God is good, loving and kind. God is someone you would want to know and have a close relationship with. God is caring and compassionate. God is love and He loves His creation especially including you who he created in His own image for a deep and meaningful relationship with Him.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. GOD IS LOVE. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Animal kingdom – you do according to what you are.
Think about a lion and a sheep. What do they eat? How do they behave? They do what they do because of what they are, right? In the same way, God does what God does because of what God is. Notice this verse says, “…GOD…IS…LOVE…”. God is loving because God is love. This is good news because it means that God is kind, good, caring and compassionate.
This verse also points out that we “rely” on the love of God. The more of God’s love that you have, the more you thrive and flourish. You are made for God’s love, but like God you are also made to love others. The less love you have the less you thrive. The more love you have and the more loving you are, the more you thrive.
Because God is love, it is impossible for God to not love you. You are loved by God!
God is King. Not just any king, God is Holy and just and therefore a righteous and fair king. The Bible also refers to God as the King of kings, meaning He is the ultimate ruler over everything.
God is perfection! He is awesome, powerful, majestic, wise and all-knowing. As the creator of all things, He is seated on His throne ruling over His creation. He rules with truth and justice. This is good news if we understand that He is good, loving and kind and ultimately will put right all that is wrong with the world.
One day, Jesus was asked by some of his followers to teach them how to pray. The first part of what he taught gives insight to this truth and went as follows:
This, then, is how you should pray: “Our FATHER in HEAVEN, HOLY is your name, Your KINGDOM come, your will be done, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
God’s Kingdom is Holy, meaning without any impurity. This Kingdom is needed on earth. God has a will for how things should work on earth. But given Jesus instructed to pray for His will to be done on earth shows that not all of His will and His ways are being carried out yet.
Teacher in the classroom.
Think back to a time when you were at school and the teacher left the classroom? What happened? Most likely the room quickly turned to chaos. If there is no one in charge, then might is right and the strongest determine the rules. The bullies come out to play. If we live in a universe as Dawkins describes, then there is no ultimate meaning, purpose, objective truth or justice.
What if there is a teacher and they are a tyrant, cruel and self-serving? Life becomes oppressive and unbearable. In contrast, have you ever had a teacher that is caring, competent, and kind, maybe even strict but fair? They do exist and those under their care usually have opportunity to thrive and flourish.
The God of the Bible is loving, just, fair and kind. Under His rulership we thrive.
It is fair to ask: if God is in charge, then why is there so much wrong with the world? Step 2 helps us understand the answer to this question.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
Here’s a link to an online Bible website where you can look up these Bible Verses for further study.
GOD IS LOVE
