God is Love By Derrick Fernando

Source:Brisbane 4EB Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – December 2021

God is a distant reality, but he is also a God who is deeply engaged in human life.

It is the birth of this God that we celebrate at Christmas. In Christ, God has reconciled the world unto himself. God became flesh and dwelt amongst us full of grace and truth. John 1:14.

In the words of the Christian hymn, he left heavenly glory for the cross on Calvary.

Amazing grace.

Love is not just an attribute of God; it is the essence of God. Love is the foundation, core reality of the universe.
The ground of our being as the German theologian Paul Tillich says. If we are to become the persons we were created
for, then we must live connected to and grounded in the divine love, that is God. When we open our hearts to love, we open our hearts to God and to others and to an authentic human life. As one Philosopher said we must learn to
love each other, or we die. This is true not only of humans but also of societies, cultures, and countries. Christ said, ‘this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you’.

The only reality that matters is love. Christians believe in a last judgement. And, as we stand before God, the question God will ask is not whether we were popular, rich, famous, but simply whether we loved our neighbour and loved our God. Christ said, ‘the help you have done to the least, you have done to me’. At Christmas, the word became flesh, the essence of perfect LOVE became human and lived amongst us. In Jesus we see the birth God’s
true humanity and humanity’s true God. It is a call to become partners with God in creating a new world. It is an invitation to embrace life that inspires faith, nourishes hope, and is immersed in love. It is an invitation to be humble; that no one has all the answers or possess all the truth and knowledge and not how good we are or how noble we are; it is simply a call to love your neighbour and to love your God.

Jesus was born to show that divine love to us.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Derrick Fernando
Derrick Fernando is a Principal Engineer at the Department of
Transport and Main Roads. His area of interest is reading and
understanding the values and forces that influence the shaping of
our modern society.