"It was not because you were greater than all other people that the LORD loved you and chose you. In fact, you were the smallest of peoples! no, it is because the LORD loved you and because he kept the solemn pledge he swore to your ancestors that the LORD brought you out with a strong hand and saved you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, Egypt's king." (Deut 7:7-8)
It is going to take me a few posts to cover Deuteronomy 7.
Yahweh has many attributes. Attributes are not character because character is something that is developed or diminished. An attribute is who he is, or small glimpses of who he is that he has allowed us to see. God does not have a character of love; he is love. He can't be any more love and he can't be any less love, because he is love.
He did not choose Israel because of anything they had to offer. They had no great qualities. He chose them because he loved them. They were not a great nation. They were not rich. They were not intelligent, or at least not more than any other nation. The only reason they were chosen was because Yahweh loved them. That can be hard to get our mind around and is the reason we need to allow our heart to explain it to our intellect. (Hebrews 11:3)
This is a big reveal for us because it allows us a glimpse the Father's heart. What was true then is true now. We have nothing out of the ordinary to offer Jesus. We have no special gift or ability. It is not because we are good. It is not because of some great faith. It is simply because he loves us. No other reason.
"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life." (John 3:16)
"You didn’t choose me, but I chose you ..." (John 15:16)
This love, an attribute, is the basis of everything, even of our love for him:
"We love because God first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
And should be the basis of our understanding that we have received salvation, not because we deserve it, but just because he loves us:
"But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
And this love is more sure than the air we breathe and the ground on which we stand:
"But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created." (Romans 8:37-39)
And the truth of all this is revealed in the books of the Law. Amazing when we can see the Father's heart from cover to cover.
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