Who Are You?, Part 2

This is the fifth installment of the ongoing "Personal Theology Outline" series. The fourth installment can be found here. 

The Chief Characteristic

In the last post, we concluded with the thought that God is indeed relational and that idea implies that He can be known. When we talk about a God that we can know, we are talking about a God whose character is on display. If God is as relational as the biblical data suggests then we should be able to infer traits about Him from His interaction with humanity. Reading through the Bible, you might conclude, as the psalmist did, that the Lord is good (Psalm 100:5). You might read through and decide that, above all, God is holy. You might read the Gospels and make the conjecture that, ultimately, God is compassionate.

When examining the nature of God, the question of whether or not God's character can be reduced to a single attribute arises. I would maintain that it can and that the Bible (my chief reference) reduces God's character down to one word: love (1 John 4:8). This assumption changes the scope of a person's theology. So, it is fundamental that we are sure of this assumption before we proceed to describing God any further.

Love at the Core

Can God's character, His nature, His being be boiled down to love? I would assert that, of God's traits, love is indeed paramount. It comes to this: the loving aspect of God seems to be the only quality that He can possess intrinsically (the only quality that is inseparable from His nature). Imagine, if you will, what God was like before the creation of the cosmos, before He created the world or even the angels. Imagine God by Himself without anything outside Himself. According to the Trinitarian view, even before everything, God could relate with Himself. He existed as Father, Son, and Spirit--all participating together in the "divine dance." Even in isolation, God would not have experienced "aloneness" as we would count it (you would have to look to the Cross for that).

Thus, when we evaluate the intrinsic traits of God, we should think about traits with this perspective of God (God by Himself) in mind. When you consider this, we cannot consider things like wrath to be innate to God's character because wrath requires broken relationship. In Himself, God cannot experience broken relationship. It also means that God cannot be grace because it too requires broken relationship. Compassion cannot be a fundamental aspect of God's character because compassion implies that someone has been broken or subjugated to some torment. And, God's holiness only exists as a result of that which is outside Himself, what is distinct from Him.

Yet, when it comes to love, we find that it can be a fundamental element of God's character, part of Him from before the creation of everything. If the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all exist in perfect harmony, we assume the exist in perfect love. If they are co-equally God then there is no subversion or inappropriate love between them. Perfect love can be a natural characteristic of God.

If love is at the core of God's nature, every view we hold of Him has to be filtered through His love. Every outpouring of emotion from God is backed and tempered by His love. The anger of God is the frustration of someone watching the self-destructive behavior of a cherished loved one. The jealousy of God is a jealousy of One who loves perfectly and who despises that which ultimately hurts us. God's actions towards us are motivated by His love.

A New Filter

This realization changes the scope of everything. If any aspect of our theology comes into conflict with this fundamental aspect of God's character, it has to be reconsidered. Love is at God's core. It is who He is. And, it makes the pursuit of Him worth it.