God is More Than Just Love


I know, it may be hard to imagine, but there is more to who our amazing Creator is than just being loving. Indeed His love exceeds more than we can imagine but He is even more than that. In fact, He has many other attributes that He reveals to us in not only nature but more importantly in His Word. Our problem is that we often project our image of who God is by using a few verses and making that into a glorification of our own personal ideals, or even ourselves. Can’t we just let Him be who He is as He has revealed Himself in the scriptures? (“I am who I am” Exodus 3:14). Yes, He is loving. But our definition of love does not define Him. He defines what His love actually is and He alone defines Himself. Love is contained in all His attributes and defines those attributes. Each characteristic defines the other. As we learn to appreciate one aspect of God we appreciate the other characteristics all the more. If we worship Him only for His love, (especially in our understanding of what true love is), then we have failed to truly worship Him in all His splendor. We have only created a god in our image.  

To fully know and share God with others we can’t use His love as the ultimate trump card over all the other ways He reveals Himself. When we hear difficult things being said about God we tend to pull out our trump card and slam it down, “Yeah, but He is loving.” Does that mean He is also not wrathful? I’ve even heard others say, “Well, He just allows His wrath.” Does He then also not allow His love? Some would say that is only the God of the Old Testament, as if He grew up and got over all the holiness and righteousness stuff. After all, God is on a campaign to have us like Him isn’t He? Apparently they never read Jesus’ comments regarding those who reject God. Or even read the Gospels account of His teachings, let alone the book of Revelation. 

Let’s face it. God can be darn right scary. If we read in the pages of eternity we see that every human that has encountered the Lord was scared to death. Yet, that is not exactly the way we want others to see Him. It can at times be embarrassing that He strikes such fear into people. That’s because we haven’t taken the time to allow His Spirit to reveal those truths and work through our false perceptions. I praise God that He is loving. I also praise Him for being a God worthy of fear, an angry God, a holy God and a just God. It makes me all the more secure that He will act on what is right. That is He is wise enough, strong enough and exceeds me in every way, even my limited understanding. And in the end, that is so very good, just like He is. 

Take time to open His Word, even the scary parts, and enjoy the Lord as the Spirit reveals the wonderful truths of our Creator. Allow Him to reveal all that He is through His eternal Word. Love Him with all your mind – think deeply of who He is. Love Him with all your heart – cherish and praise Him for all that He is. Love Him with all your strength – work extremely hard at knowing Him and making Him known. He is a list of human attributes and words attempting to describe all that He truly is. 

God is
Love – (I John 4:8-9) but He is also:
  1. Eternal – Ps. 102:12
  2. Faithful – Lam. 3:22-23
  3. Good – Ps. 25:8
  4. Holy – Rev. 4:8
  5. Immutable – unchanging. Malachi 3:6
  6. Infinite – Romans 11:33
  7. Jealous – Ex. 20:5
  8. Just – Ps. 99:4
  9. Patient – II Peter 3:9
  10. Merciful – Titus 3:5
  11. Omnipotent – all powerful. Jer. 32:17
  12. Omniscient – all knowing. Heb. 4:13
  13. Omnipresent – all present everywhere all the time. I Kings 8:27
  14. Righteous – Ps. 19:7-9
  15. Self-existent – Col. 1:15-17
  16. Sovereign – Ps. 115:3
  17. Transcendent – Isaiah 55:8-9
  18. True – John 14:6
  19. Wise – Isaiah 40:28
  20. Wrathful – Romans 1:18
  21. Necessary – John 1:3
  22. Gracious – Ps. 145:17
  23. Imminent - He is near. Acts 17:27-28
  24. Angry – Ex. 19:22
  25. Creator - all matter, space and time were spoken into existence by Him. Genesis 1:1
  26. Perfect - without error, the highest of standards. Ps 18:30
  27. Compassionate – II Cor. 1:3
  28. Kind – Romans 2:4
  29. Glorious – Ps 8:1
  30. Majestic – Hebrews 8:1
  31. Savior – Jude 25
  32. Judge - He rewards good and punishes evil. Romans 1:32 
  33. Peace – Hebrews 13:20
  34. Gentle – Matthew 11:29
  35. Invisible – Col. 1:15
  36. Father – I Cor. 8:6
  37. Forgiving – Daniel 9:9
  38. Hatred – Psalm 5:4-5
  39. Beauty – Ps 27:4
  40. Simple – He is not made up of parts. Dt. 6:4
  41. Joyful – Romans 14:17
  42. Incorporeal - God is Spirit. John 4:24
  43. Impeccable - without sin. Dt. 32:4
  44. Incomprehensible – Job 11:7-9
  45. Provident – Ps 145:15-16

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