STUART Hamblen was an American singer, actor, broadcaster and writer of more than 200 pop songs. Towards the end of his life, during an interview with the evangelist Billy Graham, he made a commitment to give his life to God.

Talking about his conversion with his friend, the actor John Wayne, Stuart said that it was no secret what God had achieved in his life. Out of that conversation was born the song “It is No Secret, What God Can Do”, with its famous line: “With arms wide open, he’ll pardon you!”

The beneficial love of God – love that knows no boundary, love that is not hedged in by doctrine, theology or church teachings – is open all hours. It’s a love that is ours to see, believe in and enjoy.

Beneficial love! I love that term, for it expresses the truth that God really cares for me. It’s a love that commences every day in a spirit of complete acceptance, with arms wide open to what life may bring. A love whose greatest joy is simply to receive us – just as we are. A love that does not seek to appease an angry God. A love that does not seek to punish Jesus for the vast backlog of accumulated human sin and evil. Rather, Jesus simply brings to us the love of God, to let us know how, by his action, God thinks and feels towards us. God does not inflict pain, set out to punish us or set up accidents to teach us lessons to help us grow.

William Barclay, in his book “Crucified and Crowned”, writes: “God is like Jesus. In Jesus Christ we see what man ought to be. Jesus is not, as it were, less human than men, he is more human than men… In Jesus Christ we see the perfect demonstration of the love of God… As we see Jesus on the cross, we can say: ‘God loves me enough to do that for me’.”

“With arms wide open, he’ll pardon you, it is no secret what God can do.”

Alistair Dawson

Retired Salvation Army Officer