A Love Like no Other
A
Love Like No Other
This
is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and
sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1
John 4:10 (NIV)
Greg Lucas understands unconditional love. His son, Jake,
has been diagnosed with autism, OCD, cerebral palsy and sensory integration
disorder. His grown son is unable to care for his own hygiene, so it falls to
Greg and his wife to remove Jake’s diaper, wipe his behind, then bathe him. Because
of his sensory issues, Jake does not like to be cleaned. Many times, Greg has
been kicked, hit, bitten, and clawed. Yet through it all, Greg holds his son
tightly and whispers, “I love you. I love you. I love you – no matter what.”[i]
Greg goes on to say, “How do you care for someone who
resists your love with violence, who opposes your very presence even when that
presence is necessary for his good? How do you keep on loving when the person
you are devoted to seems incapable of affection? The only way to make any sense
of this kind of relationship is to experience it through the truly
unconditional love of the Father.”[ii]
Greg explains he also suffers from a life-affecting
disability; it’s called sin. “It causes me to reject love and embrace fear. It
plagues me with a slumber that makes me strangely satisfied to lie in my own
filth and not be disturbed. It’s not that I like being dirty. I just hate being
cleaned… In my son I see a picture of my own relationship with God. In Jake’s defiant
refusal to be loved, cared for, and washed, I am reminded of the cross. There,
the violence of divine love overpowered my rebellion and forced upon me a
process of cleansing redemption that I did not want to undergo. In some ways,
the process is still ongoing, and most days, I still resist. In my persistent
disability I fight against the transformation being worked in me. But I face a
power greater than my own and a love stronger than my rebellion. It is as if a
bloody, beaten, crucified Savior wraps me in His arms, subdues me with His
affection, and whispers in my ear, “I love you. I love you. I love you – no matter
what.”[iii]
Easter is all about God’s love, a love like no other. He
loves us despite ourselves His love is unconditional and sacrificial. There is
no greater love than this.
[i]
Greg Lucas, Wrestling with an Angel: A
Story of Love, Disability, and the Lessons of Grace (Hudson, OH: Cruciform
Press, 2010), pg 22
[ii]
Ibid, pg 22-23
[iii]
Ibid, pg 23-24
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