One of the most famous verses in the New Testament concerning God’s character is “God is love” (1 John 4:8). This does not mean that love is God, but it does help us as readers of Scripture to appreciate how loving the God of the Bible is toward humanity. As we learn of his care, character, and interaction with humanity we should be reminded that he is at the heart of everything else that he is, a loving creator. Sometimes people get the mistaken idea that God, especially in the Old Testament, delights in wrath and punishment; but this is not true (Exodus 34:6-7). The Bible does not simply tell us that God is love, the Bible shows us that he is love in the ways it relays his deeds towards his creation. Notice some of the ways scripture proves to us that God is love and how much he loves us:
- God loved us enough to send Jesus (John 3:16) • God satisfies our hearts with food and gladness (Acts 14:17)
- Jesus laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16)
- We enjoy every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3-14)
- God loved us when we were unlovable (Romans 5:6-8)
- Provides the church as spiritual family for us on earth (1 Cor. 12:12-31)
- Gives us the Holy Spirit as a down payment on eternal life (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5)
- Promises that the redeemed will live in the new heavens and new earth with him forever (2 Peter 3:13)
- Our bodies will be raised and transformed (1 Cor. 15:35-57)
- He forgives and forgets all of our sins (Hebrews 8:12)
God’s love is seen when we look through the Bible and also look through our lives and notice how he has chosen to manifest it to us. Someone has said, “We are worse off than we imagined in our sins; but in Christ we are more loved than we ever dared to dream!”
0 Comments