comes; but the first goat typically is unlimited in its range. For this reason is grounded upon it the going forth of the gospel to every creature under heaven. What can be less limited, if other truth be safeguarded? Nothing can be conceived more disastrous to the unmeasured width of the gospel than to address the elect merely. The Lord commanded that it be preached to every creature. Therefore you do well to act on His word, and need not fear for God's glory. Be assured that God has found a ransom and is fully vindicated. Do not imagine for a moment that you are in danger of going beyond what the blood of Christ deserves, and what God estimates of His ineffable sacrifice. Were there a thousand worlds to save, were there sinners beyond all that exist to hear God's glad tidings, there is that in the blood of Jesus which would meet every sinner of every world. Such is the unlimited value God finds in the death of His Son.

Its length too is infinite as God and eternity. When God ceases to be, and eternity comes to an end, then, and not till then, shall we find the limit, of the love of Christ.

The blessed God has graciously given to us the power of speech, by means of which we can express the thoughts that rise up in our creature minds. We speak of eternity, infinity, and suchlike words, but these terms are much more the expression of our own creature limitations, our utter ignorance of the things we know to be realities rather than an exposition of the things themselves. It is thus with the great verities of revelation, things that are much more to be felt and enjoyed than to be set forth in human parlance. When we think of eternity we have the thought of endless duration of time; and when we think of infinity, that which has not bounds or limits is before our minds. But what know we of either? May I not also ask, What need we know? We know that the love of Christ is our sure and lasting portion: ours while we have our being, and that its magnitude is beyond all our ability to grasp. And we know that it is not only the little of it that we can grasp that is ours; it is all ours. It has all been lavished upon us, and it is all ours to be enjoyed.

There are two infinitudes here. The infinitude of this vast circle, the limits of which we cannot reach, and the love of the Christ which in its fullness is beyond us. This circle extends into eternity, but we have Christ at the centre and yet His love is infinite. We are touching the infinitude of God here, and we can only worship before Him. If we cannot apprehend it all, we have the ability to apprehend something of the blessedness of it, and as we do so it fills our hearts with worship.

When we partake of the divine nature through a grace which has set us in perfect peace as in ourselves, we can love in a divine way and love righteousness in a divine way. Otherwise we cannot. We must have a loveable object to call out a corresponding affection, or it will be an idolatrous passion towards an unworthy object. To love in supreme sovereign goodness is an absolutely divine quality. "God is love. Hence, at once, the apostle says, "He that loveth is born of God and knoweth God;" he derives this from God, and God is supreme object of it. This characterises the divine nature as communicated to us. I can also understand and delight in righteousness in itself, and holiness, being made partaker of His holiness, and renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created me in righteousness and true holiness. But while conscience has anything to say, I cannot love it simply, though the conscience may see it to be right and good, because I cannot and ought not to love to be condemned, nor ought I to be content to be defiled, supposing goodness to be as great as may be … A believer knows God's love to be supreme and infinite, because it reached him as a sinner — supreme, because there was nothing lovely; infinite, because nothing is so far from supreme love as enmity against it; and that was the condition of his proud heart.

It is true God works according to the fulness of His love. Even before the foundation of the world this adorable boundless love was in activity and in motion. It has manifested itself ever since man became a living soul. It unfolded itself in its fullest, brightest lustre, and in its highest majesty, when God gave His only begotten Son up to death for the ungodly and for sinners; and surely it will but shine in unhindered clearness when the last enemy shall be destroyed, the last judgment executed, and God shall be all in all.

It is a love, which is universal in its reach. It encompasses man everywhere and in every sphere. To Nicodemus, who was used to thinking God dealt only with the Jews, this was a surprise but the Lord would have him to know that the love of God is all embracing. Note however, that although this love is universal it is also deeply personal and applies individually to each soul. Hence, it is 'whosoever believeth'.

The action of love is the giving of him who is the only begotten, the one near and dear to the Father's heart. There can be no greater expression of the depth of God's love for fallen humanity than the giving of Him who is most precious to His heart to die on Calvary for the remission of sins. The grand result of this exercise of love is that eternal life is secured for everyone who believes. Eternal life here is in contrast with eternal damnation, which is the destiny of man as born in the line of Adam. Then there is the emphatic and positive affirmation, 'shall not perish.' All who put their trust in the Lord Jesus as Saviour are given eternal life and can rest assured that, in keeping with the word of God, they shall not perish.