God’s love – exceeding all measure, yet still abused

Deutsch

God’s love. A quality that is today excessively and, above all, misinterpreted. For this love of God is said to outweigh everything else, making His eternal justice, as widely believed in doctrine, appear null and void, a non-existent, concealed concept. This is a mistake, because the salvation of humankind is not unconditional.

Love of God and nothing else

Speaking of God’s love for His creatures requires little persuasion today, as it is a widely proclaimed attribute of God. The “only” problem, however, is that while God’s love is undeniably true, it in no way diminishes or overlooks His equally absolute justice. This leads to strange theologies that speak of a “salvation for everyone,” because God ultimately does not want anyone to be lost (Info).

This goes so far as to simply redefine sin by teaching that the separation of humanity from God is the real sin. Humans only need to turn to God’s love, and everything will be resolved (Info). All of this leads people into a completely false sense of security, when, for example, continuing their current life or lifestyle could not bring them further from God’s will. But every person is, after all, a child of God. And so it all comes down to this.

No fool’s license

However, God’s love, portrayed as infinite, does not encompass the desired freedom of fools (“do what you will”). Jesus Christ gave a clear indication of this in 1 John 4:16:
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
“Remaining in love.” That doesn’t sound like infinity, because the Father is a God of the living and not of the dead (Matthew 22:32), and the latter is the inevitable consequence, lasting forever (Revelation 20). What no longer exists can no longer be loved, because love requires at least two.

God not only convincingly asserted His love, but fully proved it by giving His only Son, John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.“

Knowing God is far more

To “believe in Him,” and especially to recognize Him, does not merely mean recognizing Jesus Christ in a way that requires no identification, but rather recognizing Him with all His attributes and embodying the shining example of Him in the world. It is not just believing IN Jesus Christ, but having THE faith in Jesus Christ. Even demons believe in Him, but are not automatically saved because of this (James 2:19). For only those who do the Father’s will have prospects for eternal life, and this includes, in particular, the limited observance of God’s law (the Ten Commandments, e.g., John 14:15).

God the Father gave His Son. He didn’t just die “quickly,” but under unimaginable agony. The Roman crucifixion was the most gruesome thing they could devise and was reserved for the lowest of all criminals. Jesus died after only about six hours, while the norm was an unbelievable number of days. With His sacrifice and the shedding of blood, Jesus Christ paid the only prescribed price for sin: death. The Son of God was not simply a chosen one with privilege (that would be arbitrary), but everything was created by His hands. Therefore, only Jesus Christ could assume responsibility as the “responsible one and trustee” of creation, no one else.

Jesus Christ also chose to do so.

The death of Him who has existed since an undefined beginning (“I am”) was a shock to all the angels who watched in horror. They knew about the plan of salvation (once a secret of God, Revelation 10:7) only as much as He revealed to the prophets through word and writing. The heavenly messengers were just waiting for a simple sign to save Jesus from the cross and (finally) bring about the end of humanity (Matthew 26:53).

What more would it take for God to demonstrate His love? A love that is beyond our reach as mortals, and one that no one truly deserves. It is all a gift of God’s love and the grace that results from it!

Victory over the adversary

This also sealed the fate of the adversary, which had already been clearly foretold in Genesis 3:15. From then on, it was “only” a matter of proving God’s righteousness. Here, Jesus Christ again plays a central role (Info).

God’s love does not replace His justice.

No one should imagine that God places His love above His own justice. The saying “mercy before justice” would be wrong here, because God does not replace His justice, nor does He cover it up. Whoever persistently transgresses, ignores, or tramples on God’s will without a willingness to change in spirit instead of in the flesh, should not expect this to last forever. For God cast Satan and his minions out of heaven because of sin (rebellion), and He would never dream that billions of sinners would once again spread their way of life into the Kingdom of Heaven. Never!

In Greek, distinctions are indeed made between different kinds of love. The vocabulary of that time (and also in Hebrew) offered correspondingly diverse words for these. Due to the general decline of languages, today everything is simply lumped together and labeled “love.” “Agape” is the Greek word for this kind of love.

Decision and attitude

Not adoration, warm feelings, emotional bliss, trance, yearning, or sighing, but primarily a decision followed by a lasting commitment. Completely unemotional. “How unromantic!” and entirely at odds with our society’s focus on emotional actions (Info). “Use your brain? Forget it, too much effort!”

1 John 4:18-19:
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.“

Marriage – a model for a relationship with God

Marriage between a man and a woman, ordained by God for creation, is a model of relationship with God. It is characterized by deep trust, absolute fidelity, and devoted self-surrender to one’s partner. This contradicts almost everything humanity is conditioned to believe today. Humanity’s greatest (self-)enemy is its own ego and the focus on self-interest. Of course, emotions can play a role in marriage, but not exclusively. Here, too, attitude is paramount.

This is sometimes one reason why the divorce rate is so incredibly high. When the initial feeling fades, people simply look for a replacement. Anyone who, when asked why they love their partner and chose them, responds with a short list of special qualities, already has a potential problem. The right approach would actually be to explain love without basing it on physical attributes.

Genesis 2:24:
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.“

Marriage, or rather the clear separation between the two sexes, is therefore a naturally focused target of the adversary. With sad success. The motto is to permanently transgress God’s commandment, no matter which one. This applies especially to Commandment 7 (the true commandment according to Exodus 20 – Info):
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)

James 2:10:
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.“

Aim for the character of Jesus

Therefore, there is no room for debate when someone convicted of persistent adultery considers their act far less serious and deems the same punishment (eternal death) unjust compared to the crimes of a notorious murderer. Whether it’s Commandment 1 or Commandment 10, it is rebellion against the lawgiver, that is, God or Jesus Christ.

God’s infinite love for living humanity is expressed above all in the fact that He enables us, through the work of His power (through the Holy Spirit), to transform our own character so that it resembles the character of Jesus Christ even during our lifetime. “Freeing or redeeming from sin” does NOT mean a blanket, permanent forgiveness of our sins, but rather empowering us to overcome sin! This is the process of sanctification, which lasts a lifetime. Those who falter in their faith because they still have to contend with certain character flaws need “simply” trust in God’s promise, for example, Philippians 1:6:
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

This can take time, because God knows exactly what is best for each individual person and why, as well as what other factors play a role. It doesn’t matter whether one can recognize or understand this. Hindsight is always 20/20.

True (reciprocal) love for God is expressed precisely in what Jesus Christ described as the two greatest of all commandments, Luke 10:27:
“And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.“

Not a “new definition”, but Jesus quoted from the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5).

Love is shown in keeping the commandments.

In doing so, a person automatically fulfills the Ten Commandments of God. This is a logical consequence, because the law cannot make one righteous, but keeping God’s law is proof of acting in the Spirit and in accordance with God’s will. It is a decision made by the person and not something “felt” (Info).

John 14:21:
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.“

All of this has absolutely nothing to do with emotional turmoil or ecstatic feelings. God placed a thinking apparatus between humankind’s ears. This apparatus was meant to be used. The seal of God (Revelation 7) is placed on the forehead. It symbolizes the center of critical thinking, character, and attitude, which lies directly behind it, and thus also the decision made to reciprocate the love of God, who ultimately loved us first. This leads to obedience and faithfulness to God, regardless of whether a third party has a problem with it or not. Regardless of whether they even threaten serious consequences!

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)