good cop, bad cop

You know what I’ve been thinking about for a while? Don’t you just love it when I start an entry that way? Lately, I’ve been contemplating the mysteries of God. Well, not really but I have been contemplating this -  why it’s so easy to think of God as the bad guy, the one who lives upstairs and is a merciless task master - the one who’s only out to catch us when we do bad stuff. In other words, why is it so easy to focus on the wrath of God rather than his amazing love?

I’ll cut to the chase here. I fully admit that while I know that God loves me, that he sent His Son to save me from myself, and even now makes his home in my heart, I don’t really get the love of God. For me it’s easier to focus on the laws. Let me give you an example. This is a long passage to write, let alone read, but bear with me, will ya, ‘cause I want to make a point here.

Isaiah 61:1 – 3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and to provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of Praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Whew! Thanks for hanging in there. My question for you is this. In this passage how many times is there any kind of reference to God’s judgment? Once. And how many times of his love and redemption? Nine. That’s nine times that God makes a promise to heal the brokenness of humanity and only once that the word judgment pops up. But you know what verse I seem to fixate on the most; the judgment one – the day of vengeance of our God. And I’m wondering, is it just me, or is fixating on God as the bad guy more of a human nature thing?

The thought occurs to me even as I type this that there’s a reason why it’s so easy to make God out to be the bad guy in this mess of life. It’s the lie that’s easiest to believe. The Liar (Satan) wants us to view God in that way. It makes his job a whole lot easier. If we don’t get his love for us then why would we ever want to draw near to him? Are we all missing out on the best that God has to offer – his love. Nine times up there in that long passage God affirms his love for humanity and only once is there a reference to his judgment.

But still what’s the point. Well, to be honest I’m not sure. But here’s a thought. God’s our Father - the one who made us. He’s our redeemer the one who saved us. And even now his Spirit dwells in us moving us ever closer to Him. Were we to view the bible from the lens of God’s love for us it would make a difference in our lives – a huge difference. Don’t believe me? I’ll close with another passage, and let you decide for yourself how important it is to really get God’s love for us. Of all the things the Apostle Paul could have prayed for his friends in Ephesus; stronger faith, more devotion to Christ, a fervent prayer life, a more generous spirit - of all those things, this is what he prayed.

Ephesians 3:14 – 18 I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit . . . so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.

It’s easy to make God out to be the bad guy. But it’s so important to know him as the God who’s for us – the one who loves us, the one who sacrificed his only Son to bring us back to himself. Stop focusing on the strict figurehead that we assume is God. Let your roots sink down deep into the soil of a marvelous love – the one God has for you.