The God Of Love

Good morning, everyone.
Today's lesson gives us a beautiful description of God: “the God of love and peace.”
Paul doesn't merely say that God shows love or gives peace. He calls Him the God of love.

Throughout his letters, Paul speaks of the God of hope, the God of peace, the God of endurance and encouragement, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.
These aren't simply things God occasionally gives us. They reveal something about who God is.

Then, only three verses later, Paul closes with the Trinitarian blessing:
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

We believe in one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—eternally existing in relationship.
And that gives us something profound to consider:
If God is love, then love isn't something God started doing after He created us. Love belongs to God's eternal character.

But now let's wrestle with what that means.

I'm already uncomfortable.
If God is love, why does the Bible contain so much judgment, wrath, destruction and punishment?
If I described a human being that way, I wouldn't immediately call him loving.

Biblical love doesn't mean simply being nice.
Love can confront evil. Love can establish boundaries. Love can protect the innocent. Sometimes love must say no to what destroys people.

So judgment isn't automatically the opposite of love.
The harder question is whether our understanding and practice of judgment actually reflects God's character.

So God can judge someone and still love them?

Absolutely.
If I love someone, I don't prove my love by pretending everything they do is harmless.
God's love isn't sentimental. It is morally serious.

But here's my problem.
Christians sometimes say, “I'm only defending truth.”
Then someone gets hurt, excluded, and walks away from church feeling that Christians have no love.
At what point does defending truth become an excuse for being unloving?

That's where we have to examine ourselves.
Truth and love aren't enemies.
But truth can be used without love.
And when that happens, something has gone seriously wrong.

I've seen that.
People can be extremely careful about doctrine and extremely careless about people. They can identify everybody else's error but never notice what their own behavior is doing.

And that's one of today's uncomfortable implications.
If we worship the God of love, then eventually His character should become visible in the way we treat people.

But are you saying that if someone doesn't feel loved by me, then my theology must be wrong?

Not necessarily.
People can reject truth even when it is presented lovingly. Jesus Himself was rejected.
But neither can we hide behind “truth” when our attitude and behavior contradict the character of Christ.
That's the balance.

Then why do we need the Trinity to understand “God is love”?
Couldn't God simply be one God who loves His creation?

We can certainly say that God loves His creation. But the Trinitarian understanding takes us deeper.
If God is eternally Father, Son and Holy Spirit, then love and relationship aren't things God invented when He created the universe.
They belong to God's eternal existence.
God didn't need creation in order to become loving. God is love before creation ever existed.

If God exists eternally in a relationship of love, and He calls us to reflect that love, why are Christians sometimes so divided?

That's the question we should take home.
Paul doesn't merely say, “Believe that God is love.” He says, “Live in peace.”
The doctrine has a destination.
It is supposed to become a way of life.

Then perhaps the real test isn't whether I can explain the Trinity.
Perhaps it's whether someone can actually experience something of Christ when they encounter me.

Exactly.
We can defend the God of love with our mouths while contradicting Him with our lives.

So perhaps today's lesson leaves us with one uncomfortable question:
When people encounter me, do they merely hear that I belong to Christ—or do they actually experience something of Christ?