In 1 John 4:14-17 the pastor writes:
Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
This names, in my opinion, perhaps the most profound and awesome name of God ... "Love." God is love. It's not "a" characteristic or attribute, it is what God is. It's interesting that John writes "and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." Does this mean that whenever we see an act of love we see God? I think so. God isn't some love, or parts of love, or some special love that we knew back in the day (it was Wednesday by the way :). God is love ... period. I think any love is God showing up in the world.
Something that was really interesting in the sermon I heard that brought this idea of God's name being "Love" to my mind was how God's love makes us unafraid (verse 17). You see, the God I grew up believing in was very much to be feared (in a bad way). I felt judged and shamed by God. I went to church regularly and prayed the prayer to receive Christ every single time the pastor gave the opportunity. I didn't do this because I loved God so much or because I knew God loved me, I did it because I was scared of going to hell. I was afraid of God's wrath and judgement. He is the final judge, but my perception of this created an unhealthy fear, which I don't think is God's intention. The problem was, I didn't know this beautiful name of God ... "Love." But now, I'm not afraid. I know God as Love ... do you?
Grace and peace,
Lang
P.S.
Did anyone see God show up in an act of love today? One small way for me was a loving text from my wife I got that made me smile.
This is SO important. God IS LOVE. God only wants good things for us. We are loved into existence. God has called each and every one of us by name. The very reason for our creation and existence is LOVE. Our purpose is to know, love and serve the living God.
ReplyDeleteGod's love for us is unconditional and undeserved. There is nothing we have ever done to earn His love, and so there is nothing that we can ever do to make God stop loving us. He will never stop loving His creation. His mercy is INFINITE and for ALL.
Many people forget that God loves them this much. They cannot even begin to comprehend the love that God has for them. When we forget this love, we become afraid. If you know that God loves you and wants only good things for you, you are not afraid. Even when the difficult times come, you TRUST in God and are unafraid. When we do not know/remember God's love, when we fail to TRUST in God - we attempt to fill the void with finite things. We look for possessions, pleasure or power and glory to satisfy us... but of course they never can. We will always want more of those earthly and finite things. But when we can turn our wants and needs to God, and want that infinite goodness, that infinite LOVE - we are satisfied. We are happy.
First, thanks so much for all the responses. I really appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that God as love is so fundamental. In "How (Not) To Speak of God" Peter Rollins talks about God as being so beyond our understanding that He lays even beyond the very concept of being beyond our understanding. Kind of a crazy concept to get one's mind around. He applies this to love by noting that with billions of people on the planet there are a lot of definitions of love, and God is love both includes everything we can imagine about love and goes beyond that.
You are most welcome. Faith is such an important matter, I am happy to talk about it.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem with people today is that we tend to try and fit God into our world. We try and liken Him to things we know and understand here on earth, which of course is folly. People think that they understand God and then put Him aside in a nice neat container and only visit Him if they need something. Just when you think you understand who God is, then you know you are wrong and that thing that you seem to understand clearly is not God, but something else entirely.
As for love, I prefer to use St. Thomas Aquinas' definition: as willing the good of the other. That definition holds true in all of Jesus teaching and in our relationships. Love is not a feeling or emotion, as we are led to believe today. It is not feeling but rather doing. If you truly love someone (even your enemies), then you will do whatever is best for them. We often confuse love with lust today. Jesus said to love your enemies, He certainly did not mean to have romantic feelings for them. Today people use love to mean - like, lust, admire, desire, favor... but they rarely mean love the way Jesus meant it. So yes, while it is true that God encompasses all things, even all our definitions of what love is - He loves us the way Thomas Aquinas would. God truly wants what is best for us all. His will is what is best for us, even if we can't understand it. If we are open to His will, then we will find true love waiting for us.
Good point on us silly humans often missing the true meaning of love, true, true. I like Aquinas' definition. Turns out I somewhat misquoted Rollins, my bad. Here's what he actually said that I was referencing, "Indeed, even the most fundamental statements, such as 'God is love', need to be deconstructed in this way, for while we can all agree that believers affirm the central idea that God is love, if we were to ask a dozen Christians from around the world to write an essay in what this means, there would be a wide diversity of thought. While we may say that God is love, we must acknowledge that God is also hallowed, and thus my understanding of love will be inadequate."
ReplyDeleteShould have checked my notes before I posted the first time! So, he's really getting at God's love being greater than our understanding. So, more of the idea that even if we imagine (in a giving, positive fashion) what God's love looks like, we're wrong because it's so much more. Pretty cool I think.