Who is love?
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1 John 4:8
1 John 4:8
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Last week we fell in love. Well, we dove in and learned a bit about it in any case. We saw how it’s used in different contexts as a word then we looked at the actions of love and our calling as Christians to put on love. One thing we didn’t spend time on was the question Who is love? 1 John 4:8 answers our question very clearly. God is Love. But what does that mean that God is love? It means that all of the attributes that make love love come from God. It does not mean that God is merely love. Exodus is a book that reveals God to the people of Israel. There we find a people rescued from slavery, brought through many trials where God miraculously saves them each time. Being chased by Egyptians they make it across the Red Sea which is let go to swallow up the soldiers chasing behind them. They’re rescued from hunger with manna and quail. Thirst that would kill them but that God provided water from rock. Amalek attacks at their back and God wins the battle as Moses keeps his staff in the air. They make it to Sinai where this pillar of cloud and fire descends in thunder and terror upon the mountain. The people promise to follow the Lord’s commandments. This covenant is ratified and Moses goes back up the mountain to get instructions for the tabernacle to be built so that they will have the Lord live in their midst. However, during this time the people grow afraid and demand to have something they can see. They end up making a golden calf to worship. With the Lord’s wrath kindled he almost goes with keeping only Moses to start a new nation, but Moses intercedes for the people. Turmoil characterizes where we’re at. Moses meets again with the Lord seeking restoration for the people and wants to know God and his plans better. So, he asks to see the Glory of God and God’s response is that he will proclaim His Name. In this moment the proclamation of Who God is comes from God.
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Lets pull this all apart
It starts with “The Lord, the Lord” which in the Hebrew is the name of God and it’s said twice. This pattern, for those joining us Wednesday nights, should be familiar. When Abraham is called upon on the mountain with Isaac bound the angel of the Lord says “Abraham, Abraham” and the reply is Here I am. Then in the visions of the night God spoke to Israel and said “Jacob, Jacob” and he said “Here I am.” When Moses comes to the burning bush God calls out “Moses, Moses” and he said “Here I am”. More examples continue and even in the new testament we get Martha and Simon with the name said twice, even Jerusalem gets treated to this. In acts there are 3 occurrences of “Saul, Saul”. They come from the story where Saul is called to follow Jesus whom he had persecuted which is told three times. So when we see The Lord say his own name twice instead of someone else's, He who is the I AM isn’t being called into ministry or spoken to affectionately but he’s declaring who he is rather than someone who is called to be something. This sets up our list of who this Lord is.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful
Merciful
David had been utterly blessed, protected, then appointed to be King by God. In 2 Sam 11-12 you can read the whole story of where things going wrong. I’ll summarize it quickly for the sake of time. David sees Bathsheba and desires her, he asks around and finds out it’s another man’s wife but still sends for her and takes her for himself. She ends up pregnant and tells him. He eventually ends up sending the guy to his death by putting him on the front line and having the troops abandon him. Some time goes on as he likely assumes he’s gotten away with murder until Nathan the prophet comes and shares a story about a poor farmer whose treasured lamb was stolen because a rich farmer didn’t want to use any of his own sheep to feed a guest. This story rightfully outrages David and demands the man should pay back fourfold for that lamb because he did this and had no pity. Nathan says to David “You are the man!” He tells him all the Lord had spoken to the prophet. The blessings he’d been given and yet the sin, murder and afront he did before God. David admits fault and repents. Now the punishment for these things should have been death, and execution should be ordered but God is merciful and David will live. His reign will always be plagued by war and other consequences still exist but the Lord put away his sin and forgave him. Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious
Gracious
Ruth is Moabite, not an Israelite, she marries an Israelite man. Her husband dies and she’s still young she could have found another husband among her people. Her love for her widowed mother in law compels her to leave her own people and gods, to abandon the ways she had grown up with and go to Israel. She has no reason to think things will go well after all she is a foreigner, but she loves her mother in law and want to take care of her and stay with her. They come to Bethlehem and Ruth gains the attention of Boaz. Boaz agrees to redeem Ruth as the kinsmen redeemer which is a legal process where he marries the widow of a relative and restores the family inheritance. After minor hurdles to clear they get married and Ruth is redeemed. Ruth ends up becoming part of the lineage that leads to King David the greatest king of Israel and even of Jesus the messiah who came to save all. Ruth was extended grace. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger
Slow to anger
In other languages sometimes they use idioms and this word is one of them that fascinates me. Slow to anger in a word for word translation actually says “long of nose” but it means slow to anger. The idea makes me think of a cartoon character you see turning red from the bottom up and when that red gets to their nose if it’s a long nose it’ll take longer for that red hot anger to reach the nostrils and make them flare out. They didn’t have cartoons back then but I think you get the same idea of the anger rising in someone that they were picturing. As an attribute it’s fairly self explanatory, but I still wanted an illustration that clarified. As I was thinking and searching for a story to connect to this point I just couldn’t help but think of Cyrano de Bergerac. You know that guy? He was a real person but if you recognize the name you’re probably thinking about the play, that’s what I’m thinking about too. This character with an unusually large nose is a poet, writer, and deadly duelist (the real man had over a thousand duels). Any mention of his nose will throw him into a rage. The biggest battle was actually when the insult was so poorly done he offended by the insult and its quality. He duels and composes a poem to slice you with the sword and his wit letting you live with the shame of defeat in both realms. He was the quintessential picture of quick to anger… at least if you mention his nose. God’s long nose isn’t a physical attribute but a picture of the patience he has for even the most insulting things we do against Him. Cyrano used his wit and his sword to slice up the person who insulted him. God uses His patience to draw the person who insulted Him to repentance. Cyrano wanted a duel; God wants a relationship.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love
Abounding in
I just picture someone’s office filled with those multicolored balls you see in a ball pit just spilling out as the door opens. Have you ever seen one of those pranks? That was just the picture that came to mind when I thought of “Abounding in”
Steadfast love
There is a Psalm that points most clearly to this steadfast love. It speaks of the steadfast love across history. This love of commitment and covenant is tied to everything God does but here is specifically mentions the story of the exodus from Egypt.
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
God’s lays out promises that would have died in Egypt if they had all died there oppressed by a pharaoh who hated and feared them. God’s promise is always fulfilled and his love is exemplified. Every line of the entire Psalm ends pointing back to the eternal steadfast love of God. They saw it throughout history and we see it still as history unfolds.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness
Faithfulness
God is faithful to keep all things. There is a promise to David that his throne will be forever. In 2 Sam 7.16 God tells David
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
This is a messianic promise. The only way a throne can truly be forever is if the King who sits on it lives forever. This promise requires a Messiah who is not just a man, but the Eternal Son of God. There is a serious problem that comes up. As the kings keep coming through the years there are some good and bad but when we get to Jeconiah… it gets really bad. So bad in fact, he gets a personal word from the prophet Jeremiah. God says of this king:
Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”
Now, imagine this playing out in your mind’s eye. God promised David a descendant would rule forever. But now God has cursed the legal heirs to the throne. It looks like a dead end. If the Messiah comes from Jeconiah, God broke His word in Jeremiah. If the Messiah doesn't come from David, God broke His word to David. What can be done!?
But God is so 'Abounding in Faithfulness' that He doesn't just ignore the problem. He has a solution. He uses the Virgin Birth as the ultimate legal loophole. It looks like a loophole to us anyway, to him who knows the end from the beginning it’s just awesome provision.
He gives Jesus the legal right to the throne through his adoptive father Joseph (who was from the royal line shown in the genealogy of Matthew), but because Joseph wasn't the biological father, the blood curse didn't touch Him. Then in Luke’s genealogy He reveals Jesus' biological right through Mary, who was a descendant of David through a completely different son that wasn’t an heir of the throne but was in his bloodline.
God is so faithful that He won't even break His own curse to keep His promise. He kept them both.
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
This very same Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, God incarnate came because God is love.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Arguably the most well known verse but what does this mean? God so loved the world - he made a promise back in the very first pages of the Bible. A promise of the seed that would rescue humanity from sin. He gave his only Son. God the Son becomes incarnate born as a man sinless and perfect who lives without sin. Destined by God to be the one that the wrath for all who believe in him would be poured out. God didn’t just smite everyone who sins immediately… he is patient and long of nose, slow to anger so that our sins would be borne by Jesus in whom we believe, in whom we trust. What are we trusting will happen? That we should not perish but have eternal life.
We all deserve the wrath of God but he was merciful in not destroying us, he was gracious in giving us his Son. He was slow to anger and drawing us to him for our redemption. He abounds in steadfast love fulfilling his promises with all faithfulness that we would be his children. Amen and Amen let’s pray.
