God is Love
"And I'm convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God´s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God´s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below –Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39)
My dear ones, may I introduce SOMEONE to you? GOD, the loving Creator and Father!
Nowadays, nobody can deny God's existence because everyone is aware of a higher power that has created the universe. The question is no longer whether God exists or not but rather which conception or idea we have of/about God. For a genuine and true conception of God it is not only crucial to have a living relationship with Him, but it is also the very foundation for a practical life of faith. So who is God? What are God ways of acting?
The Bible says in Romans 1:20: „For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God “. In other words, every person is convinced that God exists by seeing and observing His creation (nature, sky, earth, animals, people, planets, stars etc.)!
People are looking for God at the wrong places, they mistake Him for another person such as Buddha, Harry Krishna, etc. or for something like a tree or a mountain because they don't truly know Him. No, these things are not God!!!
I want to introduce you the true, real, living, wonderful, loving, faithful, righteous, etc. God that I have experienced and with whom I daily walk. My goal is to encourage you to enter into a living relationship with Him (if you do not know Him personally yet) or recognize Him as Who He said He is (If you are already a believer).
To really know who God is, one has to read and study the Bible. It is God’s love letter to mankind. God not only introduces himself in the Bible but He gave us also therewith a handbook for our life. What a loving and caring God and Father!
In this blog and in the following ones, we will check out God's “personal data” based on the Bible. I will show you some of His character traits that make Him so special, and explain to you what these passages are telling us about Him and their meaning for us.
Needless to say that God has so many important character traits that make Him unique as God: He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, holy, infinite, wise, incomprehensible, self-sufficient, and so on. However, I will talk about a handful of qualities that I believe every human being (believer or not) should know in order to have a true conception/idea of God.
So let us begin with the first character trait:
God is love.
What is love? Honestly, you and me we will never know what Love exactly is. However, what we are able to know is how love expresses itself and that is enough for us to recognize God’s love and accept it. Love is an essential attribute of God; it expresses the nature of God and how He acts just as the words Goodness, faithfulness, Righteousness, etc. do. In other words, love is something that applies to God.
Love expresses itself as benevolent, that means God is kindly disposed towards man, He shows understanding and comprehension for us and our situation, He has a positive attitude and is friendly towards us. In a nutshell, God is always FOR us. Love wants the good for all. So when you are going through difficult times or when you have challenges, you should always remember that God is on your side. He wants you to be well, His will is to always help you - whether you are a Christian or not! That is why God has made salvation through Christ available to mankind.
"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).
That is true love and that is God! His love for mankind was His only motive for our salvation. God is always for us. He has always good thoughts about us. His motives and plans for us are always good. What does this mean for us? We should not be afraid of God, but rather we should feel free and relaxed in our relationship with Him. He is always well-disposed towards us anyway. Likewise, if the circumstances in our lives give us fear, we can run into the arms of God and all our fears are forgotten. Knowing that God is love and is always thinking good things about us, drives all our fears away and this also brings rest into our lives. The Bible says in 1. John 4: 18 "Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love”.
Moreover, God's love tells us that He is kind. His word also assures us that He is our friend or wants to make us His friend. Good friends love each other, are there for each other and want the welfare of the other. So does God want your welfare. Imagine, the God who created everything, wants to be your friend because He loves you! He wants to go in and out with you, talk with you about everything, exchange His thoughts with you, tell you his secrets - yes, good friends do such things. Why? Because He loves you and wants to partake in your daily life because someone who does not love you doesn't show any interest for your life. Therefore, God expresses his Love for us with a friendship request. In John 15:13-15 Jesus makes this request, which - unlike a Facebook friendship requests - you should believe and accept! Because it's a gain for you ...
Love rejoices over the object of its affection, which means that God is pleased with His creation. When God sees you and me, and all that He has created, His Creator's heart rejoices (Genesis 1:31). Many people have this image of God: He is far away, has no interest in His creation, scrutinizes sternly the earth, is very dissatisfied with everything and is ready to punish us for every small mistake we've made. NO, God is not that way, that is a misconception of God. Apostle John says that God created everything for His own pleasure. God rejoices in His love for all that He has made. Psalms 104:31 confirms it: "May the glory of the LORD continue forever! The LORD takes pleasure in all He has made! “. So, when we know that God is pleased with us, what keeps us from having a relaxed relationship with Him? He is happy with us just as any parents are happy with their children out of love. It is clear that God hates sin, which is disobedience towards His word, yet He responds with true affection wherever Men desires to do His will. So, I encourage you to wake up every morning with the assurance that God has pleasure in you because you are His creation!
Furthermore, God's love is selfless and He gives us all (good things)! We can also observe this characteristic of selfless love when we look at us humans. Yesterday on my way to work, I saw from far away how a young mother carried the buggy with her child alone and she climbed up 45 stairs. When she reached the top, out of breath, almost at the point of a breakdown, she looked at her child happily before I met and helped her bringing the buggy with the child inside down again. Why did she do that? Of course, out of her selfless love for her child! Out of love, she was ready to do the best for her child. Selfless sacrifices are not unusual when it comes to love and God has done something like that for you and me about 2000 years ago (John 15:13).
Jesus gave His life for us as a selfless sacrifice so that we can enjoy the extraordinary life in Him that God has planned for us. God shows us therewith His unconditional love, He has sacrificed himself for us and has given us everything with Christ - Hallelujah.
Friends, if Jesus has sacrificed His life for us, what proof of God's love do we still need? There is no greater love than giving his life for somebody! God has given/showed us His love in/through Jesus. Our duty here is to accept and respond to His Love. This will change your life, I bet you!
Never forget, God is always kind and friendly to you, He is happy with you and He has made the greatest sacrifice a man could have made for you! This is called Love, for God is Love and he loves you so much!