Last week we talked about God’s wrath, today we’re going to talk about God’s love. I believe God’s love can be a more difficult topic to talk about than God’s wrath sometimes.

I’m going to throw a curveball here so to speak. Please note that I didn’t come up with the god trilemma. It was Epicurus, the Greek philosopher. Let’s try to answer this epicurean paradox (also known as the problem of evil) that has been perplexing mankind for centuries.

(1) If God cannot stop evil, then he is not all-powerful (omnipotent). 

(2) If God does not want to stop evil, then he is not all-loving (omnibenevolent).

(3) If God both wants to and can stop evil, then why does evil still exist today?

Imagine when your friend asks you this, how will you respond? Now what if he adds another equation?

(4) If God can stop evil, but he still chooses to sit back, watch and not do a thing about it, then he is malevolent. Ergo, why worship him?

I was stunned when I first came across these compelling questions. Remember, before answering any question, there’s always a hidden assumption behind it. We need to find out what it is. There could be more than one. In this case, the hidden assumption is that there is nothing good that can come out of evil. In other words, just because you can’t think of a good reason why evil and suffering happen, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one. 

By saying this, we acknowledge God’s other attribute which is all-knowing (omniscience). As humans, our knowledge, perspective, and horizon are limited. We can’t see the future but God can. Our God isn’t limited to time, space and matter. He created them all. 

How many of us only realise that those bad things that happened in our lives, turned out to be good? But we can only know this in hindsight. We simply won’t realise it during the ordeal. 

Furthermore, the essence of love, as the supreme ethic, requires the freedom of the will. This means love cannot exist without the freedom to choose. Imagine if you love someone and force that person to love you back. Is that real love? Since we have free will, we can infer that God is love.

However if we’re trying to define God’s love using reasoning alone, we’ll be using our limited perspectives and it will be incomplete. 

Since I’m a big Marvel comic fan, I will use it as an analogy. Just like in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America) wouldn’t find out anything about Stan Lee (the creator of Marvel) unless Stan Lee revealed himself in his movies (his creations). You know what? If you’re an avid fan like myself, you’d know that Stan Lee did reveal himself in his movies.

Now how has our God revealed Himself to us? It’s all in the Bible. 

Firstly, the Bible says God has revealed Himself to everyone through His creations.

“Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:19-20 NIV

Secondly, the Bible says God reveals Himself in our consciences (hearts). 

“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.” Romans 2:14–15 NIV

Thirdly, God revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. 

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” John 1:18

Fourthly, Jesus said that the Bible is a revelation of Himself. He’s not hidden in the pages of the Bible; He’s revealed. To read it and not see Him there is evidence of a closed heart towards God. It shows a willful blindness.

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me” John 5:39 NIV

What is God’s love?

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

The word love is presented using 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, emphasising qualities such as patience, kindness, humility, and selflessness. The Bible says that God is love. 

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8

Love is one of God’s characters. His other characters are holy, just, and righteous. Everything that He does is out of His perfect love. Thus, love is a quality that does not belong to God alone but is communicated to His creatures. God is love and love is of God, and all who love (Agape love) is born of God. We are called to love one another. It is our goal to imitate God’s love in our lives. Especially since we’ve received His love first then we can love others through the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

So what proves God’s love?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NIV

God’s ultimate love is shown through John 3:16 and Romans 5:8, through God’s sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ on the cross for our salvation. 

Jesus Christ’s death on the cross means that He died in our place. Because of our sins, we deserve to endure God’s wrath (like what we already discussed last week). We’re the ones who deserve it. Christ took that judgement for our sins on Himself on the cross. He suffered and died in our place. Then we should take that act as evidence of God’s great love for us, especially since God initiated it first. Jesus died in our place before we’d ever done anything to deserve that love. In the end, to know how much you love something, it comes down to the price you’re willing to pay for it.

God proved His love for us. That makes Him worth trusting and loving. Let God’s ultimate love be the foundation of our lives. 

Now what do you do?

Pray, ask God for guidance and allow Him to transform your character by the power of the Holy Spirit. It will be an ongoing commitment to love one another. There will be times when you just can’t do it on your own, that’s why you have to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to empower us to love one another when it is very difficult to do so. This will make you able to love other people continuously. 

Prayer:

Our Father, thank you for your revelation through your Word. Now that we know what love really means. Thank you for your love. We pray that we will love another continuously by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for sending us your only Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross save us and redeem us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.