Week 2: The Character of God
Welcome Back!
It’s been said that your character is who you are in private…you know how you act, think, etc. when no one is looking. And I’ve been thinking that our character is very connected to our nature. Now MY nature is corrupted, sinful and in great need of a Savior! Now why do I say this? Well, as a Christian, I look to God’s revelation to determine the reality of my condition. And God’s revelation is His Word, which says that I am “corrupt” (Psalm 14:1). So it shouldn’t surprise me when I act according to my nature. This actually makes sense and explains so much about why I do what I do! But that same revelation (i.e. God’s Word) tells me about God’s character. And the line of thinking in the sermon is that John’s Epistle (specifically: 1 John 4:8-9) says that God is love. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 describes the characteristics of God’s love. So putting John’s and Paul’s passages together, you come to a picture of God that is beautiful and I argue very, very attractive. This love….is what we long for!
Q: So what are some of the common understandings of “love” today? How do they compare to 1 Corinthians?
Q: Why is it that we are so eager to “settle” for “less” than what the bible describes as love?
Q: How do you experience God’s love in your life?
Q: what do you do to pursue His love in your life?
See you next week when we’ll talk about: “The Purpose of God”
I love music for it’s ability to bypass the mind and go straight to the heart. So, to answer questions 1 and 2, a couple of songs come to mind where we get the common understanding of “love” today. The words to these songs are powerful. I remember growing up listening to many songs that “gave love a “bad name,” courtesy of Bon Jovi. At the time, I saturated my mind with these songs and the message that they bring really has more infuence than I originally thought. Don’t be decieved, what you pay attention to grows! Growing up and in my early adulthood, I went to church on Sunday (sometimes), sang hymns, but all week long listened to a message that basically drown out the message of Sunday morning’s worship time. Powerful grip it had! That being said, I think this is why love is falsely understood today in our culture.
The common understanding of “love” today is interpreted by how we “feel” rather than a decision to commit. Take for example, “You’ve lost that loving feeling, now it’s gone;” “And now you’re starting to criticize little things I do.” Well, God says love is not proud, rude, nor does it keep record of wrongs. I’ve recieved and given criticsm, which I’m not pleased to admit, but it’s true. It’s not a good attitude…unable to see my own faults for what they are and projecting them onto someone else. Not being able to admit when I was wrong. Being proud, competitive, in an unhealthy way. Not running the “race” for the sheer pleasure of accomplishing the goal, but competeing as in, “in order for me to feel good about myself, I need to one up you.” In essence, didn’t even the disciples do that the night of the last supper? What’s that about?…the oldest sin in the Book, pride. Call it for what it is. “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.” “When we confess our sins, God forgives us and cleanses us of all unrighteousness.”
Do I hate my own sin as much as God does? I think back to David in the Psalms, pouring out his heart, loose translation, “whatever you do God, take everything else I have, but don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me, restore me!” So, the more I seek God, the closer I also come to seeing my sins? Ouch, that can be brutal, it causes suffering. It’s that collision where sin meets holiness. Think of the love of Christ, poured out for us on the cross. Being fully man and fully God, he met that collision in the Garden of Gethsemene. Yet, He is commited to His love for us, so much so that He suffered and perservered. He knew the joy set before Him. Think of your worst day ever, or maybe it’s a season of agony where everything is going wrong, you so badly want to pull it together, but just can’t. It was pretty amazing to me the moment it became real to me that there is nothing I will ever go through that Jesus can not sympathize or empathize with. Wow, that’s love! I’m sure thankful that Jesus did not lose that loving “feeling!!”
Another silent but deadly understanding of love today, worship of self and/or others. Going back to the tune, “Lost that Loving Feeling”…..”Baby, baby, I’d get down on my knees for you.” I really don’t think what he is saying here is, “darling, I love you so much that I’ll get down on my knees and pray for you, because I notice you’re really struggling, and only God can help you, I entrust you into His hands.” This makes me think of the first commandment, that “you shall have no other gods before me.” Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, acknowledging Him in everything that you do and He will direct your path. God says that True Love always protects, always perserveres, always hopes for the best. His plans are good, to give us hope and a future, not to harm us. So, why have I bowed my knee to “baby, baby?” before knowing Christ? I think that answers the question right there, “knowing Christ.” Knowing Him is a process, which I will pursue for all of eternity. When I didn’t know Him and inclined my ear to the tune of this world, all I could hear were the messages that said I am not loveable if I am not accepted by others. I am not loveable if the man I love walks out on me, being rejected leaves a sting. Or does it? Can I say, this may sound strange, but that I am thankful that God loves me so much that He would put me through the agony of having everything that I perceived as love stripped away from me, until I reached a point of having no where else to turn, except to Him. How sad is that? It took such an extreme process to seek Him with all my heart, mind, and soul….really, still, no where else to turn? He was last on my list? Wretched woman that I am, but Jesus saved me from this body of death and everywhere spreads the knowledge of Him. Was it worth it? Every minute! When a mother gives birth, the contractions are painful, but once she sees the child, all she sees is love, and the pain is remembered no more.
Great connection with music. You know, as I was reading this, it reminded me of my own love and history in music. Clearly there is something powerful in music. And clearly this is why the enemy has corrupted it so. God actually invented music….maybe for the reason you suggest…..because it can move us really like nothing else. And it is supposed to move us to glorify Him. I believe and look forward to the day when all the music that I make and enjoy will be purely for His glory…and there will be no shred of corruption in it. Thanks again for thinking and seeking.
Yes indeed! I think that every time we praise Him for His glorious works, (of course nothing here will compare to heaven, but bear with me) in essence we are standing around His thrown, singing, “Holy Holy Holy, is the LORD Gold Almighty”…His kindgom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
Funny how your textual comment about “Holy Holy Holy” made several tunes jump right into my head. I wonder why it is we hold on to tunes so easily and the lyrics, they just kind of fade as time passes. I have to keep myself in check here because If i think about it without proper context.. it gives me the impression that heaven consists of a thrown by which we are all gathered round, singing dusty hymnals throughout the sands of eternity. Nothing wrong with hymns.. but every tune get’s old. I’m suddenly glad that the lyrics hold the true meaning and it’s the tune that often needs to fade from my dusty mind.