For us who are seeking God, it is important to open our bibles. This is the best, most trusted source about God ever! Further research using other sources such as testimonies about God encounters will even deepen the things you will know about the Lord.
What we will discuss is a foundational identity of God yet the most important one. Once we understand this, we will understand Him better and easier.
I do not claim to know it all. But may this short article light up a fire inside of you to start knowing God more. So, game!
1. God is Love.
Is it in the Scriptures? Hiyeah!
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
Ain’t really new. It is over-used, in fact. We hear it a lot of times but we don’t pick-up the deeper meanings to ‘God is love.’
To discover the deeper meanings of “God is love,” let us try to analyse this statement using our favorite subjects: English & math.
God – subject; is – linking verb; love – predicate nominative; (.) period
A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun which follows a linking verb and describes or renames the subject.
That’s right. Love is one of God’s many names. God is love, period.
Using math:
God=Love; Love=God
Many times we hear that God loves us or God is loving. It is not just God’s character. His very being is Love. And love, apart from God, isn’t love at all.
Wait, whut? So you mean my parents’ love is not love?
It is still love – God’s love manifested through them.
How about to my girlfriend or boyfriend? Is it not love?
Depends! How many girlfriends did you have?
True love, the God love, is permanent and loyal. Nothing can ever remove true love. If I rebel against my parents, I am pretty sure their love for me will never fade. The fellowship might be broken but deep inside, they still love me. If you are looking for love to be loved, this is selfish love, not the God love.
You see, true love gives, true love is selfless. God is a giver. God is selfless.
Don’t degrade the meaning of love by saying it is here today and gone next week. Couples break up because what they had wasn’t true love in the first place. Love is a treasure. It isn’t easy to find. You have to dig deeper.
God is also like that. He cannot be easily found. You have to dig deeper. But don’t worry, God will help you find Him.
Now, I want us to do a bit of an experiment.
If God=Love, from Genesis, let us substitute ‘God’ with the word ‘Love.’
1 In the beginning Love created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Love was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then Love said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And Love saw the light, that it was good; and Love divided the light from the darkness. 5 Love called the light Day, and the darkness, Love called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
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11 Then Love said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And Love saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
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20 Then Love said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So Love created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Love saw that it was good. 22 And Love blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
I want to use The Message bible translation for the creation of man.
6-28Love spoke: "Let us make human beings in our (Love’s) image, make them
reflecting our(Love’s) nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
Love created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting Love's nature.
He created them male and female.
Love blessed them:
"Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."
Findings:
Point 1: Everything existed through Love. Without Love, none that were created were created. Love is the foundation of all things. And Love only created what was good.
Point 2: The Words of Love became the law. God is a God of order. He separated water from land, darkness from light, etc. He spoke to keep things in perfect harmony. Love formed and framed the universe.
Point 3: Man is made by Love and in the image and likeness and nature of Love.
Conclusions:
From point 1: Love creates… good things. Ever wonder why great men and women say we have to love (passion) what we are doing in order to produce good results? As a graphic artist, I know this very well. My designs done without love or passion are quite obvious compared to designs where I put my heart to. Even though they don’t mention God, the effects of love is as it is.
We can also conclude, by faith, that nothing bad can come from God. No sickness, no disease, nor death, nor any bad and evil thing you can think of. God doesn’t use sickness to teach us a lesson. God cannot even give sickness because He has none.
Never say that God gives diseases to teach us a lesson. Or God gives us financial problem to teach us something. If it was God who gave you the disease, how can you ever have the courage to pray for healing? If He uses diseases and illnesses to teach us, what now is the use of the Holy Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit that God gave to teach us what He wants us to learn. He cannot and will not give you disease, illness, problems, troubles, anything bad.
Only good things can come from God who is love. Remember this always.
From point 2: Love keeps things in order and in perfect shape. There is a law of love that governs the universe.
Think of this. God loves us so much that he put nostrils at the bottom of the nose and not at the top. If our nostrils are placed at the top and it suddenly rained while we are walking on the streets.
How pitiful will we be! It will be also hard to pick our nose with our nostrils on that location.
However, by breaking the law which is love, the universe gets out of order thus resulting to bad and evil things. God did not create evil. It is merely the result of disobedience to the law called love. Evil is basically the absence of God or Love.
Corruption, death, sickness and disease. These things are not part of the original design. We have them because creation keeps on breaking the law of love.
Another example. If you hate a person passionately, every time you see him/her (or even just the thought of that person) you become angry, agitated, irritable, resulting to disorder in blood circulation resulting to high BP and if it continues will lead to heart failure. A quiet hater is even more prone to heart disease (like me). Love keeps the order in our body because man’s wireframe is love.
Point 3: If it is necessary for man to breathe in order to live, it is necessary for man to love in order to live physically and spiritually.
When God created Adam and Eve, He created them with a nature to love. And because that time, Adam and Eve only saw God (not even themselves), they loved God with true love, the selfless love, the God love. Loving God with all of their hearts kept them immortal – physically and spiritually not dying. Loving God is what we were made for. God created us for Himself. And thus can only be sustained by Him.
And as for you, God loves you whoever you are. God loves you not because of who you are but because He is Love Himself. Love loves. God cannot hate you. Regardless of whatever you have gone through in life, or the bad words you have spoken to Him, He still loves you. He can’t help but just love you. He is Love.
Stop listening to people saying that the bad things that happen in your life are results of God hating you. God cannot hate you. He hates your sin, not you.
God does punish. God can be angry and mad but He cannot hate you. It is impossible for Him to hate you. He is love. That’s why in this verse, it says this.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
Maybe you need to convince yourself too like Paul. This is the truth that the devil continuously hides from us. But once you take hold of this, it will change your life.
Pray this with me:
Father,
Thank you for who You really are. Many times I think that You cause bad things in my life, that my sickness came from you because you want to discipline me. Forgive me. Now Lord, I know and I believe that no bad thing can ever come from you. I am sure of it. It says in your word.
I know now that you love me regardless of my situation, of my sins, of my job, or whoever I or other people think I am. Thank you for loving me because you just can’t help but love. Thank you Lord God for you are good.
I want to know you more Father.
This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Move to Part 2
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