Our Creator is Love
The one who does not love does not know God. God is love. (1 John 4:8)
When God enters into relationship with redeemed humanity it is a loving relationship. God initiates that relationship through loving means. He created us as a love-gift for each Person in the Trinity. He redeemed us with the same motive.
The Love, which He is, always existed as an interpersonal love within Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit. Theirs is a relationship unbounded by time. It is so characterized by love that it becomes His deepest identity. This is love eternally born out of deepest appreciation.
You were created by someone whose most powerful motive is love. Yet, the expression, “God is love”, is so common as to be trite. By the way, the noun, love, is not the only noun that is used to describe God. Think about it. There are a lot of “God is…” verses in the Bible. Many of them have to do with God’s interaction with sinful humanity.
Here are a couple of sentences that contain a “God is…” that are not so comforting:
So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:23-24)
“Your God is a consuming fire…”
Let’s think about this. God is love, and God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
In Genesis, God is portrayed as an impartial judge who will enforce covenant agreements by punishing those who break covenant. Laban said to Jacob (his son-in-law),
“If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.” (Genesis 31:50)
The type of love God is, in relationship to us, is often wrongly viewed. In fact, it is a discriminating love. It is a love that is born from deep appreciation and desire. It is a love that is fiercely committed to justice so that the God who is love may free humanity and love may establish ultimate liberty.
It is a love that went to Calvary.
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Also, David wrote a book about God’s love for the Jewish People called, For the Sake of the Fathers
Check out David’s new worship album, Looking for a City
