Category: Attributes of God

As much as we write about it, talk about it and claim to build our lives around it, true love is a rare commodity. But the real thing stands out. True love draws a crowd. 

What does true love look like? Many consider these verses written to the church in Corinth to be the Apostle Paul’s greatest literary work: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a). We are instinctively drawn to and desire such a love. It is the love that we innately know is somehow, “out there,” even if we have never experienced it. Couples often choose to have this passage read in their wedding ceremony as a sincere aspiration for what they truly desire their love to be for one another. As glorious as Paul’s writing is, his goal was not to definitively describe love. His words are more of a description of a boundless love displayed. More accurately, he was defining attributes of the heart of God. 

I wonder if there are moments when we find it easier to believe that God exists than that God loves us personally?  And yet Paul’s words are, all at once this tender, compassionate, gentle, extraordinary, explosive, revolutionary symphony of Christ’s love for us. This “furious love of God” (to quote G.K. Chesterton) knows no shadow of alteration or change. 

• God is and will always be patient with you. 
• He has and will always champion and believe the very best of you. 
• He has and will never lose hope in you.
• His love has and will always seek to defend and protect you.
• His is a love that has and will always faithfully endure all things with you. Through all of life’s challenges, His love has not once left your side and He never will. 
• His is a love that is never too proud to forgive you.
• His is a love that is not too proud to pursue you when your intellect denies it and your emotions refuse it.
• God loves you without condition or reservation.
• God loves you this very moment, just as you are and not as you “should be.” 

Of such a love, Brennan Manning wrote, “Jesus says: ‘Acknowledge and accept who I want to be for you: a Savior of boundless compassion, infinite patience, unbearable forgiveness, and love that keeps no score of wrongs.’” 

We so often hear the phrase “love is a decision” or “you have to choose to love.” Do we perhaps find ourselves nodding in agreement with this exhortation because we fear that love is, after all, just a feeling —and therefore prone to contrary equivocation and recalcitrant volatility ? I am grateful to John Piper for pointing out that many (if not all) of the things that Paul lists are not really ours to choose. Paul tells us love “…is not arrogant.” That is not a choice but an attitude of the soul. Similarly, to “bear all things, hope all things, endure all things” is again much more about the capacity of my soul. If it is the kind of decision that I must make, miserably and begrudgingly, is that really love at all? Paul is, by inference, showing us that love is so much deeper than our day-to-day choices. 

The central motif in the movie “The Moulin Rouge” is “the greatest thing is to love and be loved in return.” Jesus would personally agree with this. For us, however, He has mercifully reversed the order. The greatest thing is that we are loved by God and only then, out of His unconditional love, do we find the right conditions within us to begin to love one another as He has loved us. This means that we will fail to love as God loves us if we attempt to tackle true love head on. Instead, Jesus would first have us receive and define ourselves as radically loved by God. Manning wrote, “The wild, unrestricted love of God is not simply an inspiring idea. When it permeates mind and hearts it determines why and at what time you get up in the morning, how you pass your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, and who you spend time with, it affects what breaks your heart, what amazes you, and what makes your heart truly happy.” In other words, only when we rest upon the unconditional love of God do we find the in-born means for His love to flow through us to others. 

How can we be sure that we can rely upon Jesus to do this kind of work within us? How do I know that I am not better off left to my own devices? Paul’s words on what love is and isn’t, as beautiful as they are, are not a full definition of love. He leaves that for Jesus. Jesus defined the pinnacle of love with these words: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.’ (John 15:3). Jesus was, of course, speaking of His own death. His sacrifice on the Cross is the ultimate expression of His self-giving love for all humanity. “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) His love is, therefore, patience to the point of sacrifice. His love is kindness to the point of sacrifice. His love protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres, all to the point of sacrifice. 

Paul also penned, “…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3: 17b-19). In other words, we could no more easily contain Niagara Falls in a tea cup than we can comprehend the vast and uncontainable love of God for us. Rather, Jesus would have us stand anew each day before Him and, with the titan tumbling torrent of Niagara Falls in our mind’s eye, pray: “Lord, be like that, through me!”

In the Summer of 2018, I conducted a number of adult baptisms at a nearby beach. Whether it was late afternoon, when the sun casts long shadows on the sand (and everyone promised me the water would be warmer!), or very early in the morning with the sun having taken its place in the east, we gathered at the shoreline and prayed together. Each baptism was unique, yet I could not help but notice that on each occasion, as we battled to make ourselves heard above the wind and the sound of the waves breaking, there was always a moment when a particular stillness broke over us, a very distinct peace that completely shielded and enfolded us. Of course, it could have been a timely coincidence and yet, by the end of the summer, I came to each baptism with the anticipation that at some point we would encounter this sense of being enfolded in His presence. I was never disappointed. 

Isaiah 41:10 gives us a picture of what I believe we encountered at the water’s edge. The Lord reassures us, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

These words of reassurance actually begin with two commandments. The first is “fear not.” The second is “be not dismayed,” and the New American Standard Bible captures it this way: “Do not anxiously look about you.” To these commands God adds five footholds, five promises that undergird His encouragement not to fear or look anxiously about us. Within just this one verse, Isaiah 42:10, God promises:   

1. I am your God.
2. I am with you.
3. I will strengthen you.
4. I will help you.
5. I will uphold you.

God expresses these promises in five different relations to us, through five different prepositions: 

1. I am your God — over you.
2. I am with you — by your side.
3. I will strengthen you — from deep within you.
4. I will help you — all around you, from wherever the enemy comes at you. 
5. I will uphold you — from underneath you.

David knew these “enfolding” promises when he wrote: “You [Lord] hem me in, behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” (Psalm 139:5).

These same promises of being enfolded in God are reflected in the Prayer known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate and the hymn often sung on Trinity Sunday in Anglican Churches:

Christ, be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit,
Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today – through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity…

This is a powerful prayer, set upon the foundation of God’s true and certain promise to enfold us in His presence, peace and protection. Here is where our experience at the water’s edge is explained. I am reminded, however, that I am invited to daily “bind unto myself” these promises, to enter into each day in anticipation of being enfolded in His love. 

So this day, come in out of the storm (if that is the kind of day or week you are having), take a deep breath, be still and know that He is your God —over you, He is with you — by your side, He will strengthen you — from deep within you, He will help you — all around you from wherever the enemy comes at you, and He will uphold you — to be point of carrying you. 

Between the 5^thand 10^thcenturies, in a period historically identified as the “Dark Ages,” the Celtic Christians are an inspiring movement. Their passion to make the love of Jesus known awakened large parts of Europe. To Ireland, during the second half of the fifth century, came St. Patrick. At the end of the 6th century, Pope Gregory I sent a mission under St Augustine to “convert the Anglo-Saxons” and they duly arrived in Wales. 

The Celtic Christians understood that our very human propensity to settle for what is comfortable or familiar has the capacity to limit both our experience of God’s love and inhibit the reach of God’s love. They had an intriguing name for the Holy Spirit; they called Him, “An Geadh-Glas” (or “The Wild Goose”). In their understanding, the Holy Spirit, as well as being the great comforter was also willing to disturb the status quo in order that we might go deeper and wider in God’s love.  

The Celtic Christians lived out their faith by embracing this understanding. Often, when they set out on pilgrimage, they would get into a small boat called a coracle, hoist the sail, pull up the rudder, and go where God took them by way of the wind. Jesus told us, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8). 

I am not suggesting that we all go out and buy a boat and adopt this as an outreach strategy (although 5 River Road is conveniently close to the Mianus River and Cos Cob Harbour). But I do think that the Celtic understanding of the passion and purpose of the Holy Spirit – His great desire that the messianic agenda be advanced through us and in us – is worth holding on to. 

The Celtic Christians knew that “The Wild Goose” could not be tamed – that in the Holy Spirit there is the fullness of God’s life, radical generosity, amazing grace, the capacity to soar to new heights, more joy, more freedom, and even the welcome air of adventure and unpredictability. 

Could the Celtic Christians have ever imagined what their willingness to follow “The Wild Goose” would achieve? Centuries after the Celts had landed, in the year 1620, a band of pilgrims boarded a vessel and left the Isle of the Anglo-Saxons from a small town called Plymouth and crossed the Atlantic to a new shore. They went forth with the same leading of “The Wild Goose” and the world would be changed forever. 

Our calling is no less. You and I were made to fly – to spread our wings and let the thermals of the Holy Spirit lift us higher and higher into the reaches of the Father’s love. We were made to feel the wind of God’s Spirit on our backs and the breath of God’s Spirit on our faces. “The Wild Goose” will always seek to mess up our hair and make our eyes wet with His tears. God is not calling us to be adventurous for the sake of being adventurous. “The Wild Goose” is leading us in the proclamation and hands-on delivery of the Gospel. Pain and poverty, disability and debt, injury and injustice have no place in the restored creation. The Holy Spirit is actively working against them now and He invites us to climb into our coracle, shake off the familiar and religion that is comfortable, and join with Him. 

The Song of Solomon (also known as the Song of Songs) is, according to tradition, King Solomon’s celebrated exploration of the passionate and intimate nature of love. Jewish rabbis and Christian theologians have interpreted the love poem throughout the centuries as an allegory of the love between God and humanity. The poem asks an intriguing question: “Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?” (Song of Solomon 8:5a). The single thing about this person that defines her is her posture toward someone she holds very dear. Interpreted allegorically, this is a song celebrating the love of God for Israel and a picture of Jesus’ love for the Church, in addition to the passion shared between a man and a woman in marriage. It has also been interpreted as a picture of our personal communion with God, and when seen in this way, we can ask: Do we recognize ourselves coming up from the wilderness? What would we find if we leaned upon God in this way, and how would we do that? 

To lean upon the beloved would be to discover a love that is tender and merciful. It takes a profound work of God to accept that God is relentlessly compassionate toward us. The Father’s nature is to show compassion. The heart of the Father is defined as being tender toward us, such as in the song of Zechariah: “Because of the tender mercy of our God, the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79) 

How do we find and lean into this tenderness? Is a generous act or kind word given to you the tenderness of God in your life, or is it just a nice coincidence? Maybe you feel you don’t deserve any tenderness, so God could not be the source of these good gifts. God knows that we may choose to explain away His tenderness in our day to day lives. John Shea wrote, “There are signs of His presence. People find them in the ordinary and in the extraordinary. They are open to argument and refutation but their impact on the ones who receive them can only be welcomed.” We should allow our hearts to be honest about the impact these good gifts, small signs of God’s kindness, have on us. The encouragement found in the allegory of the Song of Songs is to look for the lover of your soul through the lens of His tender mercy toward you. 

We would also find ourselves leaning upon a love that is fierce and jealous. Leaning upon her beloved, she says, “…for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave.” (Song of Solomon 8:6b). This jealousy is not the “green-eyed monster” variety, a jealousy that is paranoid and mistrusting. This jealousy is the quality of possessiveness in love that we are supposed to have. Professor Greg Garrett wrote, “Those who passionately love are passionately possessive… exclusivity is not of itself corrupt or oppressive… the term jealousy (in this sense) refers to a proper possessiveness in the setting of a wholesome relationship. Rightly experienced by healthy souls this exclusivity is part of the glory of love and further indicates the seriousness of entering into this relationship.” 

That should not surprise us. The same fierce love that would come running over the mountain and the seas, the same fierce love that would wrap itself around us in the very eye of the storm is the same fierce love that sent Jesus to the Cross. He loves us with a passionate, exclusive commitment, and He would have us meet His love with a passionate, exclusive commitment to Him. How do we lean upon His fierce and jealous love? We could begin by asking Him, “Lord, what is standing in the way of my exclusive surrender to you?” Then ask for the strength to put whatever that is down. 

Finally, we would encounter a love that is permanent and unquenchable. The song continues, “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm” (Song of Solomon 8:6a). The writer is pointing us to a mutual possession that is permanent. The seal that is described here is upon your heart (a deep and inward sealing) and upon your arm (a seal that is public and external). The poem provides two other images given to the permanence of God’s love: “Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.” (Song of Solomon 8:6c-7a). Here are two opposing elements: fire and water. Who wins when fire and water go up against each other? If there is enough water, the water will always win. But here the fire wins because it is no ordinary fire — it is the flame of the Lord. There is only one express mention of the Lord in Song of Solomon, and this is it. 

The “flame of the Lord” is a powerful image because it takes us to two extraordinary times in Israel’s journey with the Lord. First, there was Moses before the burning bush — a fire that was unquenchable [Exodus 3:2-6]. Then there was the parting of the Red Sea — millions of gallons of water were held back while the people of God made good their escape, and the water did not extinguish the pillar of fire that led the way, giving them light by night [Exodus 13:21-22]. The Cross is the supreme symbol of the tender and merciful, fierce and jealous, permanent and unquenchable love of Jesus Christ, the love that is above all loves. The Cross is the absolute reassurance that the allegory in the Song of Songs is undeniably trustworthy: God truly is the lover of our souls.

Now let us be sure to lean on that reality with all our heart.

When our daughters were little, Elena and I learned the “Videotape Principle.” This is the principle by which, if we were to describe a set of events to the girls (such as “we are going to have breakfast, go to the park and then buy an ice cream cone”) in their imagination, these events had already taken place and in precisely that order. It was as if they had already played the videotape of their day, complete with the brand of cereal they ate for breakfast, the games they played at the park and their favorite flavor of ice cream dripping down the cone. If we deviated from the tape – if we messed with their preferred future, they let us know! 

Even though VHS tape is now consigned to a previous century, the principle is very much alive and, I confess, still functioning in my own heart. I once passed on a small, private dinner party with Meryl Streep! We had not long been in the U.S. and finding a grocery store was enough adventure for me. The idea of traveling into New York City to meet a Hollywood icon was not in my plans. Plus, I was sure that I would say the wrong thing to her if I did go, so much to my regret, I passed up the opportunity, because, frankly, it was not on my internal videotape!

I think we are creatures of habit. We warm to the comfort and familiarity that comes with amiable predictability. And so, Mary Shelley (the author who brought us the character of Frankenstein) could write, “Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” Yet even in a sea of change, when nothing in our internal video plays out the way we thought it would, we can hold fast to the constancy of God’s love. Let me offer us three perspectives: 

1. God never changes.There is One who never changes, One who stays the same. We are assured of this in Scripture: “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed,” (Malachi 3:6) and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Doctrinally, this is referred to as the immutability of God. Our God is unchanging in His character, His will and His covenant promises. God’s immutability also defines all of God’s attributes. All His responses are rooted in a consistent character of love, mercy, wisdom and righteousness. 

2. God’s Word never changes.Because God never changes, His Word never changes. All that He has said about Himself remains true forever. Everything He has told us about creation, about the fall and what’s wrong with the world, as well as the initiative that He has taken to save and redeem us will never change. No matter what anyone might say to the contrary, no matter who seeks to deny or defy God’s Word, it is and will always be immutably fixed. The Psalmist declared, “Forever, O LORD, Your Word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” (Psalm 119:89). Jesus reassured His disciples of this, saying “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35).

And because His word never changes, His promises over our lives remain constant and true. Here are just a handful of immutable promises that we can lay hold of in a world of constant change.  

• For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

• And I am sure of this, that Me who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

• “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

3. God is always with us and for us. He would have you take confidence inthese immutable promises: 

• “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:8) 

• “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) 

• “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) 

The Lord is not only with us but His promise is to guide us. Of the Lord, the Psalmist wrote, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” (Psalm 32:8). Solomon assured us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

When I was in seminary, I recall a day when my internal videotape was locked, loaded and ready to play. I had, I thought, just enough time to attend all my lectures and meet numerous essay deadlines. I had it all mapped out. And then I learned that I had been listed to assist at a local homeless shelter in the afternoon. I spent the worship time in Chapel that morning fretting about how this new event in my day was not on my videotape! I recall a friend leaning over and saying quietly in my ear, “Hey, Drew, you seem a little anxious. I have been praying for you. I believe the Lord is saying to you, just put up your sail, Drew, and let the wind of My Spirit empower and lead you through your day.” It was a simple image, but it completely transformed my outlook. Rather than my day feeling absurdly busy, it felt full of promise, opportunity and blessing. 

It was a lesson I call to mind often. I can choose to be overwhelmed by change, however big or small it may seem, however fleeting or long-lasting it appears, or I can choose to put up my sail and allow the Holy Spirit to propel me across the waters of my day. It might not be the videotape that I had anticipated, but I have found that it is always a much better movie when I let Him direct me!