“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 (NIV)

Last month, I attended a conference where Francis Chan reported that at a recent large meeting of many pastors, he asked how many were only 70-80% sure God loves them, and 80-90% of the pastors stood up. To me, this is a startling statistic and has stayed on my mind ever since. If the vast majority of our pastors are not 100% sure they are loved by God, then how much more dismal must that number be for the rest of us? And there are so many reasons why one might not be so sure, especially for those who may have felt unloved by parents, perhaps even having a father who expressed conditional love with high expectations that they just couldn’t live up to, or even those who have been betrayed by a dearly beloved friend.

As humans, we often tend to view God through the lens of human relationships, but that is far from the reality of God’s enormous, unfathomable, and immeasurable ardent love. Nothing can ever compare to it. Nothing can change it. We can not alter even an ounce of what He feels towards us, no matter what we do.

Too often, we put ourselves at the center of the love equation with God, but it’s time to stop that and realize that we do not in any way affect the calculation. This isn’t mathematics. It is a singular linear infinity of outpouring love that goes on for eternity and cannot ever have a single addition, subtraction, division, or multiplication because God is the greatest degree He could ever be. He doesn’t just love. He is love.   

How do we know we are loved? We see it most clearly in the passion of Christ. Sometimes, we can be prone to view the cross as simply an obligation Jesus had to fulfill because humanity was so sinful that only a savior could ever make us acceptable to God. And while that is not untrue in and of itself, it errs in being very short-sighted.

It was not the obligation of a suffering servant, but rather Love that chose the cross. And for that reason, the crucifixion is known as the Passion of Christ. And yes, this passion was associated with suffering, and rightly so. It was brutal, unjust, and beyond comprehension. But if we only see suffering, we miss the deeper reality of the ardent love that chose it.

As scripture tells us, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13). This is one of several verses that confirm that the cross is foundationally based upon love. Jesus did not endure the cross reluctantly. He was not forced by obligation to the Father or trapped by circumstance. He chose it. Every step toward Calvary was a step of intentional, ardent love. He saw the cost clearly—and He saw you and me just as clearly. And still, He went.

This was not merely about saving us from something. It was about restoring us to Someone, Himself.

The Heart of God: Created for Relationship

From the very beginning, God’s desire was never distant rule over humanity. It was always about intimate relationship. In the Garden of Eden, we see a picture of unbroken fellowship, where God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8–9). There was no separation, no striving, no shame. Only closeness.

When sin entered the world, it did more than introduce disobedience. It fractured intimacy. The greatest loss was not merely moral perfection, but relational connection. Humanity didn’t just need correction; we needed restoration.

And God, in His ardent love, refused to leave that fracture unhealed.

The Passion Begins: Love in the Garden

I find it interesting that one garden preceded the fracture of the relationship, and another preceded the healing. In Gethsemane, we see Jesus in deep anguish, fully aware of what lay ahead.

“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

This moment reveals both His humanity and His unwavering love. He felt the weight. He saw the suffering ahead. He understood the cost in a way we never could. And yet, He surrendered.

Why?

Because love was greater than the cost. Because restoring that intimate relationship lost in one garden was worth the suffering. Because you and I were worth it to Him.

The Cross: Ardent Love on Display

The cross is where love is no longer spoken, but instead is displayed.

Jesus bore not only physical agony, but also the full weight of sin, shame, and separation. He entered into the deepest consequence of our brokenness so that we would never have to remain there.

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

This was not a distant, general act. It was deeply personal. He knew every one of our failures, every hidden wound, every moment of doubt—and He chose the cross anyway.

The cross stands as an eternal declaration: You are worth everything to Me.

“It Is Finished”: Love That Restores

When Jesus declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30), He was not speaking in defeat, but in victory. The work of redemption was complete. The price had been fully paid.

At that very moment, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). What once separated humanity from the presence of God was removed—not by human effort, but by divine love.

No longer was access restricted. No longer was intimacy out of reach. The way back to the Father was fully and forever opened.

What was lost in the garden was restored at the cross.

The Resurrection: Love That Lives and Invites

But the story does not end at the cross. Love did not remain in the grave.

Through the resurrection, Jesus conquered sin and death, proving that nothing could overcome the power of His love (1 Peter 1:3). This was not just a victory to be esteemed; it was an invitation to be received.

We are invited into new life. Into restored relationship. Into a living, ongoing, and intimate connection with a Savior who is still pursuing hearts today.

His love did not stop at the cross. It continues, actively and personally, even now.

The Ardent Pursuit Continues

The Passion of Christ is the greatest expression of love the world has ever known.

Jesus didn’t just die to save us. He died to have us. To restore what was broken. To bring us back into the intimacy we were always created for.

The question is not whether He loves us—the cross has already answered that.

The question is:

Do we truly live as those who are deeply, unconditionally loved?
And are we responding to His ongoing, ardent pursuit of our hearts?

Our role is not to strive to earn this love, but to simply receive it. To abide in it as one.

After all, that’s what atonement is.

I used to think this word was about changing the tone of our relationship, but I learned that was not true at all. It is not a-tone-ment, but instead is at-one-ment. Making us one with Christ. And there’s nothing we must do to be one with Him because He already completed our atonement on the cross.

So we don’t have to live as though we must prove ourselves worthy, constantly trying to measure up. The cross has already settled that question. There is nothing we have to earn and nothing to strive for. Just something to be eternally grateful for and to receive in all the fullness He gives.

And when we truly begin to grasp that, it changes everything. It reshapes how we see God, how we see ourselves, and how we walk each day. It draws us into deeper communion, where relationship replaces striving, and closeness replaces distance.

We can embrace this without ever wavering in our belief that we are loved. Because His love has never wavered. Not in the garden, not on the cross, and not now. And it never will.

You are ardently loved.

Ardently His,

Leah

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