This post was spawned because of two posts relating to the Love of God. The first was a picture taken of the 3rd verse of “Jesus loves me”, which goes like so,

Several people posted that this is bad theology or that they really didn’t like it. Because God is love, right?

The Next post was a music video by Gungor called “God is not a white man”

I listened to the song and half of the song is right. But as the saying goes, “half of the truth is often a great lie.” – Benjamin Franklin.

I believe one of the greatest problems today is the misconception of how God says he feels. Yes, how he says he feels. Now all of the, “God is immutable, unchanging and wholly unknowable” school students are throwing a fit. You know whom I’m talking to. Hear me out.

For all of the bible students, critics and scoffers, for your benefit I will not be using book, chapter or verses. I know we can’t even agree on what words mean or which version of the bible to use. I will use the vernacular of the bible and just say it is written. If you want to find a passage search it out using that fancy iProduct or computing machine that you are reading this on.

Let’s start with verse 3 of “Jesus loves me.”

The truth we must walk away with in the song, as a whole is that Jesus loves me. The problem is we assume that when someone “loves” us we are in fact pleasing or as the bible generally says delighting or giving them pleasure. This is not always the case.

I want to say that I know as an ”evil father” that it is quite possible to love your child and not be overly thrilled with said child at precisely the same time. My modis operandi towards my child is love. My default is true goodwill towards them.

For example, Solomon was ”greatly loved by the lord” and also “stirred the anger of the lord” on several accounts in some of the same incidents.

Just because God loves me does not mean that he is enjoying what I am doing. My actions good or bad do not change his goodwill towards me. If I do good he loves me. If I do wrong he loves me. But the out working of that love will be different just as is God’s feeling about what we are doing.

We can make someone who loves us very sad, I know this through ample experience, having disappointed many of those whose heart towards me is goodwill.

It must be stated, “I make Jesus sad and I make him mad”. I am a fickle follower. I stray, my hands leave the plow, and my eyes as well as heart chase after other fleeting fancies. Though I disappoint him his love does not change. But, all of this said, Jesus loves me.

I don’t know how many times I can say it, read the WHOLE BIBLE!!! Not just the part that make you feel warm and fuzzy. The first collection of books in the bible are some of the most important they teach us about the emotional God, the God who is kind of like a man, but wholly other than. He says he is not like us, which is true; we are the broken cast from the perfect mold of the godhead.

In the later collection of books we see the emotional God who IS a man, a male Jewish, human.

If we want to see the immutable, stoic, untouchable God don’t look at Jesus. He is born of blood and water in the filth of a dirty barn. He is moved by compassion, he is moved by love (goodwill)

Next, in rebuttal to the “God is not a white man” song. Jesus is God and Jesus is a man. God is a Jewish man in Jesus.

It is written, “God is love.” But It is also written, “God was angry.” God is love but love is not god.

Yes, God loves the terrorist, the lesbian, the Buddhist, and the prostitute. But, the question is does he delight in them? Does he truly enjoy them?

God loves the one living in sin. God does not enjoy the one living sin. Those who willingly oppose what God call what is right and who willingly chooses what God call wrong. He is not afraid to call a spade a spade. He makes what is right plain and clear throughout the bible and if that is unavailable, we are given a conscience. If you or someone you know has ever been treated poorly and you felt a sting, you know what wrong is.

So, with this stream of consciousness rant coming to a close I will leave you with this.

Jesus loves me and when I follow him he is happy and when I don’t he is sad, but he loves me. His heart is always open for business.

I want the fruit of my love for him to be my obedience to him, so he is happy.

I will inevitably fail in my resolution, fall and this makes Jesus sad. But, I regret my decision, change my heart and head and will turn my eyes back to Jesus and see him running to me with open arms and smiling eyes.

“Grace will find us where we are, but is not willing to leave us where were.”

np

Advertisement