Skip to main content

God Is Love


         Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.(I John 4:7-12)

          The subject of God’s love came up yesterday. In a discussion of why God created angels and man, he said that love desires to share itself with others.[1] Some people think that God created man because God had no opportunity to love without man but God had the angels, and before the angels or man, He had the other members of the trinity. The love that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have for one another is sufficient. God does not need us to love Him in order to feel loved.
          The problem is, it’s easy to love someone or something that is perfect. It’s easy to love someone or something that is like us, or that is us. Now, here we need to correctly divide two different senses of knowing. One may know something intellectually. You know touching a hot stove element is a bad idea even if you have never touched one. But if you have touched one, you really know it’s a bad idea. The latter is experiential knowledge. You can know that you can paint a portrait but knowing that you can isn’t the same as doing it.
           So God created something that was not Himself. Some may complain that He could have created something even better than He was. That’s a logical contradiction, but think of it this way – if He did create something that had even more of the attributes that He already loved in Himself, what challenges would there be in loving that entity? What He created in the angels were beings that were spiritual but limited: not omniscient, not omnipresent, not omnipotent. When He created man, He took the idea farther, giving man greater weaknesses (like a physical body) but giving him also the freedom to reject God.
          He created man with the plan in mind to give up Himself in demonstration of His love because anything less would not be a love worthy of Him. It would not be a perfect love. The greatest love is love for something unlovely, and incapable of loving back, not given so that you can pat yourself on the back and receive honor from others, but because it an expression of who you are. And while we naturally think in terms of God’s love for us, as spiritual beings trapped in a physical body. But God doesn’t stop there. As far as we know, animals are living physical things that lack the spiritual aspect. Plants take a step down from animals, and rocks lack even life. He created those, too, and there are glimpses of His love for them in Scripture (such as giving the land a sabbath rest.)
          God is love, and He demonstrates it in every level of His creation.


[1] Willard, Dallas. Life Without Lack (p. 34). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal 6:10)   “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.   By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)           Joshua grinned when he saw Rex standing by the door, studying something on the ground. "Hey, man! Are we ready to do this thing?"          Rex looked up. "Josh, I can't do it. We're still best buds, but I can't stand your fiancée."           I've met "Rex" many times. I've been Rex. Joshua (Jesus) loves the Church. He's not a fool. He knows the Church is far from perfect, but she is His chosen bride. The Rexes of this world, who think themselves His friend, turn away from her. "You don't need the Church to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ssssssubmmissssssionnn

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ . (Ephesians 5:21)             "Ssssssubmmisssssssionnn." Can't you just hear the serpent hissing this most horrible of words? If you listen to the serpent or the world, submission means groveling, allowing yourself to be abused, denying yourself your own humanity. Nothing could be worse than submission, could it?             Submission has never been a problem for me, as long as things are going the way I want them to. The rest of the time? Well, let's just say that while I don't know how to fight physically, I don't know how to not fight mentally. One of the fights I've been having with myself for years is about submission.             My first breakthrough took place on a trip to a bookstore. As I walked into the store, my thoughts were very clear. 1) I was goi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shark Fins, Triple Dog Dares, Heroes, Villains and Sidekicks

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)            There's a scene in Jaws in which someone sees a shark fin and starts a panic. As   all the swimmers scramble to shore, boats surround the fin, which falls over to reveal two kids. With several guns pointed at them, one of the kids points at the other. The message is clear: it was his idea. In Christmas Story, there's a scene in which one kid "triple dog dares" another to do something stupid. Since it's a triple dog dare, well, what choice does the boy have? There doesn't seem to be any end to the trouble that peer pressure can cause. ...
Post a Comment
Read more