NOTE: In order to provide some context, I begin this blog entry with brief reference to the current military action in the Middle East. However, I am not seeking to offer scriptural support for or against that action.
Right before the 2004 elections, I spoke to a family friend about President Bush and the war. At the time, I was a supporter of the war. The family friend kept chanting the mantra that her God is a “God of love, not war”. While I agreed that God is love (1John 4:16), I also attempted to point out that God has allowed wars and even given specific direction as to how to conduct them since the beginning of man (throughout Old Testament). Was this little tidbit received? No, her God is a God of love, with apparently no supporting facets to His character.
In scripture, God says “…so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:9) We will never fully comprehend even a blip of God‘s full character, His ways, magnificence & glory, but the Bible gives us a peek into His character and His love for us. Is His love like that of the grandfather that bounces us on his knee, rarely corrects us and lets us have free reign when we go to his house? No! Although our God‘s love is indeed one that comforts (1Cor 3-4) and gives peace (Philippians 4:7), His love would be incomplete without the other aspects made apparent throughout scripture. I will touch on but a few.
God is wrathful against “all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness“. (Rom 1:18-19) He does not excuse the sins of those who attempt to suppress God’s truth. God is jealous (Ex 20:5). He wants our undivided attention, strict allegiance and obedience and will tolerate no substitute. God is a god of justice (Is 30:18) and of discipline (Heb. 12:6). In Jeremiah 30:11 God’s message to the Israelites, but not to be lost on us today, is, “I will correct thee in measure [judicially, with justice], and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” God’s love is completely sacrificial. He sacrificed His very Son for our sin and iniquity. (John 3:16; Rom 5:8). With our finite wisdom, can we ever fully appreciate the level of sacrifice God’s type of love entails?
We want the loving God without understanding what that really means. We want a god that shows his love by sanctioning whatever we desire, rather than a God that demands that we do things His way! God IS love. But apart from a saving faith in Christ, what understanding can we truly have of love anyway? In Christ, Talya |
