"The love of God" is a delightful and affectionate sense of the divine perfections, which makes the soul resign and sacrifice itself wholly unto Him, desiring above all things to please Him, and delighting in nothing so much as in fellowship and communion with Him, being ready to do or suffer anything for His sake or at His pleasure. Though this affection may have its first rise from the favors and mercies of God towards ourselves, yet in its growth and progress it transcends such particular considerations and grounds itself on His infinite goodness manifested in all the works of creation and providence.
"We love because he first loved us" is Scripture's explanation for how incorrigibly rebellious creatures should discover a love for their Lord and master. It does not arise from within us unaided, but once God has remade us our new appreciation for his beauty and goodness and loveliness fuels its growth. The goal of Christian affection toward God is to make him the center and end of all our wants. If this sounds like falling in love, perhaps on one level it is. But only in this case is the object of our love as truly perfect and delightful and worthy as we otherwise pretend the human objects of our love are. The Bride is made for the Bridegroom.
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