Soli Deo Gloria: For the Glory of God Alone The Love of God

Posted: Thursday, July 21, 2011 9:07 pm

By WALLY BUMPAS
Special to The Messenger
The Bible says, twice in 1 John, that “God is love.” This might be the most profound thing Scripture says, period. But what does it mean? In that same New Testament book, a plain and direct definition of love is given. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NIV).
In the next article, we will consider God’s love for sinful people as seen in the sending of His Son, but first we need to consider something more basic. Where does love come from? Why is there such a thing as love in the world? Who “invented” love? These may seem like way out there questions that have little or nothing to do with the real world. Not so!
Again, the Bible says God is love. This means of course that God has always been love. This was true of God before creation. God didn’t become loving after He created people to love. He has always been love. What are the implications of this?
Though the following insights are in the Bible, I am indebted to two modern writers (one living and one dead) for their keen observations. The living one is Timothy Keller and the dead one is C.S. Lewis. Both are recommended as able defenders and helpful explainers of Christianity, especially for modern skeptical people.
At the beginning of the gospel of Mark, we see Jesus being baptized by John in the Jordan River. “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven opened and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are My beloved Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.’” (Mark 1:9-11). Here we see all three persons of the Trinity at one time and are reminded that although God is one God, He exists in three persons, and always has.
When Jesus comes up out of the water, God the Father envelops Him with words of love. Meanwhile, the Spirit is equipping Him with power for what lies ahead. This is a picture of what has always been happening in the interior life of the Trinity. Mark is giving us a glimpse into the very heart of reality, the meaning of life, and yes, the origin of love.
In the gospel of John, chapters 15 and 16, we find a sort of job description for God the Holy Spirit: to glorify and turn our attention to God the Son. In John 17 Jesus prays and says, “Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory that I had with You before the world began” (John 17:4-5). According to the Bible, the three persons of the Trinity love and glorify one another.
In the words of C.S. Lewis, “In Christianity God is not a static thing … but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.” No person in the Trinity insists that the others revolve around Him. Rather, each of them voluntarily circles and orbits around the others. From all eternity, God has existed as a community of persons knowing and loving and glorifying one another.
Timothy Keller offers this insight: “If this is ultimate reality, if this is what the God who made the universe is like, then this truth bristles with life-shaping, glorious implications for us. If this world was made by a triune God, relationships of love are what life is really about.”
So why did God create us? It wasn’t because He was lonely! It wasn’t because He needed our love. There’s only one answer. He created us not to get love but to give it. Not to get joy but to give joy. He created us to invite us into the “dance.”
But sin and the fall wrecked everything. That’s why our definition of God’s love now must include the work of a Redeemer. We will open up that definition in the next article.
Editor’s note: Wally Bumpas serves as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Dyersburg.

Published in The Messenger 7.21.11