The New Testament God—A God of Love
Why did Jesus Christ come to the world? Why did He have to suffer, and was it necessary for Him to die on a cross? And why will He come again and restore this world to its original unblemished condition? Was there no other way? And if not, why does it take so long before the sin problem is fully dealt with? We are in no position to answer these questions. In His infinite wisdom God devised a plan to deal with the predicament of sin in the best possible way. Being a holy God, He could not overlook the rebellion against His perfect law; being love, He could not stand back and let His creatures perish without doing His utmost to save them.
"God's holiness is his majestic purity that cannot tolerate moral evil. God's love is his outgoing, tenderhearted embrace of the sinner. God's holiness is his separateness from what is unclean and profane. God's love is his willingness to identify with those who are unclean in order to help them. . . . [But] God's wrath is provisional whereas his love is eternal."—Donald G. Bloesch, God the Almighty: Power, Wisdom, Holiness, Love (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1995), pp. 140-143.
What do the following texts tell us about the New Testament message of God's love?
- God's gift of His Son (John 3:16)
- The Son's giving of Himself (Phil. 2:5-8)
- The Gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-18, Acts 2:1-4)
- The availability of spiritual gifts (Eph. 4:11-13)
- The certainty of salvation (1 John 3:1-3)
- An eternal future in an environment of love (2 Peter 3:13)
How would you summarize the New Testament message about the love of God?
| How do the three angels' messages of Revelation 14:6-12 fit in this overall New Testament theme of divine love? Ellen White speaks about the message of the third angel as the good news of justification by faith "in verity." How does that all fit in with the theme of God's love for humanity? |
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