The most fascinating thing in this life, for me, is love. From the way every fibre of my being springs to attention, when it comes to love, I am forced to say that my very being hears and understands love. I tell you, I have noticed my heart beat change at the thought of love. I had always wondered about what made love make such a strong impression on me. Then one day, I heard a statement that would change my life forever. That was, “God is love.” Little wonder! This was and still is my greatest discovery in life.
The Bible says God is love. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1John4:8, NIV)
For me, this is the most profound statement ever made about God. It says He is love. God is the ultimate expression of love. He is the reality of love. And if the God of all creation is love, it means that love permeates His creation. For every creation shares something with its creator. A look at His creation and you will notice that everything points to His immense love. The sun gives light to the earth and never hoards it. The plants don’t feast on their own fruits; they are food for humans and animals. Take a look at the rose flower. It gives off its sweet aroma to the air around it until when there’s nothing left, then it gives of itself, dies and falls to the ground. This is the selfless nature of love.
In Exodus 34: 6-7, God, Who Himself is love, gave the man of God, Moses, an insight into His Being. He told Moses that He was going to announce Himself to him. The Bible says, “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
“maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (NIV)
What a proclamation! Compassionate. Gracious. Slow to anger. Abundant love. Faithfulness. Maintaining love to thousands. Forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. I wish it had stopped here. But here comes the other part: never leaves the guilty go unpunished; generational punishment.
My question was, how could God, Who Himself is love unleash such punishment? But as I studied the Bible, it became crystal clear to me. God had already punished all the sins of the world on His Son, Jesus, to meet the requirements of His perfect justice. So now humanity can receive forgiveness from sins committed and freedom from the propensity to sin. This great blessing is because God is love.
God is love!