Integrating Motif: The Relational Love of God
God does not merely love; He is love (1 John 4:8). His greatest commands to us are to love; to love God, ourselves, and our neighbors (Matt 22:37-40). Jesus didn’t say, “the greatest commandment is intellectual ascent to the fact that God is Holy, or Righteous, or Sovereign, or…” The greatest commandment is love and it is a type of love that results in trust and obedience.
I am drawn to the ideas of love, the Gospel (Good News) and the Kingdom of God. They are all clearly laid out in the New Testament and particularly in the Gospels; but I also find them throughout the Old Testament. I see the Kingdom of God beginning in the garden. God created the world out of His love and desired that Adam and Eve expand the Garden by working God’s creation and being fruitful. The same is true of the nation of Israel; they were blessed to be a blessing.
When I think of the Gospel and the Kingdom, I connect them with relationality or union with God. The Kingdom of God is the Dome in which God is King. It is Good News whenever that Dome is expanding – when more people are in relationship with God, walking with Him and following Him (Matt 4:19). It is Good News that Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins but the Gospel is so much more then satisfactory atonement. However, even union with God seems to have a higher purpose. Ultimately, God desires a relationship with us because He loves us (1 John 4:9-10). The integrating motif that I am committed to is love. It is a relational love that results in Good News by the expansion of the Kingdom of God (Rev 1:5b-7).
The Ultimate purpose of God is to Love (John 3:16, Rom 5:8). It goes beyond just His purpose; it is His very essence (1 John 4:8). He created humans out of His love and He has called us, first and foremost, to love Him. Out of the overflowing love that we experience from Him, we are to love ourselves and our neighbors. It is only out of the excess of His love that we can love others in a healthy way that is not self-serving.
Jesus is the perfect image of God (John 14:9) and when I think of Jesus I think of love (John 15:13). He showed us how to love and who (Luke 10:25-37, 15:1-32) to love by His actions and through his parables. This love is characterized by many things (1 Cor 13). First and foremost, though, it always looks like Jesus. It is washing the feet of others (John 13:1-17), coming beside them, and being willing to sacrifice for others. It is an unconditional Agape love; a choice, not a love based on feelings. As I learn more about the outrageous love God has for me, and for the entire world, it compels me to obey Him, to trust Him, and to tell others about Him. It also encourages me to live a life that is radically different then the rest of the world so that I will always be ready (1 Pet 3:15) because others will witness something different in me and wonder what that is. I’m not there yet, but through His love I am moving in that direction.