God is an extremist

God is an extremist.

Thinking of God in extremes is not such a bad thing.

Anything that we can imagine Him doing, He can do it to the extreme. His thoughts, words and actions are beyond our comprehension. They are extreme. His control of the universe. His concern for us. His direction of history. His plan for my life.

I can learn about these things. I can try to understand God's thoughts. I can try to understand His actions in history and in my life. I can try to understand His Word. But I am limited by my humanness. Anything that I can comprehend, God is beyond that. He is extreme.

God is an extremist.

God is an extreme judge. He knows everything that happens. He knows the motives of the heart. He knows the details. He can not be tricked by anything or anyone. He knows the rules. He rewards and judges perfectly. He is an extreme judge.

God is an extreme lover. He knows what is going on in my heart and loves me anyway. He knows about my past and loves me completely. He knows what I'm going to do today and promises to love me all day. And tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after every day. He is an extreme lover.

Can God be an extreme judge and an extreme lover at the same time?

He is. His character demands it. His Word proclaims it.

If God were not an extreme judge, would His love really mean anything? If He were not able to know everything and pass judgment on everything in my life, could He really love me extremely?

If God were not an extreme lover, His justice would be cruel. If He were to judge according to what I deserve, He would not show His love.

His extreme justice and His extreme love fit perfectly together. He knows all there is to know about me. He knows the good, the bad and the ugly. Yet He chooses to love me. Not just tolerate me, but love me.

In a passage that we already looked at, God reveals His attributes of extreme love and extreme judgment.

“And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation'" (Exod 34:6-7).

God does not contradict Himself by being merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy, forgiving and punishing sin. Because He is all of that and does all of that to the extreme.

If God landed anywhere below 100% in any of those areas, He wouldn't be God.

If He were only merciful 99.99% of the time, He wouldn't be merciful.

If He were only truthful 99.99% of the time, He wouldn't be truthful.

If He only punished sin 99.99% of the time, He wouldn't be just.

We may think that justice and love are contradictory, but that is only based on our limited experience. We've never been loved by someone who knows everything about us. We've never been judged by someone who loves us extremely.

God is an extremist.

And that's a good thing.