As I begin to read through the bible with a friend my heart is overwhelmed from the begining of the love of God. I have gotten to the point in the love story where God causes the rain to flood the land and makes a covanent with Noah saving his family. So far one thing continues to stand out in my heart. God: Creator, Almighty, Ruler of the heavens and the earth, The one who speaks live into existance by His WORD, All poweful...is also a God who from the beginning of creation woos and loves mankind. Woos and loves each child of his. I see a God who desires above anything to be in relationshp with us. A God that even in his wrath and holiness offers mercy and grace. A God that is perfectly loving, perfectly wrathful and holy at the same time. A God that gives second chances.
We see it first with Adam and Eve. From the start God walked with them, talked with them in perfect harmony. They were created in His likeness from Him and for Him. However, when Even chose to listen to the serpent and eat of the tree she was not suppose to- that perfect relationship was broken- a sting we still feel today. However God's response from a holy God seemed to shock me. He could have called them out in the middle of their shame, exposed them, yelled at them, turned his back on them...yet He loved them and wooed them still. Instead, He gently rebukes them, by asking them questions- inviting them to share what they did. Yes, God already knew they had eaten the fruit, but He still asks them what they did and where they were because He wanted them to trust Him, to enter back into relationship with Him, to come out of hiding. Instead of letting them sit in their nakedness and shame He sews fig leaves together for them and clothes them. Now are they disciplined? Yes. Are there still consequences for sin? Yes. (which we still have today). However, does God's love for them change? No.
Same thing happens with the story of Cain and Able. There is a conversation that I think takes place but we only see part of it. God is asking him to do the right thing, chose the right way, not to let sin master him. He is wooing Cain to himself. When Cain choses to sin against the Lord, yes he is corrected, rebuked and disciplined, however God still blesses him with children and life. God does the same thing with Cain as He did with Adam and Eve by questioning their hearts, prompting them to look at their own sin, no accusing but wooing them to turn back to their God, to turn back to the relationship they were created for. In our sin even now, God woos us and loves us perfectly whild disicplining us so that we return to our relationship with him. Does that disciple sometimes hurt and last for awhile? Yes. But remember God is perfectly holy and just as well as loving.
When we reach the story of Noah we see that God has looked upon the earth and sees that everyone is corrupt and full of violence. Yet, He looked upon Noah and saw a man who was blameless among the people of his time and walked with God. And yet, He issues the flood. Did God's heart towards man that he created change with the flood? Did he stop loving them? No. He is still loving and merciful- he spared Noah and his family- but he is also holy and pure. There was no atonment for sin yet, no sacrfice of animals or Jesus- a perfect God could not look upon the sin and depravity any longer. He is and was holy. Yet because he loved mankind becuase he created them in His image, He spared Noah and his family. He did not leave out any details. Everything was orchestrated perfectly. Did God's heart break when the flood came? You better believe it. Enough so that he immediatly made a covanent with Noah and said that he would never again rain down waters so strong as to wipe out everything. He is loving. He is pursing. He is Holy. He is Just. All of these work perfectly together in who He is, and in how He relates to his creation- to each of the people we just read about- but in also how he relates to you and me. He still woos us, loves us, pursues us. He will do anything to get our attention and draw us back to our first love, our bridegroom...
