The Glory of a Grieving God: Part II

It is the absurdities revolving around this paradox that make it what it is: a divine unconditional gift freely given without regard for whether or not it is returned by a reciprocation of an authentically free self-giving disposition. This gift is essentially a self-sacrifice of divine love, characterized as absurd by the human understanding in view of a love willing to risk being grieved by unfaithfulness in spite of God’s absolutely unwavering faithfulness all for the sake of the realization of authentic infinite-finite communion rooted in mutual self-giving. This mutual self-giving is often identified throughout our journey as a dialectical circle of love that brings to completion the love of God and thereby truly manifests the glory of the God who is Agape (I Jn. 4:16-19). The end of this passage states the following which is an affirmation of the absolute paradox of God’s unconditionally loving disposition towards all of us: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love. We love because he loved us first” (I Jn. 4:18-19). This reciprocation of love is a freely poured out self-giving that itself is fueled by the love of God that invokes this response in the heart of the sinner who comes to wholeheartedly believe in the veracity of this absolute paradox. It invokes weeping to hear Christ say from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing,” in view of one’s conviction that he or she is rightfully deserving of eternal punishment, seeing as he or she has not just been unfaithful to their neighbor and themselves, but ultimately has been unfaithful to the one “who loved them first” and never stopped loving them with ‘His’ loyal love that is unconditionally faithful in spite of how our stubborn prodigalness has grieved ‘Him’ so (Luke 15:11-32, 23:34; I Jn. 4:10, 19).

One who wholeheartedly risks believing in this absolute paradox, can only weep at the Loving One’s inhuman response of not just forgiveness but lavishly pouring out His love upon the unfaithful beloved who has returned with the desire to be true to the covenant: “Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’” (Luke 15:22-23). With such a sinner who comes to believe in this absolute paradox, comes to believe in the absurd notion that God not only does not give us what we deserve for our repeated offences, licentious faithlessness, and decadent prostitution, but wholeheartedly pours Himself out to the truly repentant faithless love with the aim at establishing a lasting intimate infinite-finite koinonia of the God-Relationship, with this “person the love of God is made complete, for the fear of punishment has been cast out” in view of what the absolute paradox has shown God to truly be (I Jn. 4:18). Now that God has bought back the adulterous beloved, the beloved when she believes in this absolute paradox and holds firm to this conviction comes to the subsequent response of declaring, “You bought me to set me free, now all I want to do is be your slave and to pour my life out You as an offering. Though such an offering of my life, is a gift I can only give if You teach me how to give freely of myself to You, just as You have given freely Yourself to me.” 

The absurdity of this absolute paradox of Agape as God’s existence defines it is that this agape is not contingent upon reciprocation of agape on the part of the beloved, and when this reciprocal disposition towards manifesting agape is lacking on the part of the beloved the grief of God is proof that the gift of agape always remains a gift unconditionally offered and unconditionally given. This agape is wholly alien to any such agape that can be self-produced by the created heart of one who is not agape, for this divine, uncreated fabric of agape is essentially invested with a yearning that willingly accepts the possibility of self-sacrifice, as well as rejection and adulterous unfaithfulness by the beloved (Ez. 16-18). Evidence of this is the wounded Lover who is Agape crying out to the adulterous beloved, who stubbornly and hardheartedly remains upon or apostates back to the wide path of destruction, “Repent and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity! Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I take no delight in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live” (Ez. 18:30-32). Even with such unintentional results of the adulterous unfaithfulness of the beloved, nevertheless, the glory of God is not just remains manifested but also does not to the least extant suffer detraction. This is because the grieving responses communicated by the Loving One confirms that ‘He’ being Agape is an absolutely faithful unshakeable actuality, such that ‘His’ unconditional love towards the faithless beloved remains ever the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. ‘His loyal love endures forever, for your loyal love extends beyond the sky, and your faithfulness reaches the clouds” (Ps. 100:5, 108:4). 

In view of this blessed absurdity that is God’s disposition of Agape, it is confirmed that God always remains true to ‘Himself’ as the unconditionally loyal Loving One, who freely gives ‘Himself’ via ‘Himself’ to all that will welcome being wholly committed to the koinonia that is the central focus of the infinite-finite dialogue the Loving One has initiated with ‘His’ creation. Though, when the beloved comes to the point of wholeheartedly refusing to commit or withdraw the initial commitment, the grieving response of God is not an injury to God that leaves ‘His’ honor tainted but rather is a testament of who God is that magnifies ‘His’ loyal love that endures forever. This is because God is essentially one who gives of ‘Himself’ without regard for a contingency on the necessity of reciprocation of mutual self-giving on the part of the ‘beloved.’ This self-giving is itself ‘His’ true nature that can never be revoked except when this self-giving is continually met with a shunning response of a stubborn individual, who finally whether consciously or unconsciously chooses to have nothing to do with the wedding feast of the Lamb, but instead to be committed to other created lovers. 

Now, the joy and grief associated with God’s contextually manifested ontological state of giving as it immanently unfolds in this infinite-finite dialogue via ‘His’ contextualized Word and Breath are eternal affirmations that passionately proclaim that this self-giving of God is permeated by the agape of self-giving in all its relations in this infinite-finite dialogue. This holds absolutely true throughout the unfolding of this infinite-finite dialogue, and as a result proves God’s absolutely conditional faithfulness towards all both the faithful and the unfaithful alike, for any such partiality or wavering would between a contradiction to ‘His’ very infinite I AM.  Therefore, all-throughout this unfolding infinite-finite dialogue, God is love and ‘His’ immanent presence continually manifests this as ‘He’ eternally participates in this story. 

As the Scriptures allude to here, this infinite-finite dialogue is most definitely depicted as a love story. Elsewhere in Scripture we read the following confirmation of what has here been said: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us! But to your name bring honor, for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness” (Ps. 115:1). So let us not forget that to bring true honor to God in such a way that glorifies ‘Him’ is to not just testify of ‘His’ loyal love and faithfulness must to be instruments in the hands of God in making ‘His’ loyal love and faithfulness manifested by the reciprocation of this disposition of Agape in the unfolding of our dialogues with others to be a reflection of this love story that the love of God may be made complete. In such way, our very lives will proclaim, “not to us be attributed the name of the Loving One, but may it always be manifest that I can only be a loving one when the Loving One reveals to me ‘His’ love, teaches me how to love as ‘He’ loves, and that my relationship with ‘Him’ would be so intimate that ‘He’ would love others through me by ‘His’ Spirit. Only God alone should be attributed with the designation the Loving One, and this is the designation that we are to proclaim to the world so that “the name of our God would be honored, in recognition of ‘His’ loyal love and faithfulness.”

Such a love story as this is fittingly initiated by a spark in the heart of God, a gleam in His ‘eye,’ that composed a dream about the possibility of an eternally unfolding God-relationship, between one who is Infinite and those who are finite. This dream composed totally and completely by the One who became our Creator was formed around its central theme which is the God-relationship. This is a theme composed by ‘Him’ for the sake of giving birth to the actuality of infinite-finite koinonia that is a deeply personal intimate communion between God and us ‘His’ most beloved creation, both on a corporate and on an individual level. It is dream that involves ‘Him’ lowering ‘Himself’ to become like us as a finitely contextualized intermediary presence within the bounded realm that we inhabit, so that a koinonia of theosis could be possible with that which is other than ‘Him’. We should, therefore, consider with deep fondness the notion of the infinite-finite dialogue. 

By the testimony of our guide, our God reveals Himself as a God who grieves in response to the hardness of the beloved’s heart and the stubbornness of his or her will that is set against receiving His outstretched arm of grace, figuratively speaking. Let us here take a step back and reflect upon the revealed truth that our God is a God who grieves in response to what occurs during the unfolding oikonomia of Finitude. This responsiveness corresponds with God’s immanent participation in the unfolding of this oikonomia of finitude via ‘His’ contextualized Word and Breath, who are depicted in Scripture as contextually grieving and being affectionately distressed in the Narrative of Finitude, particularly in response to those who remain hardheartedly stubborn (Is. 63:10; Matt. 26:37-38; Mark 3:5, 14:24; Jn. 11:32-35; Eph. 4:30; Rm. 15:30). This grief flows out of a thoroughly loving heart that loves unconditionally. The immutable faithfulness of the love of God holds true even in spite of the repeated unfaithfulness of the stubborn beloved who hardens his or her heart against the Loving One. The grief of God is made contextually manifest in part by the grieving of the Spirit and the Son that is attested to in our Guide. The grieving of God that is immanently made manifest in this narrative is in direct response to the happenings of finitude as they actually occur during the course of this storyline. In our guide this grieving is typically orientated around the happenings of human existence, God’s most beloved creation.

Now the fact that our God grieves in response to the happenings of finitude discloses to us something essential about the infinite-finite dialogue, as well as our Creator who initiated it, and this is why this diversion into the grieving God revealed in our guide is relevant to helping us understand the fundamentals of this infinite-finite dialogue, why God initiated it, why God eternally remains engaged in it without any break whatsoever, and what the unfolding of this infinite-finite dialogue means to God. As such, this detour will actually help us better accomplish our current endeavor by further elucidating the nature of the infinite-finite dialogue and how the koinonia of Agape underlies it. Thus, exploring the implications of our guide’s testimony that God has disclosed ‘Himself’ via ‘Himself’ as a God who can and does grieve, will help us better discern how God truly discloses ‘Himself’ contextually throughout this dialogue as One who is Love. First off, such an act of grieving is a testimony of to the truth that the affections of God’s heart can indeed be in a state of distress, sorrow, and anguish. The unfolding of this infinite-finite dialogue in relation to the Story of Creation as conveyed in the scriptures, however, makes it clear that the affections never master ‘Him’ nor blind ‘His’ judgments. Rather our guide continually discloses to us that they instead manifest ‘His’ glory. They do not at all compromise ‘His’ immutable character, instead, they make contextually manifest ‘His’ character in a very vivid way that evokes recognition when it is believed that God grieves the perishing. Moreover, the character of God is made even more vivid when one realize that God still grieves the perishing in spite of their rebellious unfaithfulness towards ‘His’ works of love that display ‘His’ mercy, forgiveness, patience, and longsuffering that reveals the unconditional nature of ‘His’ love for them. In view of how the fact that our God grieves in the infinite-finite is insightful in understanding the nature of this dialogue, we can clearly see how taking time to meditate upon the realities revolving around the grief of God is relevant in view of the overall telos of our journey in investigating the self-disclosure of God contextually revealed throughout the Narrative of God’s Creation.