Skip to main content

God Is Love 7


And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (I John 4:16) 

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4) 

          That the Lord our God is one does not mean only that there is only one God, but that God is also united in His characteristics. We are focusing on God being love, and lots of people love to focus on “their god” being a loving god, but at the same time that God is love and loving, He is also wise, just, holy, forgiving, omnipresent, all-knowing, true, independent, merciful, jealous, blessed and blessing, eternal, unchanging, wrathful, and all the other things the Bible attributes to Him. We may discuss these things as being separate, but they aren’t. Technical, God isn’t loving. God is God, and we attach the label “loving” to Him. We’re both correct and incorrect.
          The same is true of love. Love can be said to have all those attribute, and more (as we’ll see) but love is never just one of the characteristics correctly attributed to it, but it is simultaneously all of them. That doesn’t mean that every characteristic we demand or attribute to it is there. People like to talk about “unconditional love” as if the unconditional is a require part of it. I’m sure I’ve done so. I’m not sure that it’s true. I need to think about it more. It seems to me, however, that if God is love and love is unconditional, then God must be unconditional, too. There are ways that I can see that possibilities, and ways in which I don’t think it’s true. I suspect there may be other, truer ways to express the idea.
          As with God, we may perceive different characteristics at different times. Because we perceive that God is being merciful does not mean that He is not also being just, true, omnipotent, etc. It only means that “merciful” is the characteristic we noticed and put a name on. In addition to our perception being faulty, we must also note that a Human loving is not the same as love loving. Humans are fallible, inconsistent, weak, etc. Humans change. They fail. Love does not.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Died as a Ransom

                 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)                  This is something I’d really rather not think about but here it is and it’s important. I was reading in Bold Love about seeking revenge.  The author wrote of seeking justice when a supposed Christian does something sinful, harmful, and/or horrific, like sexually abusing a daughter.  And the thought that came to mind was of God asking if Jesus’ death was sufficient payment to me for the sin committed against me.                I have no specific longing for revenge, vengeance, or justice. I’m sure there are some lurking somewhere in my heart, but this wasn’t a response to one. It was more a question of principle. Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for to God for our sins.  That’s the standard Sunday Schoo
1 comment
Read more

Out of the Depths

  Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleadings.   If You, Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and I wait for His word. My soul waits in hope for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning. Israel, wait for the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his guilty deeds . (Psalm 130)             I like Mr. Peterson’s interpretation of the first line. “The bottom has fallen out of my life!” Of course, the problem for some of us is the fact that we’re drama queens, and/or we’re weak. Any time anything happens that disturbs our sense of mastery and control, the bottom has fallen out of our lives. If the past couple of days have taught me anything, they’ve t
1 comment
Read more