The Destructive Nature of God's Love

The other day, I was driving home from work, listening to a song by Tenth Avenue North. A line in the song says -

"He'll break open the sky to save those who call upon His name"

The adjective that comes to mind when I reflect on these words is destructive. That's why I decided to title this blog entry "The Destructive Nature of God's Love". It just feels destructive to me - in a good way.

These lyrics remind me of Psalms 18 in the Old Testament. The Psalm is a song of David describing how God had saved him from all of his enemies including King Saul.

It says-

God opened the heavens and came down.
Dark clouds were under His feet.
He got on the cherubim and flew.
The wings of the wind lifted Him up.

In these verses, I see God getting active. He takes action. He gets on the cherubim, punches it into gear, and hits the gas.

The Lord thundered from heaven.
The voice of the Most High God was heard.
He shot his arrows and scattered our enemies.
He sent great flashes of lighting and chased the enemies away.

God was loud, fired arrows and lightning, and scattered David's enemies. They couldn't contend with Him. God took care of business.

This is the destructive love of God. This is who is on your side. He will part the sky, jump down on cherubim, and take care of business. That is who He is. That is what He does.

The Car Salvage Industry and Christ

Guest Writer: My Friend Nick V.

As I think about the car salvage industry, in which I work, and the truth that I have been taught, I can't help but think about the similarities I find in the salvage business and the true story of salvation. I'll try to make this entertaining. We are all made in God's Image, and at one point, we were all brand new cars -- original merchandise bearing the glory of God. Then, the fall of man took place, and from that time, all the way up to today, we have been tainted by sin -- in need of lots of cleanup -- like a car that’s been salvaged.

Now is where it gets good though... We know that the parts we don't "salvage" or "SAVE" eventually goes to be "PD'd" or crushed. The Bible says that all have sinned and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23 and 6:23).

You see, when a part is damaged, they have to put bondo in it, it takes lots of repair, but it is never the original merchandise again. Also with us, no matter how much "bondo" or good things we try to do or learn, we can never get back to our original merchandise condition. (If righteousness could be gained by the law, then Christ died in vain. Galatians 2:21).

So, back to the crusher. When the cars go to the crusher, it makes me think of these verses:

"He was crushed for our sins."

"It was the Lord's will to crush him, to make him a guilt offering"(Isaiah 53).

So, in an act of sheer grace and mercy, God sends His only Son, Jesus, and goes to the crusher for us -- to make us original merchandise forever!!

So, next time you think about salvage parts, think about the fact that you were once original merchandise, then needed some cleanup, destined for the crusher, but then salvaged, saved, and turned into original merchandise, forever and ever and ever.

"Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has gone, behold, all things are new!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17