Jesus’ Primary Attribute: Love
“The earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.” ~ Psalm 33:5
We have spoken before of the fact that Jesus embodies a combination of dissimilar attributes and that this union should inspire our astonishment and admiration. However, in the mingling of these characteristics of Jesus, there is one part of his nature that illustrates the sum of his glory, and that is love.
Jesus is, and declared himself to be, God in the flesh, so let us look at the first time God came to earth to communicate his nature in spoken and written words to mankind when he met Moses on Mount Sinai.
Exodus 34:6-7
“5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love [chesed] and faithfulness [emeth], 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’”
The very first thing God spoke about himself and his nature was that he is merciful and not just slightly loving, but “abounding” in steadfast love. This suggests an overflow of love, more love than is even needed (if that were possible). In John 3:16 Jesus uttered the unforgettable phrase that “God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”
His love is deep and passionate. It pursues until it finds us like a hunter in the field. Except in this case, rather than killing his prey, this hunter is willing to die just to capture us with his love.
There are other attributes of Jesus that people like to focus on, (such as his power and sovereignty, or, when thinking of God - his justice) but if we lose sight of that which he labels his primary attribute, then I believe we come away with a distorted view of his nature. And if our goal is to be like Jesus, we would do well to understand his primary descriptor fully so that we can emulate it.
At this point, we need to take a step back though, and define “Love” since this is probably the most misunderstood word in the English language. The Greek language has multiple words for Love, which I think is wise, but let’s look at the Hebrew language as that was the language of the Old Testament. The word here translated, “steadfast love” is an interesting word in Hebrew - “chesed.”
I first encountered this word in Psalm 33:4-6
“4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness [emuwnah]. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love [chesed] of the LORD. 6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.”
Now Jesus was identified by John as the Word of God, and in John 1:1-3 he confirmed that Jesus, as the Word of God, was with God in the beginning and that the Universe was made through Jesus: “all things were made through him.” Paul agrees with this in Colossians 1:15-16, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.” So, by the Word of the LORD (who is Jesus), the universe was made, and he is a God of steadfast love. Therefore, it follows that the God of Love would have left the imprint of his primary nature on all of creation. The whole earth then is necessarily full of steadfast love. This word, translated “steadfast love” is “chesed” and indicates covenant love including goodness, kindness, mercy, and faithfulness. It is the word used for love after taking the marriage vow vs. “ahava” which is used for love before the marriage vow. Both Psalm 33 and Exodus 34:6-7 also make reference to faithfulness “emuwnnah” or “emeth” - both carry the sense of firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, and steadiness. Remember that Jesus is God: the author of reality, and Truth is that which conforms to reality. So, “emeth” carries that weight of firm truth.
God works assuredly, he does not falter, his word can be trusted, it conforms to reality and does not change.
His firm and trustworthy love of justice and faithfulness is shown in creation. The orderliness of the heavens, the structure of the continents and oceans (the existence of mathematics!) show that he is a God of order, power and absolute law. When he speaks, things ARE. There is no wavering, no doubt. His word is real, firm and True, just like the laws that govern nature. And his love is unwavering, it can be absolutely relied upon. Moreover, his love is shown in this world to the just and the unjust - even those in deep sin can awaken to a glorious sunrise and eat fruit cultivated by his generous rain.
As you can see, the God who loves righteousness and justice and who’s love and unwavering reality is reflected in the very laws ordering all of creation, must love in a different way than we tend to think of love. There is acceptance, yes, but also his love pursues and changes us.
Jesus loves us to much to let us remain in sin, doing that which he knows will harm us.
Today, we might call this “tough love” - a love that looks for the best in us and is not satisfied to let us go our own way to our detriment. A parent showing tough love might allow a child to really struggle to accomplish something that the child didn’t think he could do, and then smile with great pride when the child finds that he can. The same parent would not overlook discipline, knowing that through discipline, the child will learn right from wrong and will avoid painful consequences from poor decisions later in life. Jesus loves in this way, and his love is a promise, it does not depart like romantic love. Jesus will continue to love as an act of faithfulness, and his love is expressed in actions toward us, not just a feeling. Finally, chesed is sacrificial. There is no covenant love without a sacrifice. In this case, Jesus sacrificed his own life to seal his unremitting love-covenant with us.
It is actually because of Jesus’ love (not in spite of it) that he cannot tolerate sin, and his judgement will be dealt out against sin in his world. Jesus wants us to spend eternity with him because he knows that is where we will be truly happy. He also knows that sin separated us from that eternal relationship with him, so he sacrificed his own life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and restore us to relationship with him. It is because of this that he can be a God who hates sin, loves justice and is also full of the most incomparable, all-consuming love. Indeed it is this love that is the pinnacle of his varied and glorious attributes.
That is the Jesus we worship. That is the Jesus worth admiring.
~Joshua