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-28-
The God Who Is
Emotion
Love—"God is love" (I John 4:8b). Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist, perverted this verse by saying, "Love is God." The workers of iniquity seek to corrupt the right ways of the Lord.
God has said, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me" (Proverbs 8:17). God the Father expresses love, and so does God the Son.
In Mark chapter 10, beginning in verse 17, we read, "And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, `Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said unto him, `Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother.' And he answered and said unto him, `Master, all these have I observed from my youth.'
"Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, `One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up thy cross, and follow me.'"
Note first how Jesus answered the rich young ruler by saying, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." The Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons conclude from this that Jesus is not God. They miss the meaning of the statement. When the rich young ruler called Jesus "Good Master," he addressed Him with human dignity and respect; but such an address, such respect, is that of an unbeliever, and not of a Christian. Men must recognize Jesus as Divine, as God in flesh.
It is a dishonor to Christ to acknowledge Him as "a good man," perhaps as a teacher equal to Buddha, or to Confucius. The Lord Jesus Christ shares His glory with no man. Scripture is very precise: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Note, second, that in His humanity, Jesus "loved him." He who was born of the virgin felt affection for this son of a woman. It was the testimony of the Jews at the tomb of Lazarus that Jesus loved him (see John 11:36). And again, "Before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (John 13:1).
Paul exhorted, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me...." (Romans 15:30). Here the apostle declares the Spirit of God loves, for He also is a person.
Hate—God also hates. "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speakest lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren" (Proverbs 6:16-19).
God hates evil works, but He also hates evil men. "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 5:5). And again, "The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth" (Psalm 11:5).
Jealousy—God is a jealous God. He commanded Israel, saying, "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (for the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth" (Deuteronomy 6:13-15).
"And God spake all these words, saying, `I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments'" (Exodus 20:1-6).
Anger—"God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready" (Psalm 7:11,12).
"And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded" (I Kings 11:9,10).
Many people today think of the Lord Jesus Christ as being weak, and effeminate, yet Jesus was filled with righteous anger when He "went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, `It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves'" (Matthew 21:12,13).