We believe that our good God, by his marvelous wisdom and goodness, seeing that we had made ourselves completely miserable (even to the point of plunging ourselves into a downward spiral of physical and spiritual death), set out to find us, even though we, trembling all over, were fleeing from God (Belgic Confession, Article 17, my translation).
I love the phrase, "trembling all over... fleeing from God." It makes me think of Adam and Eve hiding from God after sin alienated their hearts from God. Too often, I think, people have been taught or have somehow “learned” from cultural images of “the Deity” that God came looking for Adam and Eve in order to take them back behind the woodshed. But there's nothing in the Gen 3 story that implies an angry or harsh tone of voice when God says, "Where are you?" We—yes, you and I—are the ones who picture God as being red-hot with a desire to exact revenge, when, in fact, everything in the story would indicate otherwise. God's words – even God's judgment – his "because-you-have-done-this" words – those words are spoken with grace and tenderness.
God is not yelling but weeping.
Even after sin God comes looking for Adam and Eve; deeply grieved; even experiencing loss, perhaps? Yes, God is heartbroken. Picture in your mind, perhaps, the woodcarver Geppetto and his love for Pinocchio. Or the great Lion Aslan in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” giving his life freely to save the life of undeserving Edmund. There is no dark, inscrutable, or foreboding God. No, the face of God is the face of Jesus Christ on the cross saying, "Father, forgive them." God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 103:8).
So how do we love God "perfectly"? We love God perfectly when we open our hearts to Love… to God’s steadfast, loyal love for you… to God’s undying love for the whole cosmos… to Jesus’ love for you… "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man gives up his life for his friends."
God does not merely want our assent or agreement, not merely our belief in doctrines about God, about Jesus. No, God wants us to be in love with him. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Dwell in my love.”
Christ doesn’t want us to believe with our heads only -- intellectual assent without a passionate, fiery, white-hot LOVE of God is more distasteful to God than no assent at all: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” Revelation 3:15-16).
To love God is to be passionate about the things God is passionate about. To love God is to acknowledge and accept God’s love-to-the-uttermost tenderhearted, compassionate, patient and kind and overflowing love. To love God is to simply respond in kind to what you have been taught since you were old enough to walk and talk: Jesus loves me, this I know!
When we open our hearts to God’s love we find ourselves, by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, becoming more and more perfectly in love with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment