Love Defined

“Love is love.”  The slogan has become the darling of media and commerce, politics and institutions.  Multi-colored words are displayed on banners and shouted with pride demanding unchallenged acceptance.  A period follows the phrase to close debate.

But just who are we debating?  If we believe that we have been created equal and endowed by God with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, does not the attainment of these blessings rest in the design of the Creator?  Apart from Him, who is qualified to make unquestioned declarative statements?

In the fallen nature of man, emotions often override truth and the absence of truth is the gateway to confusion. If feelings alone become our standard, what happens to reason and who determines what is right or wrong?  If virtue becomes measured by emotion, how far will we go to redefine life to our liking?

In the love is love campaign, activists decided to claim the rainbow as their unifying symbol; believing the blending of colors a fitting representation of their cause.  But that choice dismissed the meaning God assigned it. The appearance of a rainbow is a reminder of His covenant promise to never again destroy the entire earth by flood; a flood that was the result of a fore-warned judgement.

Judgement and promise are at opposite ends of the spectrum, so why would anyone choose to embrace a symbol belonging to God and, at the same time, reject the authority of the One who created it?

If God is love, then He has the right to define it’s expression.  And He does. He made male and female, families and friendships and established boundaries to each relationship for the purpose of protection and nurture.  So what happens when we decide to give them a make-over?  Does such an attempt not move us to a place where self is worshipped and God is scorned?  We no sooner consider that question than another arises: Who desires to promote the scorn of God?  Is it not the one who hates God and His creation; the one who is the antithesis of love?  Satan continually tried to alter the course of Christ to prevent Divine Love from redeeming us. Could it be that we are unable to recognize his schemes against God’s creation?

Such questions are labeled hate in a world anxious to vilify those who cannot, by conviction to Truth, comply with the trends of culture.  But honest, civil dissent is not hate.  It is the liberty of reason and speaking truth is the requirement of love.  Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, then all understand the pain that comes from choosing our ways above God’s.  Warning of the perilous consequences of sin is never hatred; it is mercy.

At one time most people understood the origin of the rainbow.  Drift from our knowledge of Scripture has changed that, but neither ignorance nor disbelief alters truth.  Such thinking only makes us vulnerable to deception.  Maybe it’s time to return to the Biblical account of our beginning, of our fall, of judgement and God’s desire for mankind to receive salvation.

Genesis records that in the days of Noah, the wickedness of man had become very great, so great that every intent of thought was only evil.  But Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” and the Lord assigned him the task of building an ark; a means of salvation from the approaching flood of judgement.

An estimated 120 years passed and people witnessed Noah building the great vessel under cloudless skies.  No doubt mockery was commonplace.  But one day it came to abrupt end.  Following the migration of one male and female of every species, only four faithful men and their wives believed God’s Word and entered the ark.  No sooner had the door been sealed than the waters of judgement came in torrential force.

It was a year before the waters receded and the remnant stepped out onto a new earth.  Falling on their knees, Noah and his family worshiped the One who had saved them.  And God spoke. “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”   Genesis 9:13-15

God’s power and righteous authority had been made clear, yet His love provided opportunity for renewed life where self gratification was surrendered in reverent gratitude.

Pride has never been an element of love.  It is without virtue because it centers on vain glory and caters to the fallen nature.  Between that state and the holiness of God stands Jesus.  The “door” to life.  He who created the heavens and earth and breathed life into man, stepped out of Glory into humanity to save us from the corruption of self.  The love He demonstrated on the cross is unequaled and His triumph over death all-powerful.  He alone has authority to put a period at the end of a sentence and end debate.

Many have tried to remove it and revise His words with their own, only to suffer discontent and risk destruction.  Still His love calls them to repentance, to a place of wholeness, forgiveness and the love that is so desperately longed for.

The rainbow is evidence that God is faithful to His Word.  What He says, He does.  A flood will never again destroy the earth.  But a fire is coming.  We have not only been warned, we have been given the opportunity to escape it’s flames.  Yet as in the days of Noah, mankind still mocks the reality of judgement, even in the presence of the cross.

Love was defined on a cross.  The sinless son of God willingly took our transgressions upon Himself so that we might understand the severity of our rebellion, repent, receive forgiveness and be restored as image-bearers of our Creator. The finished work of Jesus is the period at the end of any sentence, for all authority is His.

The promise of the rainbow and the message of the cross are visible demonstrations of the sovereignty and love of God.  They are not ours to redefine. They are reminders extended to a sinful world of judgement and mercy.  What we choose is up to us.