God is love

The Bible tells us repeatedly that God is love, and that he is (1 John 4:8). That is why mankind is commanded to love one another. Jesus said to the disciples in John 13:35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another."

Love is the supreme virtue of all God's attributes. From his love flows everything else. But what I would like to discuss is what God's love isn't. 

The world's view of God's love is unbiblical. Why? Because it is viewed through a corrupt human lense. The world has replaced God's perfect love for an unholy tolerance of their sins. You have all heard the phrase, "Well God knows my heart." This phrase is used as an escape hatch to excuse one's guilt for the sin(s) they are committing. In their mind, it gets them off the hook with God - so they think.  Since the world's view of God's love is wrong, they divest the Lord of his other immutable attributes such as his wrath, his anger, his hatred of sin and judgment on sinners.  From the world's perspective, the above adjectives regarding God are foreign to him; the fire and brimstone God everyone despises and fears. The kind and tolerant god of this age is the one that everyone prefers. This god makes the world feel better about themselves and there is nothing to fear.

We have neglected God's mercy and grace so much that when calamity strikes in our lives, we (i.e. mankind) blame God for his apparent neglect and supposed insensitivity to our plight. What we must remember is that God must and will always punish sin. Where the world makes their grave mistake is that because God does not exact judgment swiftly all the time, man thinks he is getting away with his sin. Not so! There is a time and a place for everything. God will not remain patient forever with evil doers.

Judgment is coming!

Another magnificent virtue of God is that he is holy. That means he is completely righteous perfect and separate from sinners. As a matter of fact, the Bible commands us to be holy for God is holy (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16). The Bible tells us that without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). Translation, dirty people will never see the Lord. Obviously, I am not talking about physical uncleanness, but regarding a person as degenerate - unsaved meaning they are morally unclean and spiritually dead in God's sight. 

God's love is varied for sure. We cannot look at God's love as passive, turning a blind eye to sin. If we are offended and repulsed by mankind's sins and we are sinful ourselves, how much more does our sinless God have the right to be offended by man's wickedness and judge it? How hypocritical of man to want justice for trespasses committed against them, and not expect God to execute justice against unrepentant sinners? It is a violation of God's holy character 

So, in order for us to know God's love, we need to examine the scripture carefully. Love always tells the truth, no matter how painful it may be to hear. Mankind does not have the right to determine for God what his love is. God has declared it clearly in his word and in the person of Jesus Christ. We must bow the knee to what scripture declares about God's love. Once we understand it, we must practice it by loving all people - way easier said than done; so many people are unlovable.

God is love, always. However, that does not mean that God will not execute judgment on sinners. As a matter of fact, God must judge sin for his holiness' sake. Just like any human judge must execute justice against convicted criminals, God who is the perfect judge must punish all recalcitrant sinners. In this way, God's love is delivering and providing safety from evil people; from those who hate him. 

God is not less loving when he is judging and punishing evil; his character is immutable. Rather, he is exhibiting tough love. Not a love we as sinful people want to endure. But because of man's disobedience, God has to react with anger and wrath against the sin so that man may fear him and would be willing to repent to escape his righteous and fair judgment. 

God is loving mankind by providing sober warnings to them.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son (John 3:16). Jesus so loved the world that he died to save it; that is mankind from their sins. Although the reality of Jesus coming to earth to die for the sins of the world is an ancient story, it still baffles and angers man because it is a supernatural love that we will never fully understand. Why in the world would a loving Father sent his perfect sinless son to die for undeserving wretched human beings? Because of his love. Also because we need it in order for us to be forgiven of our sins and be saved. That type of love is perfect because it is sacrificial - benefiting all who place their faith in Jesus' atoning sacrifice.