God's Love Letter

The single most powerful book in the history of the world is the Bible. That fact dumbfounds its detractors, and it is taken for granted by believers, and for the same reason. It claims to be the Word of God, who is our Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. If, as I believe, it is the God's Word to us, it should be powerful, because it is a message from the heavenly realms. The Bible has long been revered as holy by those who believe in God, and feared as seditious by those who think it is a bunch of fairy tales and myths.

What is the central thrust of this most amazing piece of literature? What message, above all else, is God sharing with us in this collection of histories, poems, laws, prophecies, biographies, and letters? I think the Bible is a love letter from the Creator to each of us. It is the story of God being jilted by the creation He loves and with whom He wants to have a relationship, and then God doing all He can to woo us back to Him. There are many other things that God teaches us in the Bible, but the main message is that He loves us. His constant love and the fickleness of people is the continuing theme of this multifaceted book.

You can trace this love for us throughout. God called Abraham and promised to make him a great nation so that He could be their God and they would be His people. He led Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt to establish them in the Promised Land so that He could be their God and they could be His people. Time after time, Israel rejected God and chased after other gods, but God always sent a prophet who would tell them that although there would be punishment, God still loved them and wanted them to be His people. The coming of Jesus, His sacrificial death and His resurrection were all to show us how much God loves us and wants to be our God as He calls us to be His people. God is self-sufficient. He does not need us, yet He chooses to love us and He desires our love. Over and over again He says it. The closest human experience to compare it to is the deep emotion of a lover who has been wronged and yet longs for reconciliation with his/her loved one. Here are the passages yielded by a very quick Bible study of the phrase "be their God."

The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God." Genesis 17:8 (NIV)

Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. Exodus 29:45 (NIV)

But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.' " Leviticus 26:45 (NIV)

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Jeremiah 24:7 (NIV)

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 (NIV)

They will be my people, and I will be their God. Jeremiah 32:38 (NIV)

Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:20 (NIV)

Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' " Ezekiel 14:11 (NIV)

They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 37:23 (NIV)

My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Ezekiel 37:27 (NIV)

What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
2 Cor. 6:16 (NIV)

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. Hebrews 8:10 (NIV)

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Rev. 21:3 (NIV)

This is what makes the Bible so necessary to us. He loves you and me and, in spite of all our sin, apathy, and rebellion, He simply wants us to love Him back. We are invited to live in relationship with the God of the universe. I am accepting that invitation. How about you?