"Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. 3.14).

INTRO.: A hymn which encourages us to put on love for God because of His love for us is "Love Divine" (#393 in "Hymns for Worship Revised"). The text was written by Charles Wesley (1707-1788). It was dated 1743 and first appeared in his "Hymns for Those that Seek and Those that Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ," published at London, England, in 1747. Various alterations have been made in the original text by different editors, especially by Martin Madan (1726-1790).

The tune (Beecher or Zundel) was composed by John Zundel (1815-1882). A native of Germany who spent some time in Russia before coming to the United States, he served as music director for 28 years at the Plymouth Church in New York City, NY, where Henry Ward Beecher was the minister. During this time, he published three hymnbooks, including "Christian Heart Songs" of 1870, in which this tune, produced for Wesley's text, first appeared.

The song gives some specific reasons why we should put on love for God.

I. Stanza 1 says that it is because of the joy of heaven to earth come down

A. Jesus Christ is the joy of heaven sent down to earth because of othe Father's love: ` Jn. 4.9

B. He has promised to fix in us His humble dwelling if we obey Him: Jn. 14.23

C. And He will visit every obedient sould with salvation from sin: Heb. 5.8-9

II. Stanza 2 says that it is because of the promised rest

A. Because of His love for us, God has made it possible for us to have eternal rest: Heb. 4.9

B. But to accomplish this, God had to provide a way to take away our load of guilt which would keep us out of heaven--so He sent Christ: Jn. 3.16

C. Hence, it is in Christ that we can have the hope of being brought to eternal day: 1 Jn. 2.25

III. Stanza 3 says that it is because of the deliverance from our sins A. One of the reasons that Jesus came down is to deliver us from this present evil world: Gal. 1.4

B. The statement "suddenly return..." is not talking about the second coming of Christ, but asking Him to return to our hearts, which had once been separated from Him by sin, that He might dwell in us as His temples: 1 Cor. 6.19

C. And if Christ does dwell in our hearts, we can glory in His perfect love by blessing and serving Him: Eph. 3.17-19

IV. Stanza 4 says that it is because God has promised to finish His new creation

A. As a result of God's love for us in sending Christ to deliver us from our sins, it is possible for us to become a new creation: 2 Cor. 5.17 B. And as God's new creation, He wants us to be pure and unspotted: 2 Pet. 3.14

C. Furthermore, if we remain pure and unspotted, God will finish His new creation by making sure that our whole salvation will be perfectly secure, so that we can be changed from glory to glory and take our place in heaven: Phil. 1.6, 3.20-21

CONCL.: This hymn shows us that God is the kind of person that Jesus would call Father and it exhorts us to grow in the grace of our Lord. Of course, it talks about God's love for us in sending Christ, but the Bible says that we love Him because He first loved us. So the song also speaks of our expressing love for God in worship and praise because of His "Love Divine."