“In the beginning, [Love] created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 KJV, paraphrase mine
I’m doing an experiment with Scripture for the next few weeks. Come with me. Read, reflect, comment and share.
The Bible says that God is love. The word “is” can link the subject (God in this case) either to its description or to its definition, identity, or equivalent. I’ve always been taught love in this verse as a description or characteristic of God. But I’m beginning to wonder if that’s all there is to it. One powerful lesson I’ve learned from Bible study is that God’s word often has more than one meaning at the same time. If that’s true, then this verse could mean God’s character is love, as in God does love, and it could also mean God equals love.
I’m wondering what will happen if I replace the word God in Scripture with the word Love. Will the verses still mean the same? And if so, will Bible concepts be easier to understand and follow? How will that shift my understanding of what God is? Or what love is? And most importantly, how will new understandings of God and of love shift me?
So let’s begin in the beginning at the creation of everything and highlight a few key verses. The first verse says God made the heavens and the earth. Changing God to love is a new thought. Reread the verse above. In the beginning Love created the heavens and the earth. Wow. That hits different. I’ve been taught that God is an intelligent and intentional being, while love is a concept or a force, like a set of options God could choose. This Creator God could be anything I imagine, including malevolent and selfish at times.
But Love as the intelligent, intentional Being who created everything shifts the ideas I brought with me to the reading and directs me to a benevolent Creator. Love creates. And surely Love creates good things using good methods for good purposes. I can’t wait to read more!
God, can I call you Love?
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