LOVE

The bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond

‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8,16). If it’s true that love is more a verb than a noun, then what did God, who is love, do? ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen. 1:1). ‘For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day’ (Exo. 20:11). And, like Father like Son, Jesus says, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working’ (John 5:17). So, God (who is love) brought creation into being over a period of six days. He did it verbally, ‘By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth’ (Ps. 33:6). ‘By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible’ (Heb. 11:3).

God is love because the three Persons in the Godhead love each other eternally from eternity unto eternity. The three persons are one God. ‘For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one’ (1 John 5:7). Some Bibles may miss out this verse, but it is Biblically true nevertheless. For in the beginning the Father spoke the Word and Their Spirit brought creation into being.

Yes, in the Godhead, God loves God, and each Person loves His neighbour as Himself. If love were the ball in a pinball machine, then to reflect the Godhead, it would need to ping back and forth perpetually and keep on running up a score forever.

But does God love anything other than Himself? ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). So we see that God loves the world. And we see that this love is not an emotional feeling as humans tend to describe love. ‘Love Hurts’ and ‘I Feel Love’ are a couple of well-known songs that describe love as a feeling. However, God’s love for the world is a ‘doing’ love. He sent His Son into the world. ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14a). But what happened when God entered His creation on the planet earth as a human being? Do we love the One who is love and made us in His own image that we should be like Him and love God and our neighbour as ourselves? Well, it looks like the ones that don’t love Jesus are going to perish. Clearly, only those who believe in Him will receive everlasting life rather than perishing in hellish torments forever, i.e., everlasting death as opposed to everlasting life.

How can the Scriptures reveal that God is love if He sends people to hell? Well, we’ll leave that for God to answer the individual on Judgment Day. But for now, God is expressing His love for the world by inviting everyone to believe in His Son and be saved. However, no one will believe in the Son unless they are born of the Spirit. (John 3:5-8). We breathe out to speak. The ‘Breath’ of the Father and the Word must speak to our hearts before we will believe unto everlasting life. ‘For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death’ (Rom. 8:2).

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who have been loving each Other from eternity, are extending that love to whoever will believe in Jesus. Why would anyone reject this offer? You’d have to really hate God to not accept His offer of everlasting love in everlasting life. Why would anyone not prefer everlasting bliss over everlasting torment? Perhaps it may be because they do not believe? For, ‘whoever believes in Him should not perish’. God is love. Accept Him. And accept His offer of love while you yet have breath.