God is Love, God is God
balancing complexity and simplicity in the bible


*had this for QT one day. felt that it was something very applicable to many of us. reproducing it word-for-word here.


One could easily dwell too long on the hard things of the bible. they are there. peter tells us so. he says in paul's letters "are some things hard to understand"[2 peter 3:16]. some people are wired to see them. others are wired to avoid them. the bible is made for both types. how shall we see it in a balance way that honors both?


perhaps it would help to do it like this. consider that "God is Love," as it says in 1 john 4:8, and that God is God, as it says in isaiah 46:9, "I am God and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me." the truth that God is God implies that God is who he is in all his glorious attributes and self-sufficiency. but the truth that God is love implies that all of this glory is moving our way for our everlasting enjoyment.


now, the two truths unleash very different impulses through the bible. and we will see that a balance is introduced here lest we make christianity an elitist affair, which definitely is not.


that God is love unleashes the impulse of simplicity, and that God is God unleashes the impulse of complexity.


that God is love unleashes the impulse of accessibility, and that God is God unleashes the impulse of profundity.


that God is love encourages a focus on the basics, and that God is God encourages a focus on comprehensiveness. one says, "believe in Lord Jesus and you will be saved"[acts 16:3]. the other says, "i did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God"[acts 20:27, RSV]


that God is love impels us to be sure that the truth gets to all people, and that God is God impels us to be sure that what gets to all people is the truth.


that God is love unleashes that impulse towards fellowship, and that God is God unleashes the impulse towards scholarship.


that God is love tends to create extroverts and evangelists, and that God is God tends to create introverts and mystics.


that God is love helps foster a folk ethos, and that God is God helps foster a fine ethos.


one ethos revels in the intimacy of God and sings softly,


i love you, Lord
and for you i wait:
your promises
and your power are great.
make haste, my God
may i taste your ways
i will magnify your sweet peace
all of my days
[John Piper]


and the other ethos revels in the transcendent majesty of God and sings with profound exultation.


far, far above thy thought
His counsel shall appear
when fully He the work hath wrought
that caused thy needless fear
leave to his sovereign will
to choose and to command
with wonder filled, thou then shalt on
how wise, how strong His hand
[Give to the winds thy fears, Pual Gerhardt, 1653]


if any of you is saying to yourself, "i don't like this seperation between God is love and God is God, between folk and fine, evangelists and mystics, fellowship and scholarship, accessibilty and profundity, simplicity and complexity"- GOOD! because in my mind, every one of these things is precious, and both sides of all these pairs are indispensable in the ministry and mission of Christ in the world. so my prayer is this. for believers, i pray that, seeing these different impulses in Christianity, you will embrace both of them. if you lean towards one side[as we all do], that you will be respectful and affirming to those toward the other side. and that you will cherish the fuller manifestation of God in his church and in the world. and for those who may be reading this without love to Christ in your heart, my prayer is that what you have seen will remove some caricatures or stereotypes of Christianity and the Bible- and open the way for you to see all that God is for you in Christ, so that you freely believe on him.


Taste and See: Savouring the Supremacy of God in All of Life - John Piper