THESIS #56 of 95 - God's qualities such as love, holiness, compassion and kindness are superior in degree but the same in nature to those of man's, for every good quality man possesses originates from Him
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
Heb1:3a (Christ) is the radiance of God’s glory and the EXACT REPRESENTATION of His nature
1Jn4:7: Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God
COMMENTS
“I AM who I am: the God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in faithful love and constancy, maintaining his faithful love to thousands, forgiving fault crime and sin, yet letting nothing go unchecked, punishing the parent’s fault in the children and in the grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation [Ex34:6-7].
That is God’s nature; these are His judgements which are evidently right and just and in accordance with human reason. That is, they are exactly how one would expect a loving and just God to behave in judgement. There surely can be no better theologian than God Himself, so if anyone has presented a markedly different picture, he is no theologian at all however revered he may have become. We may be mystified by God’s ways at times, but this is a Being that we as human beings can truly love and adore as well as fear. Not just for His grace and mercy towards us, but because He is genuinely good from the perspective of those created after His own likeness.
YHWH is forgiving, tender and compassionate just as a saintly human is consistently tender and compassionate, only more so. Like a good parent He will have a special affection for His own (or His Son’s) immediate family but will show magnanimity towards all, for that is His nature. As such He makes full allowance for the human weakness unavoidably inherited at birth; toleration being a vital ingredient of love as any parent will know. At the same time, He will take vengeance on behalf of His people (2Thes1:6), being all who fear Him and seek to do justice in accordance with the revelation they have received from Him. And in John’s words, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God – but not all do (1Jn3:12; Mt15:13).
Truly, we shall praise God with uprightness of heart when we have learnt of His righteous judgements [ יִצְחָ֔ק].
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