God is for Us
By Don Campbell
In the Garden of Eden Satan pictured God to Eve as a sly, shifty competitor of man who wanted to keep all of the good things in life for himself (Gen 3:1-5). Some professed gospel preachers picture God as venomous, vindictive, and volatile. Their gospel is anything but good news.
Do they bellow, "God is a venomous viper, coiled to strike"? Do they insist, "God is vindictive, never forgetting a wrong"? Do they charge, "God is a volatile God who will burst unpredictably into fits of anger"? They would never use such words. However, a message is communicated 7% by words, 38% by tone of voice, and 55% by other factors.
If the messenger is adversarial, the message will be perceived as adversarial. Is God against us? The apostle Paul wrote, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31). The word if does not does not express doubt. In verses 28-30 Paul has demonstrated that God is for us: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he predestined, these he also called; whom he called, these he also justified; and whom he justified, these he also glorified." The bad-news messenger might counter, "Ah! But this is only for those who love him." But we who love him have not always loved him, and he was for us even then: "God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8).
If God is for us, who then is against us?
Not Christ (Rom 4:34)
Not the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:26-27)
Not the angels (Luke 15:7, 10)
Our adversaries are:
The accuser, Satan (Rev 12:7-12; 1 Pet 5:8-10)
Those who rob us of confidence to stand before God by presenting him as venomous, vindictive, and volatile
Hear the apostle of love: "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in he day of judgment; because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:16-19).
Hateful, haughty, and harsh preaching cannot communicate the love of God.
Amen