By Mark Thompson / Principal
Of all the things we can say about God, the deepest and most profound is that God is love. It is not the only thing we can say about him, and it is not the only thing we must say about him. He is majestic and glorious, holy and righteous, almighty and terrifying in the face of sin and its consequences, and yet is compassionate, merciful and forgiving. Even the Apostle John, in his first letter, in which he repeatedly says “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), does not forget that “God is light” (in fact that’s the first thing he says about God in that letter, 1:5). “God is love” should never be isolated from all those other things God has revealed about himself. Nevertheless, God’s very nature in eternal triune, other-centred fellowship ensures we give a special place to the recognition that God is love. The Father loves the Son from all eternity, and that love has always included the Spirit as well.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that “all things were created through [his beloved Son] and for him” (Col 1:16, 13). We can therefore think about the entire creation as the Father’s love gift to the Son.
The creation is the arena in which the Father will glorify the Son (John 17:1). It is in this context that the Son is God’s gift of love so that his human creatures could be saved: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son …” The entire Bible testifies to God’s love in creation and redemption, and in bringing all things to their magnificent climax at the end, with the risen and triumphant Jesus at the centre of it.
Jesus himself is the great exemplar of God’s love: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9). His love and the Father’s love is, in fact, the same thing.
Jesus’ love is demonstrated in the way he healed the sick, released the oppressed, gathered the children, forgave sinners and raised the dead. His love led him to be moved with compassion, to grieve at the devastating consequences of a fallen world, and to walk resolutely to the cross. “See how he loved him”, they said of Jesus as he stood outside Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:36). “See how he loves us”, we echo as we consider the cross, the tomb, the resurrection and the defeat of death.
It is unsurprising in the light of God’s own loving nature, his love of his creatures even in their fallen condition, and the demonstration and explanation of his love in Jesus, that God’s love is meant to characterise his people. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34–35)
Love like this is not something we manufacture. It is the natural outcome of the Spirit’s work in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit in the lives of believers begins with love (Gal 5:22). Paul wrote that while faith, hope and love will remain, “the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13).
Love ought to shape the practice of Christian ministry as well. I often say we want the graduates of our College to be people who love God, love God’s word and love God’s people. God himself is worthy of our love (Matt 22:37); God’s word is worth loving (Ps 119:37, 113, 163); and, following Jesus’ own example of humility, we should count others more significant than ourselves (Phil 2:3). But what does such love look like?
True love in Christian ministry is other-centred. It seeks the welfare of the other. We can stretch that right across these three loves: we love God as we seek to have him honoured as he deserves to be; we love God’s word as we demonstrate its trustworthiness, proclaim with bold confidence its message of salvation, and call for the obedience it deserves; and we love God’s people as we point them to Jesus and the salvation he brings, and as we help them continue to grow in Christ throughout their lives. Christian ministry means serving others, it is shaped by their needs, and desires above all to help them know and grow like Christ. It involves remembering the value that Christ himself placed upon their lives—he went to the cross to save them— and that we must give an account for how we have cared for them.
True love in Christian ministry bears whatever cost in order to serve God’s people. Other centred love is not preoccupied with our own sense of worth or the esteem in which we are held by others. It is prepared to be unknown and unrewarded. It both guides and guards Christ’s flock entrusted to our care, knowing this means we must be prepared to suffer loss for the sake of Christ’s people. It does not seek its own comfort or ease but that those we serve will stand among the faithful on the day that Jesus returns.
Finally, true love in Christian ministry points to Jesus. He is the only one who can save people. It is not our cleverness in presenting the gospel, nor our finely tuned ministry strategy, nor even the quality of the church experience we create that gets beyond the eyes and ears to penetrate the heart of a person. Only Jesus can do that: as his Spirit opens people’s eyes, minds, wills and hearts and enables them to call on Jesus as Lord and turn to God as our Father. The gospel we proclaim is, first and foremost, the gospel “concerning his Son” (Rom 1:3); the strategy he has given us is to “make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [and by] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19–20); and the model church experience is that of the early church—followers of Jesus devoted to “the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
What you are going to see in this edition of Moore Matters are examples of love. This love shows itself in different places, different contexts, and in the lives of different people. Yet it will have this common character: springing, ultimately, from God’s own character, his love for his creation, and the love he showed through his Son, it is other-centred, it bears any cost, and it points to Jesus. I hope you enjoy reading.
