And, finally, I’m sure you share this belief with me that the LOVE OF GOD is His greatest attribute. We site John 3:16, one of the best-known Scriptures anywhere among all people who profess, or proclaim to be Christians, or have any awareness of the New Testament. That verse tells us that, God loved the world so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son. [“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”]

The word “love,” as it is used in the New Testament in relationship to God, is the Greek word “agape.” I know that is a word that most of us are familiar with. It goes well beyond friendship. It is a love that does not seek value; it is a love, rather, that creates value. It is a love that is “in spite of,” and not “because of.” What I mean by that is, for the most part our love is in “response to” or “because of” what someone has done. Our lack of love is because of something, perhaps, that someone has “not done.” But God’s love, this agape love, is “in spite of” what we have done. God’s love was expressed to us “while we were yet sinners,” [Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His Own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”]. God’s love is “poured out” on those who are not loveable, and even on those who are in rebellion to Him [Romans 5:5: “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.”]. That love extends to all. Of course, I’m not suggesting that God overlooks our sins, but rather, that His love led Him to send His Son to die for us, to die for mankind, even “while we were yet sinners.” See also: Ephesians 1:3; 1 Corinthians 1:13; Luke 19:10; Romans 8:31-39; 1 John 4:8.

And because God loves, He also chastens, Hebrews 12, verses 3 through 13 [See verses 5-6: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”].

Another way we can know God is by the ACTIVITY of God. As we add to and expand our compendium [concise but comprehensive summary] of knowledge and information about God, there are things that we can know and things that we can learn of Him from His activity and His dealings with man on earth throughout history. In this regard, there are five major areas of God’s activity that we will look at.

The first activity of God we see is God as CREATOR. He is the Creator of all things. No, it wasn’t the “big bang,” or any of the other “theories” (and I put that word in quotes) that created the world and the universe. Where did all of this come from? The Bible declares—the Bible has the answer: “In the beginning, God created…” Genesis 1:1 [“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”]. And included in that creation is mankind—you and me, Genesis 1:26 and 27 [“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His Own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”]. With purpose, with intent, and as part of His plan, God made you and He made me. See also: Psalm 33:6-11; Proverbs 8:22-31; Isaiah 45:18.

We have not evolved from apes, as is so widely purported. If you haven’t seen a fifth or sixth grade, or middle school science book or biology book in the past 15 or 20 years, you would be very surprised about what our children are being taught, not as “theory,” but as fact. They are not being taught that God created the heavens and the earth or that He created mankind.

I have a fascination with primates and I was watching a program the other night on a study being done with the intelligence of chimpanzees. It was interesting, but I can’t tell you how many times that these cute, cuddly chimps were referred to as “our closest relatives.” Well, about the third time they said that, I turned it off! No, I’m not related to that chimp!

God didn’t just create and go away, as some suggest He did. Rather, God’s next activity is as SUSTAINER of the universe. God sustains His creation—He “keeps things going,” so to speak. Hebrews, chapter 1, verse 3 states that God “upholds the universe by the Word of His power,” [“Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”]. Hebrews 1, verses 1 and 2 tells us it was through Jesus that God created the world, and it’s through Him that He upholds the universe [“God, Who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the worlds;”]. God’s great power and His omniscience are seen in these acts of creation and in His sustaining us. As the Psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork,” Psalm 19, verse 1. See also: Colossians 1:17.

Also, we see that, as part of God’s activity, He is a COVENANT MAKER and a LAWGIVER, Deuteronomy 4, verses 1 and 2 [“Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. You shall not add to the Word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”]. The word “covenant” means “agreement” or “compact.”