The Face of God

I am continually surprised at how our lives which are lived in reality are most often understood in metaphor. Jesus obviously understood this which is why he preached in parables so often. I love the story of the prodigal son because its as if God is saying, "Ok, i know that you have a hard time understanding me, so i want to tell you a story about me...this is how i see me, this is how i want you to see me"
I guess i latch onto that wonderful story because its a glimpse into the glowing heart of God that is so real and so tangible because, if i'm honest, and if all of us are honest, its the life story that we live...its the day to day experience that we all feel; and the metaphor of the story tells us that what we fear in reality (the abandonment and/or anger of God and subsequent fear of retribution and punishment) is unheard of. When God tells the story about who he is in relation to us its a story of boundless love.
In 1 John When God describes himself again he says that he IS love. not that he merely contains love, not that he just shows love, and not even that he is mostly love. But that at the soul of his essence God IS entirely love. its hard for me to grasp but it is out of this love that every other quality of God flows...even his wrath and his punishment of sin.
God, being after his own glory (as he rightfully should be) and in his mercy and love made us to be the most joyful and fulfilled when we are closest to Him. he didn't have to...but he did. When i feel his chastening and punishment its as if he is saying to me: "Scott...i created you to love me...i created you to glorify me and i made you to be the most satisfied when you are seeking me. so why are you over there? what are you doing wandering away? have you forgotten that you are more joyful right here next to me? This is going to upset you and this is going to hurt...maybe quite a bit, but its not because im burning with anger against you...its not because im trying to whip you into shape so you can be a good little Christian. its because i know you will glorify me more...and thus be happier when you get back to where you belong."
1John 4:18 says that perfect love (love that has been completed in Christ by Abiding in Him) casts out all fear of punishment. The supreme command of God is to love Him and to love others. Christ said that that is the embodiment of the Christian life. If we are loving God and our brothers we have no fear of punishment.
Its a far cry from the form of Christianity i live. i live trying to be the good Christian who doesn't sin because "thats what God wants" and i dont want him to be mad and punish me. But i think if we look closely we see that the heart of God is that we respond out of love because of his love for us. All of our obedience and all of our good works for God are meaningless unless they are born out of love. its the cry of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, its the passion of John in 1 John, its the voice of Christ when he says that the whole law (not just the 10 commandments) is summed up in two sayings: Love God with all you are...and then Love man. and i believe that love is the face of God.
John says that the hallmark of the Christian life is not adherance to a set of rules, it isn't marked by all the things we do or dont do, it isn't even defined by the fact that we seek to do good and not do bad things. The supreme quality of a life devoted to God is that we are loving other people. John says in 1 John that we know that we are saved and prove that we love God when we are loving other people. regardless of what they are doing, regardless of if they love us. Conversely, John has the audacity to claim that our failure to love our brothers and sisters in Christ proves that we do not love God and are not abiding in him. (and therefore abiding somewhere apart from God). There is no statement about who deserves our love. there is no mention of when to not love someone. the command is permanent.
We cannot, and should not, discredit ourselves (or anyone else) based on anything else. Christ said that by their fruit we will know other Christians. I dont think its a conincidence that first among the list of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians is LOVE. The petty things dont matter. what does matter is that if we are called to be like our God then the essence of our being, and the focus of our lives, and the yearning of our heart, and the director of our ambitions, and the guidpost for our actions, and the determing factor for our obedience, should be love.