Chapter 1—God’s Love for Man
Nature and revelation alike testify of God’s love. Our Father in
heaven is the source of life, of wisdom, and of joy. Look at the
wonderful and beautiful things of nature. Think of their marvelous
adaptation to the needs and happiness, not only of man, but of all
living creatures. The sunshine and the rain, that gladden and refresh
the earth, the hills and seas and plains, all speak to us of the Creator’s
love. It is God who supplies the daily needs of all His creatures. In the
beautiful words of the psalmist—
“The eyes of all wait upon Thee;
And Thou givest them their meat in due season.
Thou openest Thine hand,
And satisfiest the desire of every living thing.”
Psalm 145:15, 16
.
God made man perfectly holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it
came from the Creator’s hand, bore no blight of decay or shadow of
the curse. It is transgression of God’s law—the law of love—that has
brought woe and death. Yet even amid the suffering that results from
sin, God’s love is revealed. It is written that God cursed the ground for
man’s sake.
Genesis 3:17
. The thorn and the thistle—the difficulties
and trials that make his life one of toil and care—were appointed for
his good as a part of the training needful in God’s plan for his uplifting
from the ruin and degradation that sin has wrought. The world, though
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fallen, is not all sorrow and misery. In nature itself are messages of
hope and comfort. There are flowers upon the thistles, and the thorns
are covered with roses.
“God is love” is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire
of springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their
happy songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming
the air, the lofty trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living
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