Who Is God? God Is Bigger Than Love (Guest Post)
Today’s post comes courtesy of Dave from Armchair Theology!
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us… Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.”
A.W. Tozer “The Knowledge of the Holy”
Acceptable Worship
What makes worship acceptable? It is not the vigor or the excellence of the worship.
- In singing, our worship is not acceptable based on its audible beauty.
- In preaching, our worship is not based on our eloquence or ingenuity.
- In listening to sermons, our worship is not based on our intellect or ability to stay completely focused on the preacher.
- In service, our worship is not based on our energy or productivity.
- In prayer, our worship is not based on our eloquence or strength of faith.
Our worship, in any capacity, is acceptable or not based on who we worship. It is the object of our faith, not the strength and quality of our faith, that gives our worship value. Therefore…
- In theology, our worship is not based on our precision or complexity.
- In theology, our worship is based on beholding the God of the Bible.
You Can Be a Universalist and a Christian…
I am convinced that one can sincerely (but fallaciously) believe inclusivism, universalism or annihilationism and be a Christian. So long as you believe in the God revealed in the Bible.
…So Long As You Worship the God of the Bible.
If you base your belief in universalism on a distorted view of God I cannot call you a Christian.
If your concept of “god” is exhausted in the definition of “love” then your concept is at odds with the Bible.
Yes, God is love (1 John 4:8). But he is also:
- Just (2Thes 1:6)
- Wrathful (Nah 1:6; Jer 10:10; Psalm 90:7-10; Rom 1:26-28)
- Jealous (Ex 20:4-5)
God is also a whole host of things that have no bearing on love:
- Self-existent (Psalm 90:2)
- Omniscient (Psalm 139:1-4)
- Immutable (Psalm 102:25-27)
That is why DZ’s series on God’s nature is so vital – we must know how the God of the Bible reveals Himself if we are to truly worship Him. If our worship isn’t aimed at the God who has revealed Himself to us we aren’t Christians at all.
If you deny Hell because your concept of God is constrained to “love” your denial of Hell is built on a denial of the Christian God.
(photo flickr/thetheresa)
[...] Guest Post: God Is Bigger Than Love Posted on August 16, 2011 by Dave I’ve watched Drewe’s series “Who Is God?” over at Delving into the Scriptures for a while now. He has examined God’s attributes one by one. Drewe graciously allowed me to post some related thoughts in a post called “Who Is God? God Is Bigger Than Love.” [...]