LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Man Is Not the Center
According to C. S. Lewis, in his book The Problem of Pain, to understand God's love in its proper measure we must accept that man is not the center of all things. God does not exist for man. Nor does man exist for himself. We must shift our focus from man to God.
We were made, fundamentally, not so that we can love God -and thus find our delight- but so that God can be pleased with us. How can he be pleased with us, such flawed creatures? To ask that God's love be content with us as we are is to ask that God cease to be God. Surely his love must be restrained by certain blemishes in our character. Yes, it is true, he loved us while we were enemies, and therefore unworthy of his love. But for the consummation of that love, for full delight, we must be transformed.
We can no more desire (much less demand) that he should accommodate our present impurities, than a domesticated dog (if he could reason) could desire that, having learned to love man, he should tolerate in his house the barking, ticks and filth that he carried in his time as a savage. We shall only be fully happy when we are such that God can love us without misgivings.
Is, then, the love of God, selfish or possessive, since it seeks more the lover's pleasure than the happiness of the beloved? Among men, a selfish lover is one who satisfies his own needs at the expense of the needs of the beloved. But God has no needs. As God, he has no need of man. God's love does not originate in the goodness of man, but in God himself, first, loving him into existence, and then making him worthy of being loved. God is goodness. He can give good, but not need it or obtain it.
God's love is essentially disinterested, he has everything to give and nothing to receive. Now, if he claims to need us, that need is something he has voluntarily chosen, and by which he demonstrates a humility that surpasses all understanding. If God, who lacks nothing, chooses to need us, he does so simply out of love for us. Thus, we conclude that there is no selfishness in God's love.
In his love, God assigns each man a place in his plans. When man finds that place, he attains happiness. If he seeks another place, he will not be happy. God's demands, though they may seem severe, guide us to that perfect place. God desires our good, and requires us to love him, because to love him is our greatest good. And to love him we must know him, and knowing him, we will worship him.
But even more, the call for us is not only to know him, but to participate in his nature, having been "put on Christ". God intends to give us what we need, not what we think we need, with a view to this end. This demonstrates that God's love is a mature, abundant love.