Genesis: The Overwhelming, Never-Ending, Reckless Love of God

The patriarchs are often seen as the great forefathers of Israel. That is what we are taught in Sunday school. We read about Abraham as this great man of faith in the New Testament, how his trust in God just never failed. But is this true? After reading Genesis, I am not so sure.

Abraham

Abraham received God’s promise multiple times. The first time he doesn’t believe it because he continues to be childless (15:1-3) and God gives him the promise that his very own son shall be his heir. After that, Abram and Sarai take matter in their own hands. To ensure Abram’s offspring he has sex with Sarai’s slave, who had no choice in the matter. God then appears to him again and makes it clear that God’s intention is that Sarah will give Abraham a son, Isaac. God will bless her and establish his covenant through Isaac. Abraham laughs. He doesn’t want to believe it. He falls on his face laughing, that is how funny it is to him. He even tells Abimelech, the king of Gerar, that she is his sister. Instead of trusting in God he decides to save himself. Making his own plans, constantly forgetting God’s promises. Only when God asks him to offer his son Isaac, 45-55 years after he received the promise (12:1-3), he believes God’s promise.

How then can it be that Paul in Romans 4 describes Abraham’s belief in God’s promises as follows: “not weakening” (4:19), it did not waver through unbelief (4:20), he was “fully convinced” (4:21). How do we reconcile the Genesis account of Abraham’s faith and the Romans account of Abrahams’ faith?

The Book of Genesis

Maybe Romans 4 is the heavenly perspective on Abraham’s life. His faith wasn’t perfect, just like his works weren’t perfect. Throughout Genesis we continuously see God pursuing people that weren’t perfect. They were far from perfect. They were murderers (4:8; 34:25-29), committed adultery (16:4; 38:18-19), rapists (9:22), deceivers (27:18-25), etc. Adam and Eve wanted to determine themselves what was good or evil. They separated themselves from God and from there things escalated. Still God wants to be with them and protect them. Throughout the book of Genesis, God keeps on repeating his promise:

14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (28:14-15)

Why?

And every time he does, the question is why. How does God see people? Does God see them as failures beyond hope? Even Jacob recognized that: “I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant” (32:10a). No, even right after the fall, God promises hope (3:14-15). God is not indifferent to their actions. He is not distant. He is the God who sees. The God who saw a cast out slave dying in the desert, gave her water and blessed her and her offspring (16:7-16). But they do not directly see that in their lives.

God’s grace does not just begin in the New Testament, it is there right from the beginning. God’s grace is evident in Genesis. God blesses murderers, deceivers, and rapists to be with them. God loves them, even though they reject Him. His love is so overwhelming.

What does this mean for us today?

Ever felt like a failure? Someone who just can’t have enough love for other people? Who just keeps on removing him-/herself from God? As a Christian we learn about God’s love. That is what is preached in church. Jesus died for our sins on the cross and all that. But do we really see the full magnitude of it? His love is not just something that vanishes when we do something wrong. His love today is still for the murderers, child rapists, drug dealers and you. His love is unconditional.

If we base our idea of love on society around us, we will never fully grasp God’s love for us. We love other people when we are attracted to them and when they make us feel good. And when this changes we fall out of love and after a while it doesn’t work anymore. We love based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. A love that comes closest to the love God has for us might be the love that parents of for their children. Parents often continue to love their children through good times and bad, and don’t stop loving them if they don’t meet the expectations that they may have for them. Their love for them doesn’t stop when they don’t “feel” love for them. This is similar to God’s love for us, but God’s love transcends the human definition of love to a point that is hard for us to comprehend.

So, let’s stop thinking that God’s love is fluctuating, changing from one moment to the next, depending on our actions. His love is far greater than we think.