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“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3: 17

Why did I write this book?  My new book has been something I’ve wanted to do for sometime now.  To further explain, it was important for me to share the Foreward of my new book, The Author of Love: Understanding a Misunderstood God, to help explain what the book is about and why I wrote it.  Enjoy.

 – – – [Excerpt ] – – –

FOREWARD

Just what the world needs….yet another devotional book. Ah, but this one is different. I’m sure you’ve heard that before. But, before I get into a discussion as what sets this devotional from so many others, allow please a moment’s digression. (They’ll be more than a few digressions call them, once we get going. Hopefully, they’ll add interest.)

Perhaps ten or so years ago (Mother left us in 2007), my mother had just finished reading a devotional when she asked me to explain to her what she’d just read. What she was having difficulty grasping was the author’s notion of vengeful God. Back in the “Ozzie and Harriet/Father Knows Best:” days, when a kid stepped out of line, the most oft-repeated phrase he was apt to hear was: “God will punish you for that.” It’s a little wonder that many of us grew up with the perception that God is, if nothing else, sheriff, posse and lord (with a small “l”, of course) high executioner.

I explained to Mother that what the author was saying was that even a loving God has boundaries and limits. The author contended that there would ultimately come a day when God would lose patience with humankind, much as had occurred in the days of Noah, just prior to the flood. Mother pondered my response for a brief moment and replied: “Hindi ganyan ang Dios,” which is Filipino (Tagalog) for: “God is not that way.” Without taking a breath, she added: “I wish someone would write a book which reflects the true essence of God.” “The true nature of God,” she insisted, “is one of love, NOT of vindictiveness.”

And so I began to ponder the commonly-held notion of a judgmental God versus what I and a good many others are convinced is a more appropriate depiction, and that is of a God who is at once demanding and caring – whose demands are a reflection of His concern for those He created in His own image and whose caring is emblematic of His love for those same beings.

This devotional, therefore, is the result of Mother’s determination that the truth be told as well as my own conviction that it is about time that someone present a more accurate depiction of God.

How well do we really know God? Some of these very questions are raised in the Book of Job. “After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” Job 42:7. Can you imagine a loving God being angry because His character was maligned? I think we all have had similar experiences: people misrepresenting our character. (More on this subject matter in the devotional).

Have the authors in the Old Testament spoken wrongly about God’s character. In the book of Genesis, the God of creation is portrayed as all powerful and majestic. The God of Exodus comes across as favoring the Israelites over the Egyptians. The story of Exodus further illustrates an egocentric God who seeks vengeance upon those who reject Him. In the book of Song of Solomon, we read about a jealous, and, some have contended, crazed God, who some have likened to an immature teenager. “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” Song of Solomon 8: 6 & 7.

In the New Testament the first five authors shares with us a Savior who is called Immanuel (God with us). This God is named Jesus. We are introduced to Him in the innocence of His infancy. He matures into what those of His time might have regarded as a rather ordinary man. His style and method, however, puzzle His generation. He goes against the grain of conventional love. He rebukes hypocrisy and pharisaic love. He tells a perfect law abider to sell all his earthly possessions and follow Him.

On the surface, certainly, this would appear to be a rather strange way in which to display love and affection. The author of Romans 8: 38 says that God’s love convinces him “…that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” How can such differing depictions of God’s character serve to help us understand God’s true nature?

Then comes the God in the book of Revelation who promises judgment and death to the unbelieving. Those condemned to damnation will be thrown in the “lake of fire” with the devil and his followers. It’s a dire predicament for those who don’t make the grade in God’s kingdom. The notion of a God of this kind is, to say the least, unnerving.

In the movie “Sophie’s Choice,” a Nazi commandant takes Sophie’s only two children, a boy and a girl, to a concentration camp. Sophie pleads with the officer to spare her kids. In a most sinister moment, he offers what is only nominally a compromise, and that is to allow Sophie to choose one child to keep with her. Sophie cannot decide and once more begs the officer to spare her children. He becomes intolerant and decides not to give her a choice. All of a sudden, she acquiesces and chooses the boy while her daughter screams in agony as she is taken away from her. The little girl begs her mother to choose her but to no avail. With this decision, an implicit verdict is rendered; for Sophie must live with the guilt and conviction of her choice for the rest of her life. In real life, someone asked Meryl Streep, who played Sophie in the movie, what she thought of God and the salvation of humankind. She said I hope everyone makes it to heaven.

Can you picture a God treating us like that? To not choose God would be condemnation. Is that a true picture of the God we know? I hope not. That is not the God I know. Granted, there are scriptures in abundance that say God condemns sin but forgives the sinner. There are Bible verses that say it is an abomination in God’s eyes for anyone to work on the Sabbath, to commit adultery, to lie, cheat, use profanity, to be gay. These (and other) acts are indeed punishable by death.

Well-intentioned Christians use these verses to condemn those who commit such acts. The fact is that the Bible was written by man, inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible interpretations of these verses vary depending upon the particular pundit’s personal beliefs, the political context within which he (seldom she) writes, and the prevailing attitudes of the time.

So, what are we to believe? How do we navigate our way through the religious doctrine of eras gone by? The answer is not as complex as it might appear.

He came and dwelt among us. The first five books of the New Testament portray the closest picture of the God of the entire Bible. There are skeptics who believe in separation of God according to our faults. God has not changed nor does He wink at certain faults. God is steadfast, faithful and sure. You can rely on His word and that He will fulfill His promise.

The God I have come to know is a very inclusive God. Regardless of who you are–your ethnic background, your gender or other identifying characteristics, God loves you, just as you are. Perhaps the single verse that best characterizes God is found in I Corinthians 13: 1-13 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love.” This is only a “tip of the iceberg” of God’s love.

Every verse pertaining to love points out what we lack. Remember the rich young man who asked Jesus what he must do to enter His kingdom. God told him to keep the commandments. The man said he kept them all. Then God said sell all of what you have and give it to the poor and follow me. The rich young ruler went away sad. (See Matthew 19: 16-22). The standard was set too high for him.

The fact is that we are not a faultless people, and there are likely none of us who can live up to this definition of love. Many have tried, and even the rich young man managed to keep all of the commandments. Anyone who can keep even one of the commandments should be commended. But was his keeping of the commandments strictly a clanging cymbal? On our own, we all fall a bit short with respect to the commandment of love. No human measures up to the commandment of love, but we have a Savior who can and did. He is the Author of Love. He showed His love for us. He did great and mighty works and miracles. He gave all that He had. He can be trusted. He is never rude or self-seeking. Jesus not only talked and walked love, but He lived it.

God cannot govern His universe in any other way but through love. Love is the foundation of who He is. He was not nor will ever be a clanging cymbal. Whenever you read a verse that condemns a Sabbath breaker or an addict or a liar or an adulterer or a sinner or a homosexual to death then you have come across a clanging cymbal god. The list of what man condemns in the Bible is endless. Remember that is what man deems an abomination to God. God never condemned a sinner. God came to redeem those very people. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3: 17

Clanging cymbals come in all forms. They come disguised in the name of love. They are very convincing. Some are eloquent in their rationalization. Others are so extreme that they even sacrifice their lives for you in the name of love. There are givers and philanthropists who give to the poor and are praised by receivers for their largess. There are educators, doctors, lawyers, nurses, homemakers, and people from all walks of life who are noble with good intentions who sacrifice for the good of society.  Clanging cymbals can be hazardous to your health. They control your thought process and behavior. We subconsciously live on clanging cymbals. People become staid and narrow-minded when they disguise their love in the name of clanging cymbals.

The Bible is full of stories about clanging cymbals. Some, like the story of the woman at the well, which Jesus purposely encountered, saw her true love staring right at her, (a feat she had unsuccessfully tried six times).  She was receptive to Jesus’ love.  Yet, there are others like the rich young ruler who went away sad because his wealth (clanging cymbal) was more of value than the Savior who came to him. What is absolutely intriguing about all this is how Jesus treated everyone He came in contact with! Whether it was a sinner, prostitute, enemy or hypocrite, He treated each one with dignity and respect. He was foremost compassionate, merciful and forgiving. He never condemned or reprimanded us in a judgmental tone of superiority. He showed us kindness and patience with never a thought of malice or disgust. No one was exempted from His love.  There was no hint of judgment, condemnation or disdain. He treated each one in love. Jesus set the example of how to love one another. He showed us how the Father deals with each of us. Does God distinguish between the so-called clanging cymbals and those whose love and compassion are genuine? No doubt, but God’s love for us is the ultimate love. His love is without bounds and is non-judgmental. Real love comes with no strings attached, and the only real love is Godly love. You will fully comprehend this when you come to know and understand the Author of Love.

God’s love is immeasurable and breaks through barriers that are clanging cymbals. He loves the otherwise unlovable, those whom society scorns and oftentimes reviles. The worst of the worst in this world, He loves. Luke 6: 35 & 36 “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Can you be merciful to “those people?” Would you give up your life for them? I know this a hard thing to even say let alone do. God thought it was worth it. He gave His only Son to redeem them.

Do you see it yet? If you’re still unconvinced then go by the character of God. Remember to start at the foundation of God’s character—love–and build on that. Then examine every verse, even those that speak of abomination and condemnation. If there is no love as defined in I Corinthians 13 then you can call it a clanging cymbal. God has revealed His love to us in countless ways. Where love abounds, there is God. But one of the greatest revelations of His love for us was when He came as a babe garbed in human flesh to dwell with us. We saw, touched and supped with God during His earthly mission. Now He says He’s even closer to us, through His Spirit dwelling in us.  God wants to restore the oneness that was lost in Eden.  He invites you and me to be one with His Father and The Holy Spirit.  That is love that is fathomless.  He has extended and demonstrated His love especially to you and me.  However, God’s love can only be made complete when it is reciprocated.  Just as you experienced earthly love, you cannot enjoyed it’s fullness until that love is returned in kind.  To know God and to experience His love for you is to be open and receptive to His Spirit.  When you really get to KNOW God, everything else in this life, or in the life to come, pales in comparison to the love of God.

Remember, when you have faith, hope and love, “But the greatest of these is…God (love).”