Adoring God!
It is natural for people to talk of God using 'love' for an adjective. 'Love' is the highest ideal that a man can possibly strive for. The famous French Existentialist, Jean Paul Sartre maintained that everything in life was absurd except 'love'. Unfortunately, Love is also the most misused word. Every time I see the usual 'dating sequence' in the movies, Hollywood or Bollywood, where two people go out on a date and then get into the car and the apartment and into the bed all in the name of 'making love', it causes me to cringe within.
The problem with such depictions is not just the that the idea of love is being desecrated but that the popular perception of the what makes for 'cherished companionship' is twisted. This makes it all the more pertinent that when we talk of God, it does not help to just use the word 'love' without giving it the right 'content'. This is very important because the first of the two great commandments is the commandment to LOVE the Lord with all the Heart, Soul and Mind.
Love is the ability to 'value' the person for who the person is. When the person we love is really a Good person, then the manifestation of our 'valuation' of that person turns to Adoration of that person. God is the most Good person ever. So any man who has the right value system can't help but Adore God. The catch here is that no man can have he right value system unless he is indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God, having already been Redeemed by the Righteousness of Christ.
Once a person gets the right value system, he can't help Adoring God for who He is. He can't help Adoring the God who commanded King Saul that not even the animals of the Amalekites should be spared. He can't help Adoring God who allowed the Creation to be cursed at the Fall. This Adoration of God's Judgement on the Fallen world is not some form of sadism, rather it is an appreciation for the Beautiful unfallen world created by the Holy God. The Holiness of the Lord demands that there be judgement on the ones who attempted to desecrate His Holiness. The Admiration for the Holiness of the Lord is what makes His Judgement coming down upon as palpable.
The problem with such depictions is not just the that the idea of love is being desecrated but that the popular perception of the what makes for 'cherished companionship' is twisted. This makes it all the more pertinent that when we talk of God, it does not help to just use the word 'love' without giving it the right 'content'. This is very important because the first of the two great commandments is the commandment to LOVE the Lord with all the Heart, Soul and Mind.
Love is the ability to 'value' the person for who the person is. When the person we love is really a Good person, then the manifestation of our 'valuation' of that person turns to Adoration of that person. God is the most Good person ever. So any man who has the right value system can't help but Adore God. The catch here is that no man can have he right value system unless he is indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God, having already been Redeemed by the Righteousness of Christ.
Once a person gets the right value system, he can't help Adoring God for who He is. He can't help Adoring the God who commanded King Saul that not even the animals of the Amalekites should be spared. He can't help Adoring God who allowed the Creation to be cursed at the Fall. This Adoration of God's Judgement on the Fallen world is not some form of sadism, rather it is an appreciation for the Beautiful unfallen world created by the Holy God. The Holiness of the Lord demands that there be judgement on the ones who attempted to desecrate His Holiness. The Admiration for the Holiness of the Lord is what makes His Judgement coming down upon as palpable.