God and love is same thing or different?

God is love In contrast to gods of heathen religions who are often presented as vindictive and angry beings in need of appeasement, the God of the Bible is characterized as the essence of love. “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Since God is love and since God is eternal, then God’s love is eternal. Moreover, since love requires that the one who loves have an object to love, and since God’s love is eternal, then an object of God’s love must have existed throughout eternity. That eternal object of God’s love was his Son, Jesus Christ. God’s love for the Son is affirmed by many scriptures (John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17; 15:9; 17:23-24, 26). At Jesus’ baptism, the voice of God came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). In a prayer, Jesus said, “Father . . . you have loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24). Since the very nature of God is love, then surely his love is demonstrated.

In Scripture, God’s love is declared to be demonstrated in many ways. God has demonstrated his love throughout the history of mankind. Just as parents love for an expected new born child leads them to prepare a nursery, so also God’s love for humanity led him before the creation of Adam and Eve to prepared a habitation and provisions for them (Genesis 1-2). When they sinned, God announced plans for their redemption (Genesis 3:15). When humanity became extremely wicked, God spared righteous Noah and his family from destruction (Genesis 6-8). Later, God promised Abraham that through him and his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:17-18; Galatians 3:16). When Abraham’s descendents, the Israelites, became slaves in Egypt, God heard their cries and delivered them (Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7-10). After bringing great plagues upon the Egyptians, God brought the Israelites out, leading them through the Red Sea (Exodus 8-14) because he loved Israel (Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:8; Hosea 11:1). Because of His love, He gave them food and water in the wilderness (Exodus 16:31, 35; Numbers 11:9; Deuteronomy 8:3, 16; Nehemiah 9:20; Exodus 17:1-3, 6; Numbers 20:2-13; Deuteronomy 8:15) and guided their journey with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22; Numbers 14:14; Nehemiah 9:12, 19). At Mt. Sinai, God gave them a covenant (Exodus 24:7-8; 34:10, 27-28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 5:2-3; 9:9, 11) and the priesthood (Exodus 28:41; 29:44; 30:30; Numbers 3:3-4, 10; 18:7; 25:13; 29:9; 40:15). Because God loved Israel, he prohibited Balaam from cursing them (Deuteronomy 23:5). He gave them the land of Canaan (Judges 6:9; Joshua 21:43-44), and later gave them judges to deliver them from their oppressors (Judges 2:16, 18; 3:9, 15). The Psalmist recognized God’s love for Israel (Psalm 47:4). He acknowledged that because the loving kindness of God is considered precious, “the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your pleasures. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Psalms 36:7-9). When Solomon became king over Israel, Hiram, king of Tyre, observed that it was because God loved Israel (2 Chronicles 2:11). The queen of Sheba observed the same (1 Kings 10:9). Solomon himself was initially beloved of God (Nehemiah 13:26). When Israel later suffered, the prophet Isaiah realized that God’s loving-kindness had previously been extended to the nation (Isaiah 63:7, 9).

Whenever the nation of Israel turned away from God, whether during the times of the judges or days of the kings, to serve idols of the nations around them, he disciplined them but then restored them to himself. God illustrated his love for Israel by instructing Hosea to purchase back his adulterous wife, and by likening that action to his restoring of unfaithful Israel to himself (Hosea 2:19; 3:1-5). When Israel became idolatrous, God disciplined them by allowing them to be captured by other nations (Judges 2:14; 6:1; 8:34; 13:1). Then, in his love, God restored them to their heritage during the time of the Judges (Judges 2:16). And when centuries later they departed from God, he had them destroyed by other nations (2 Kings 17:5-23; 2 Chronicles 34:23-28; 36:15-17), then later brought them back from captivity (Jeremiah 30:3; Ezra 6:21). This God did because he rules over all nations (2 Chronicles 20:6; Psalms 22:28; 47:8; Daniel 2:37; 4:25). God’s discipline is itself a sign of God’s love (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:5-6).

Although God’s elective love was toward Israel (Malachi 1:2; Romans 9:13), God’s love is demonstrated also toward all mankind in that God has given general provisions through nature to benefit all humanity. God sends the rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:43-48; Acts 14:15-17). God wants everyone to repent rather than to perish (2 Peter 3:9; Matthew 18:14). Therefore, even in Old Testament times, God sought to spare, through the preaching of Jonah, the city of Nineveh (Jonah 1-4). God especially loves the righteous (Psalm 146:8; Proverbs 15:9). He loves righteousness (Psalm 11:7; 33:5), and justice (Psalm 33:5; 37:28; 99:4). He loves the stranger and gives him food and clothing (Deuteronomy 10:18). He also loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

In the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4), God, “who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4), sent his only begotten Son (John 3:16; 5:37; 8:16) to die “for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), to be “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10), that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Thereby God made us alive, who once “were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), who had “conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” and were therefore subject to the wrath of God (Ephesians 2:3). God demonstrated “his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God’s love through Christ grants to believers forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:3-12), freedom from sin (Romans 6:18-22) and deliverance from the eternal consequences of sin (Romans 8:2). God’s love also enables believers to receive the Holy Spirit of God (Romans 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14), to become children of God (Romans 8:14, 19; Galatians 3:26; 4:4-6; 1 John 3:1-2), and in the ages to come to receive “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Nothing can separate believers from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39).

God’s love is also demonstrated in the New Testament to be like that of a father. A father gives good gifts to his children (Matthew 7:11). He cares about his wayward children, and when they return, he runs to meet them (Luke 15:20). Heaven rejoices when sinners repent (Luke 15:4-10). Jesus taught that “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Jesus declared that the Father loves those who love the Son (John 16:27), noting that the Father’s love to the disciples was as God has loved him (John 17:23). Jesus also said, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). What a great promise! And what great love! “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” ((1 John 4:11).

Copyright ©, December, 2004, by Robert L. Waggoner. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this document for non-profit educational purposes if reproduced in full without additions or deletions. Why not distribute this document to others? For other essays about God and additional information regarding biblical theism, go to the website www.biblicaltheism.com.

Dear caffienetripp,

I don’t think that God changed from vengeful to loving so much as our understanding of God changed. Jesus showed us, in ways we could understand, what God is like, and he used “God is love.” (Which responds to your last line about “He would let us know about it.” Indeed, in Jesus Christ, God does exactly that!)

Which brings me to the original question. Yes, God is love. God loves us enough to come and show us the divine nature, and that nature is love. Indeed, as Christians we believe in a Trinity: not three Gods, but one God in three persons. (Our God always acts in perfect unity, as compared to, say, the Homeric gods of the Illiad.) And this means that even within God there is love: Father for Son and Son for Father, a love so complete and perfect that it becomes their Holy Spirit of love, the third person in their union.

We have a God who is a community, united in love.

I believe that’s very hard to answer. Taking a look back over the Bible’s view of history, God was vengeful in the beginning. Very very vengeful. And then, with the New Testament he became loving. Along with “if you disobey the 10 commandments I will send you to Hell…but I love you.” George Carlin put it best in those terms. I’m not exactly sure if God would be loving or hating. Then again, I don’t necessarily believe in God or a god for that matter. God may work in mysterious ways, but if He did love us, I believe He would let us know about it.

In trying to understand the relationship between God and Love, you need to think about what God and love are in their essense.

In recent times people have understood love as an emotion, but it is much deeper than that. Someone who loves desires the highest and best goods for the sake of the beloved. Love is and action of the will. It’s a decision. Looking at the bible, Christ says to love your enemies. That doesn’t mean that we should have warm fuzzy feelings about them. It means that in our heart of hearts we should want what’s best for them.

Someone pointed out above that one of John’s Letters claims that God is love. That letter was written in Greek, and that particular language had at least four different words that the English translators have translated as “love” into English (philia, eros, storge, & agape). The word that John used in that instance was agape, which means unconditional, self-sacrificing love. That is the very essence of the being of God that Christ demonstrated on the cross.

Also, according to the traditional interpretations of the scriptures God, is a Trinity, which means that in his essence, he has three divine persons in his one divine nature. That is the great mystery of the essence of God, that one being might actually exist in three distinct persons, and yet retain his oneness. Pope John Paul II had an interesting insight into this mystery. “Christianity is the only religion whose one God, from all eternity, is not a solitude, but encompasses in his very being Fatherhood, Sonship, and the essence of a family which is love.”

I should stop before I start writing a dissertation on the Trinity, but I hope this may have helped you out!

It depends on your religious preference. Many christian denominations, will associate God with positive emotions (love, joy, etc.) and Satan with negative emotions (fear, hate, anger, etc.)

But if you’re not religious, this doesn’t really apply…

God is NOT love

I am in love with my guy

I am NOT in love with god. I don’t believe there is a god.

You wanted opinions, so there’s mine. Don’t get upset because someone voiced an opinon that’s different than what you wanted to hear.

As you have read from above from people that do believe in God; I believe there are many types of love. Yes, if you think that God and love are the same thing then your correct in saying so but everyone has there opinions, so to some you won’t be considered correct. I believe that you believing that God and love is the same is correct but thats my beliefs. I do however have a different type of love for God than I would to others such as my family and friends. Its just how you would look at something like this from your perspective. ~Alanna

My love for my parents is different from the love i have for my children to the love i have for my pets to the love i have for my partner. I like many people but don’t necessarily love them. But all love should be :

Love is patient, Love is kind, It does not envy, it does not boast, It is not proud, It is not rude, It is not self-seeking, It is not easily angered, It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

L o v e N e v e r F a i l s.

Corinthians 13 : 4 - 8

Caffiene.. God did let you know about it.. he gave you life.. what you do with that life.. is your gift back to God…

it’s the way we think…But i think both are different

God is Love

WTH! this computer won’t let me type two “I”s nest to each other. I meant JP2

I’m sorry, I typed that it was Pope John Paul I that said that. It was actually Pope John Paul II (aka “the Great”)