Have you ever seriously considered the Bible as God’s love letter to His creation? To be perfectly honest… I don’t think I ever did. Perhaps I consider (especially in light of 1 Corinthians 13) I may have looked at the New Testament in this light, but not the Old Testament. Not certain that I ever gave the OT an emotional description. Was I wrong! I was listening to one of my favorite teachers, Lisa D Harper, speak on this and it totally arrested my thinking. And this arrest led me into an incredible study/discovery.
YES, YES, YES – the entire Bible is God’s love letter to us. He keeps demonstrating and telling us about His love and care for us. Over and over and over. Even those chapters that tell us what NOT to do, what NOT to believe are His way of protecting us from our arch enemy. I have no doubt that the devil hates us with every fiber of his being. He was incensed when God created us. I don’t believe the devil had any problem with Genesis 1 until God got to the sixth day [beginning in verse 26] and then satan’s true colors emerged. (This last statement is my conjecture but I think it’s based accurately.)
God has always been Father. Just like any parent wants that best for their child, so does the Father. Every day His eyes run to and fro over all the earth seeking who He can be strong on their behalf [2 Chronicles 16:9]. He wants not only to protect us but to help us grow and mature which sometimes requires disciplining [Deuteronomy 21]. He gave us the book of Proverbs to give us wisdom, understanding, and insight. And this only begins to scratch the surface. But none of this can be attributed to an angry and disappointed Father, though I don’t see how He could not but be upset with us. Look, always look to the motivation and with our Father it is for us, His love.
When you read the stories in the OT they demonstrate the Father’s love for a disobedient and stiff necked people – who God never gives up on. One of the most poignant stories is found in Hosea. The life of Hosea and his adulatory wife Gomer is an picture of God with His people – time after time Hosea goes to find Gomer and so does God. The Father returns time after time for each of us because of His great love. This theme is echoed over and over.
In the New Testament we see the fulfillment of this love when Jesus willingly gives His life as the ransom for all of us. The supreme sacrifice by the only one who could – Jesus, the spotless lamb. John 3:16 states this and then gives us our way into a new life – a life of love, of belonging. Don’t stop at verse 16, read on:
“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].” [John 3:17-18, AMP]
‘…no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation…” this is our gift when we make Jesus our Lord. December 25th is Christmas Day, the day we designated as the birth of the Lord. But it is He who brings the gift to us. When we accept His Lordship, He will also always be with us [Hebrews 13:5] helping us to become all we can be until the moment He brings us Home. During our time here He tells us He provides an abundant life of meaning and purpose, fruitfulness as we abide in Him and gives us our ‘manual’ in the form of the Bible – a Love Letter from the Father. And He gives us His command to love as He has loved and our commission – touch the world with His Love:
“All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:18-20, AMP]
