FROM GOD, WITH LOVE
By Kenneth H. Wood
“Whoever does not love does not know God, forGod is love” (1 John 4:8, NRSV).
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is fromabove, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is novariation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).*
These passages from Scripture set forth two majortruths about God. The first is, God is a God of love. The second grows out ofthe first: God gives giftsnot just ordinary gifts but “good”and “perfect” gifts.
Satan has endeavored to obscure the truth about God.Throughout the centuries and in every part of the world he has pictured God asa God of anger, a God who wants to harm His earthly children, a God who watchestheir every move in order to catch them in some mistake, and punish them. Hehas portrayed God as being far more interested in justice than in mercy. Buthere is the truth about God:
“Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
Were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill, and ev’ry man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.”
F. M. Lehman.
More than we do, we need to spend time focusing onour heavenly Father as a God of love. We need to be clear in our own minds whyGod watches us. He watches us closely not to judge us but because He loves usand is interested in our welfare. It is said that when Isaac Watts was but achild he was visiting in the home of an elderly Christian woman who asked himto read a framed Bible text hanging on the wall. The text was Genesis 16:13 asit reads in the King James Version: “Thou God Seest Me.” After Wattshad read it, the saintly woman said: “When you are older, people will tellyou that God is always watching you to see when you do wrong, in order topunish you. I don’t want you to think of it that way. I want you to takethe text home and remember all your life that God loves you so much Hecan’t take His eyes off you.”
I am grateful that my own mother had this concept.Once in early childhood I went to her in tears with the comment, “I’mafraid I’ll never get to heaven!” She took me in her arms and talkedto me about God’s love. Then she said, “I don’t think of God asSomeone who’s trying to keep people out of heaven. I think of Him asSomeone who’s trying to let everyone in that He possibly can.” Yes,though He is a God of justice, He also is a God of mercy. He is a God of love.
God Loves to Give
And because He is a God of love, He loves to give. Inthe Sermon on the Mount Jesus said: “If you then, being evil, know how togive good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is inheaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:11). What anunderstandable comparison! How easy to identify with! Parents enjoy finding“just the right” gifts for their children, especially for the littleones. Their hearts leap with pleasure as their children tear open the brightwrappings and squeal with delight at sight of the gift. Using this joyfulexperience as a base, Jesus continued, “How much more will your Father whois in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Truly, God gives“to those who ask.” But He does more. He gives some gifts toeverybody! Jesus highlighted this when He said: “Your Father in heaven . .. makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the justand on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).
God is a giver! Whatever we havewhether littleor muchit has come to us as a gift from God. The apostle Paul highlightedthis well when he wrote: “We brought nothing into this world” (1Tim.6:7). And David, the Psalmist, declared: “The earth is the Lord’s,and all its fullness” (Ps. 24:1).
I like the story of the little girl who told an olderfriend that she was going to buy her father a pair of slippers for hisbirthday. “Where will you get the money?” the friend asked. Openingher eyes wide, the little girl responded, “Why, Daddy will give me themoney.” And so it is with us. We receive everything from God. Nothing istruly ours. Our “giving” to God is merely “returning.”
“We give Thee but Thine own,
Whatever the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.”Selected.
Ellen White tells us that God “loads us with Hisbenefits. We are indebted to Him for the food we eat, the water we drink, theclothes we wear, the air we breathe. . . . He is a bountiful benefactor andpreserver.
“The sun which shines upon the earth, andglorifies all nature, the weird, solemn radiance of the moon, the glories ofthe firmament, spangled with brilliant stars, the showers that refresh theland, and cause vegetation to flourish, the precious things of nature in alltheir varied richness, the lofty trees, the shrubs and plants, the wavinggrain, the blue sky, the green earth, the changes of day and night, therenewing seasons, all speak to man [us] of his [our] Creator’slove.”Counsels on Stewardship, p. 17.
Other Gifts
Beyond doubt the gift that most people prize aboveall others is the gift of life itself. Of this gift Ellen White wrote: Youngpeople “are holding God’s gift of life. He makes the heart beat; Hegives strength to every faculty” (The Adventist Home, p. 497). Thisprecious gift God asks us to return to Him. His invitation is, “?My son,give Me thine heart; I will keep it pure; I will satisfy its longings with truehappiness’” (ibid.).
In The Acts of the Apostles (p. 71), EllenWhite mentions other gifts“money, time, influence,” all ofwhich are to be used “as a means of advancing the work of thegospel.”
Two of God’s gifts were first bestowed on thehuman race in Edenthe Sabbath and marriage. Of marriage as a gift Mrs.White has written: “Like every other one of God’s good giftsentrusted to the keeping of humanity, marriage has been perverted by sin; butit is the purpose of the gospel to restore its purity andbeauty.”The Adventist Home, p. 100. And of the Sabbath shesays: “It was a gift to all his [Adam’s]posterity.”Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, p. 233. Every believerwho understands and embraces the many spiritual dimensions of the Sabbath truthwill welcome its weekly appearance as a gift of love from the Creator andRedeemer of the human family. They will prize its sacred hours as a pricelessopportunity to become better acquainted with the great God of the universe andHis Son who died for them on the cross.
In this end-time of the world’s history, one ofGod’s special gifts is the three-fold message of Revelation 14. Of thisgift God’s servant declares: “We knew that this present light was thespecial gift of God. The impartation of this gift was the prerogative ofGod.”Selected Messages, book 2, p. 110. Embodied in this giftis the everlasting gospel, the judgment hour message, the true Sabbath, and acall to separate from the traditions and confusion of modern Babylon(Rev.18:4). What a great gift this is! It is a gift not only to be received andenjoyed but to be shared with the entire world.
God’s Best Gift
In this overview of God’s gifts, let us nowplace the gift of Jesus in its rightful placeat the top. This is the giftthat reveals the infinite dimensions of God’s love. “God so loved theworld that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shouldnot perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
If a little child asks mother or father, “Howmuch do you love me?” the parent sometimes responds by extending both armsand spreading them out as far as possible, saying, “This much!”followed by a hug and a kiss. But when we as a lost race of sinners ask God howmuch He loves us, He points to Jesus dying in agony on the cross, and says,“This much!” “The gift of Christ reveals the Father’sheart. It testifies that, having undertaken our redemption, He will sparenothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of thework.”Counsels on Stewardship, p. 14.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but deliveredHim up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us allthings?” (Rom. 8:32).
In a message urging Christians at the Christmasseason to recall “the rich gifts which Providence has so bounteouslybestowed,” Ellen White urged that above all they “remember thepriceless Gift of God’s dear Son. Here is an exhaustless theme forthought.”Signs of the Times, Dec. 8, 1887.
To me, one of the most moving passages in all of Mrs.White’s writings is her description of Christ on the cross. Afterrecounting the fact that Jesus had been arrested at midnight in Gethsemane,“dragged to and fro from palace to judgment hall, . . . mocked, scourged,[and] condemned,” she wrote: “Heaven viewed with grief and amazementChrist hanging upon the cross, blood flowing from His wounded temples, andsweat tinged with blood standing upon His brow. From His hands and feet theblood fell, drop by drop, upon the rock drilled for the foot of the cross. Thewounds made by the nails gaped as the weight of His body dragged upon Hishands. His labored breath grew quick and deep, as His soul panted under theburden of the sins of the world. . . . What a sight for the heavenlyuniverse!”The Desire of Ages, p. 760.
But out of the Gift of the life and death of Jesuscame another great giftjustification for repentant sinners. “Christ,coming to earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character.These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life standsfor the life of men. They have remission of sins that are past, through theforbearance of God. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes ofGod. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divinecharacter, a goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the veryrighteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer inChrist.”Ibid., p. 762.
And, unbelievable though it may seem, God loves Hisredeemed earthly children as much as He loves His own Son. Jesus made thisclear in His final prayer to His Father in Gethsemane when He said: “Youhave . . . loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:23).
Spiritual Gifts
When Jesus returned to heaven, did God cease to loveHis people? Did He stop giving them gifts? No. But in addition to thenumberless gifts that He had already bestowed, He gave a special kind ofgiftsgifts of the Spirit, gifts often referred to as spiritual gifts. InFirst Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul wrote: “Now concerning spiritualgifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed” (v. 1,NRSV). Then, in verse 11 he said: “These are activated by one and the sameSpirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses”(NRSV).
“The gifts He gave were that some would beapostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers”(Eph. 4:11, NRSV). The purpose of the gifts was “to equip the saints forthe work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (v. 12, NRSV).
In this same chapterFirst Corinthians12the apostle compares the church to a body. He states that the church isthe body of Christ (vs. 12, 27) and that every person in the church isimportant, just as every part of the human body is essential. He declares thatChrist is the Head (Eph. 4:15) and that each member fills an essential role inmaking the body function successfully. The work that each member is to do isdetermined by the Holy Spirit. The “Spirit works all these things,distributing to each one individually as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11).
“There are diversities of gifts, but the sameSpirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. There arediversities of activities, but it is the same God who works in all. But themanifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for toone is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, another the word ofknowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, toanother gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working ofmiracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to anotherdifferent kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues” (vs.4-10).
Let us note two facts: 1) These spiritual gifts arenot merely natural talents that come through physical inheritance, and 2) theHoly Spirit decides who is to receive them. The Spirit may take into accountthe natural aptitudes or abilities of the one on whom the spiritual gift is tobe bestowed, but not necessarily. The Spirit knows the overall needs of thebody, Christ’s church, and makes the choice based on that need. Chaoswould result if spiritual gifts were distributed randomly or in response topersonal request. The human body is not all eyes, ears, arms, or legs. Neithercan the church body be all pastors, administrators, healers, or prophets.
The Gift of Prophecy
As we have already noted, the gift of prophecy isamong the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:10, 28; Eph. 4:11). Theimportance of this gift becomes clear when we remember that in Old Testamenttimes prophets were called “seers.” This is mentioned in First Samuel9:9: “Formerly in Israel, anyone who went to inquire of God would say,?Come, let us go to the seer’; for the one who is now called a prophet wasformerly called a seer” (NRSV). Using Paul’s illustration, we mightsay that prophets are the eyes of the church, which is the body of Christ. Theysee what others do not see. They see behind the scenes in the great controversybetween Christ and Satan. They see dangers from false doctrines and falseteachers, and by revealing Satan’s plans they enable the church to avoidretreat or defeat. No wonder the writings of prophets often contain theexpression, “I saw.” As the prophet Amos wrote: “Surely the LordGod does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants theprophets” (Amos 3:7).
The Scriptures abound with incidents that reveal howGod has given His prophets special “eyes,” and has worked throughthese inspired messengers for the benefit of His people. In the days of Elishathe king of Syria was conducting war against Israel. Hoping to ambush the kingof Israel, “he consulted with his servants, saying, My camp will bein such and such a place’” (2 Kings 6:8). But the prophet sent awarning to the king, “Beware that you do not pass this place, forthe Syrians are coming down there’” (v. 9).
Several times the secret, evil plans of the Syrianking were frustrated in this way by Elisha. “Therefore the heart of theking of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servantsand said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king ofIsrael?’ And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king; butElisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words thatyou speak in your bedroom’” (vs. 11, 12). What a blessing it was forGod’s people to have a seer! And among the spiritual gifts promised to thechurch this side of the cross, the gift of prophecy is one of the mostvaluable.
The prophetic witness becomes increasingly importantas the church approaches the world’s final crisis. John the Revelatordescribed Satan’s attack against the church by saying, “The dragonwas enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of heroffspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of JesusChrist” (Rev. 12:17). Of this time Jesus said, “False christs andfalse prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, ifpossible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24).
“Those who endeavor to obey all the commandmentsof God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order toendure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealedin His Word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of Hischaracter, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None butthose who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will standthrough the last great conflict.”The Great Controversy, pp.593, 594.
In a very real sense, the Holy Scriptures in theirentirety are the testimony of Jesus and are a product of the Spirit ofprophecy. This is clear from Revelation 19:10 that records the response of theangel when John fell at his feet to worship him. The angel protested, saying,“See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of yourbrethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony ofJesus is the spirit of prophecy.’”
But in addition to the written Word, throughout pastages when God’s people faced new challenges, trials, or dangers, the HolySpirit inspired men and women and gave them the “testimony of Jesus”to meet the unique needs of the hour. Uriah Smith, well-known pioneer of theAdvent movement, likened the role of these prophets to that of a pilot whoboards a ship as it approaches the port of its destination. While on the highseas the captain, with his experience and general expertise, is capable ofguiding the ship safely. But as the ship enters the narrow channel of a foreignport, with giant rocks possibly concealed beneath the surface of the sea, thecaptain slows his ship and welcomes a pilot aboard. He recognizes that thespecialized situation requires someone with added skill and more completeknowledge of the dangers and challenges that lie ahead. By accepting the pilot,the captain is cooperating with the owner of the ship who arranged for thisspecial help before the ship began its voyage. (Editorial in the Review andHerald, Jan. 13, 1863.)
Special Help in the End-time
Thus, when God’s last-day church needed specialhelp to meet Satan’s final attacks successfully, God gave visions to ayoung woman named Ellen Harmon. Beginning immediately after the GreatDisappointment of 1844, Jesus inspired young Ellen to help His people regainconfidence in the way the Lord had led them. She joined with them in carefulstudy of the Bible, the “testimony of Jesus” that God had providedfor seekers of truth. Often they spent whole nights in prayer and study,endeavoring to understand God’s will as found in the Scriptures. And Godrewarded them with additional light and a wonderful sense of His presence. Attimes, however, when the group could not agree on the meaning of a Biblepassage, God used Ellen to define what was error and what was truth. The usualresult was unity. In 1846 Ellen married James White, a young man who had beenmuch involved in proclaiming the soon coming of Christ. Gradually, under theurging of the Holy Spirit, Ellen White wrote out the messages and counsel shereceived from the Lord. These messages helped the early Adventists avoidfanaticism, unite on doctrine and organization, and attempt to reach the entireworld with the message of Revelation 14.
Of her experience she testified: “The Spirit ofGod rests upon me with power, and I cannot but speak the words given me. I darenot withhold one word of testimony. . . . I speak the words given me by a powerhigher than human power, and I cannot, if I would, recall [retract] onesentence. In the night season the Lord gives me instruction in symbols, andthen explains their meaning. He gives me the word, and I dare not refuse togive it to the people.”The 1888 Materials, pp. 578, 579.
During her 70-year ministry Mrs. White wroteapproximately 25 million words, resulting in 100,000 printed pages. Herwritings included letters, diaries, books, and articles in periodicals. Amongher best-known works are The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satanand Steps to Christ, which has been translated into more than 140languages. Not surprisingly, the theme of the first chapter of Steps toChrist is God’s great love for our world and the human race. Both inwriting and in speaking she emphasized this theme, ever pointing to Jesus andHis matchless charms as the greatest evidence of God’s love. The overalltheme of her writings is the great controversy between Christ and Satan, whichbegan in heaven and has increased with ferocity here on earth. In line withthis theme, she made clear that every human being is involved in thecontroversy. “To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him backto the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body,mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might berealizedthis was to be the work of redemption. This is the object ofeducation, the great object of life.”Education, pp. 15, 16.
Burdened to win souls and give guidance in characterdevelopment, she wrote books on a wide range of subjectseducation,healthful living, family life, temperance, evangelism, sacred history, medicalministry, and other subjects that might help advance the cause of truth andprepare a people for the return of Christ.
At times students of the Bible compare the Adventmovement to the experience of Israel in leaving Egypt and journeying to thePromised Land. In this connection they quote Hosea 12:13: “By a prophetthe Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.”We all know how God used Moses to guide His people from Egypt to Canaan. EveryAdventist should know also the exciting story of how God used Ellen Whiteduring the seven decades of her ministry, and how He is still using her todaythrough her writings. There is much truth in the statement that is commonlyrepeated: “Without Ellen White there would be no Adventist church as weknow it today.” God knew that His last-day church would need special help,and, like the great Gift-giver that He is, He provided it in what Adventistsoften speak of as the “Spirit of prophecy.”
Like the early church in the city of Corinth, it canbe said of the remnant church: “I thank my God always concerning you forthe grace of God which was given you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched ineverything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony ofChrist was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waitingfor the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor.1:4-7).
As the apostle Paul considered the gift of Jesus andthe wonderful evidences of God’s grace in the Corinthian church, heexclaimed: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor.9:15). And today, as we review God’s infinite love and the countless giftsthat flow from that love, we can well borrow Paul’s language and say,“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gifts, especially the Gift ofJesus and the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of prophecy!”
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*All Biblequotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV), unless otherwiseindicated.
