Through Jesus, God opens his own loving heart to us. He also pours his love into our hearts by his Spirit. Now we know for sure that we are deeply loved. Being loved by God we can, as it were, look into His heart. As we do so, we are aware that we only gaze into the loving heart of God through Jesus and by his Spirit. For God has opened his heart to us only in Jesus.

As we look into this loving heart, we see that God’s love for us moves in fullness towards us from the fountain of love that God is within himself. So we know for sure, that God is love in himself before his loving us, and without being forced to love us. Truly, we cannot say anything higher or better of the inner life of God than this: God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as a communion of self-giving love.

We say all this only in the light of the outward expression of his love in Jesus. This love is demonstrated in all of Jesus’ encounters with others as the man for others. And ultimately in the cross where God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. God has no need to love us, and we have no claim upon His love. Nevertheless, he is simply the one who loves us.