God IS Love part 1

The Amazing Word of Life recorded in 1 John 4:8 tell us the good new "God is love." The greek word for love here is "agape." This tells us that He IS love. He doesn't just have love or give love. He IS love in His very nature and character and substance. Love describes Who He is.

To quote Malcolm Smith (to paraphrase)- If I say I have a glass of water is one thing. To say "I am the earth's supply of all water " is completely another. God is the source of love and true divine love (agape) comes from Him.

This word agape means - "unconditional love" or "a love that loves someone who is unlovealble." Another definition is "a love that sacrifices with no regard to getting aything in return" and also "to love someone with no strings attached", "to love a person not based on their merits or performance."

A final definition is "a love that focuses on the other party's good and well being (without regard to self or the cost)." Love starts within the Trinity. The FAther loves His Son (Yeshua - Jesus in English translation). He wills to glorify His Son and His one condition for human beings is to trust Jesus Christ, to worship Jesus, to acknowledge Him. He wants to bless Jesus and He lives for this purpose. Father God (Abba - Romans 8:15) said in the Gospels, "This is My Beloved Son in Whom I delight."

Christ lives to Glorify His Father. He loves His FAther with a passionate love. Likewise Father and Son love each other and they love The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in turn "will not speak on His own but what He receives from Me" and "comes not to glorify Himself but to glorify Me." - (check it all out in John chapters 14-16). He loves The FAther and The Son. He lives to point to them & not to Himself. He does not draw attention to Himself but points to them.

Now it gets really interesting when we start to look at How God's love spills over to humanity. But for now (I will talk more of this in part 2) suffice it to say that God is complete and happy in Himself and does NOT need humans. (Now don't get mad this is a good thing!) Becuase He doesn't Needus He is therefore free to love us NOT because He is compelled by co-depenent feelings. He is not compelled but freely chooses to love us.

You see God loves us NOT because of who we are or what we do but because of Who HE IS!!
He is love and therefore can love a rapist and a monk exactly the same. That means our performance can't change His love. When we are good He loves us. When we blow it He loves us the same.

You say, "That's not fair!" That is where the cross comes in. You see God is both Just AND Love. He is perfectly Holy and cannot allow any sin however how minor to go unpunished. You see He is not unjust He is actually more just than we can possibly comprehend. He is perfectly Holy and He hates sin because He is so holy and pure. But He loves US! He is so pure that He has to punish even a lie. (We are dysfunctional and think that He should grade on the curve - you know Hitler deserves hell but we should get heaven because we have never murdered). That is preposterous! We must see sin thru HIS eyes - even a lie is deserving of death! (now don't get mad- this will get good I promise!)

The good news is that's where Jesus and The Cross comes in. God is just and Holy so He solved this dilema (because He is also merciful) by dying on the cross for us. Christ took our punishment from God and therefore God retains His justice while still being Love. Theologians have made the statement "At the cross Justice and Mercy kiss."

OK - before we get too into this- let me get practical. Do you know that God loves you unconditionally? Now matter how you perform, if you never did another good thing He would love you the same. BUT- the key is that we have to receive this love, this saving love. If we want to have His love and experience His forgiveness we must be bound to Christ and have (all that He did on that cross) applied to us...personally and individually. How do we get that forgiveness, grace, and mercy applied to us? - One word - Faith! "Whoever believes in His will not perish but will have eternal life." (John 3:16) . "Believe (trust) in The Lord Jesus and you will be saved." (Acts 16:13).

It's that simple - bind yourself to Him Who is unconditi0nal love today.
In Christ- SJ