The love of God is greater far...

Is there a more lovely old hymn than the one that George Beverly Shea sang so beautifully, The Love of God? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6_S20SccIY).

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.

Chorus
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure,
How measureless and strong
It shall for evermore endure
The saints and angels song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill
Or were the skies of parchment made
Were ev'ry stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade.
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Tho' stretched from sky to sky.

For a more contemporary version, you might enjoy listening to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzDLLSTR9yY&feature=related.

Passages such as the ones that follow come to mind as I think about the reality of those moving words:

1. 1 John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

2. 2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

3. Ezekiel 18:23 - Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

4. Ezekiel 18:32 - For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

5. Micah 7:18 - Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

6. Jeremiah 9:24 - But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

7. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 - This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

8. John 3:17 - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

9. Titus 2:11 - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

10. 1 John 4:19 - We love because he first loved us.

11. John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.

11. John 15:12-13 - My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

In an earlier post (Thursday, May 19, 2011 - This only makes sense if that does) I argued that biblical interpretation can be difficult at the best of times, particularly when various teachings on the same topic can appear to be contradictory. I used the example of the New Testament teaching on women.

My premise is that one has to determine what is eternal principle, and what is shorter-term accommodation for some greater good. Once God's lasting principles are clear, one can make far more sense of the apparent discrepancies.

In my various posts on the topic of biblical justice, I looked at three different kinds of justice (retributive, restorative, and distributive). My conclusion was that God's (retributive) justice was satisfied at the cross of Christ, and that his love in action (restorative and distributive justice) could be extended with integrity as a result. The abundance of references to God's love naturally follow from God's justice.

Now, if we were to accept that God arbitrarily chose in advance who would be saved and who wouldn't (Calvinism), or that God in reality extends his love for eternity only to those who heard of him and accepted him while on earth (evangelicalism), then the passages noted above are cruel, misleading, and nonsensical.

On the other hand, I also argued that universal reconciliation only makes sense if there are no consequences to choices we make on earth. But if God takes human free will seriously--and there is every indication he does--then human beings must live with the consequences of their choices (Tuesday, May 3, 2011 - Theology from the ground up).

All right. Perhaps we've dealt with the matter of God's justice and love allowing for Kingdom of God membership as the default position for the human race. But that still leaves us with questions regarding hell, repentance, and why bother becoming a Christian.

This is getting harder and harder for this layperson! I wish that I had the brilliant mind of my dear friend and former colleague Dr. Phillip Wiebe. He eats this stuff for breakfast.

But as dear old Henry V of England said, Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.