God Is Not Only Love, But He Is Also Warrior

God is love, but did you know that He is a Warrior, too?

For the past two decades, it seems as if the preaching narrative has mainly been “Jesus is love”. We’ve heard this so much that whenever others learn that Jesus was/is so much more than that, they’re shocked! God’s love is grand and off the charts, but He’s not a pushover, passive teddybear. He’s not a Mickey Mouse God.

I’ll say this, “If the only thing one knows about Jesus is that, ‘Jesus is love’, then they don’t know Him—they just know about Him.” A bold statement, I know. Let me explain:

When you truly know someone, you don’t just know that “this person lives on Park Avenue and likes peaches”. You’d know where they’re from, their likes and dislikes, their habits, how they think and respond to things, etc. That’s somewhat intimate information. Just knowing about someone is merely that–knowing about them. There’s no relationship involved there.

The Bible says that God is a God of:

• Love (1 John 4:16)

• Jealousy [for us] (Ex. 20:5)

• Vengeance (Rom. 12:19)

• Peace (Is. 9:6)

• Intolerance (Rev. 21:8)

• Protection (Ps. 91)

• Might (Is. 9:6)

• Righteousness (Is. 9:7)

• Mercy (2 Cor. 1:3)

• Order (1 Cor. 14:33)

• Comfort (2 Cor. 1:3)

• Justice (Is. 9:7)

• War/Warrior (Ex. 15:3)

Let’s focus on God being a Warrior. In the Old Testament, God was always addressed as Yahweh (Yhwh), and was often represented as a victorious warrior God. This is how He was portrayed because whenever He fought for His people, He always won (and still does)! To fight against the hand of God will 10 times out of 10, always end in one’s defeat. Hands down.

God will fight our battles, but He doesn’t expect us to lay down and do nothing in the process. That would be considered a form of laziness and He frowns upon that (Prov. 12:24). When we became children of God, we were immediately given armor. It’s called the Whole Armor of God, and we are to use it!

There was a girl I went to middle school with who naturally had large muscles, muscles large enough to intimidate any boy. Since the school I attended at the time wasn’t the safest, there were always fights going on. One day, she got into a fight with a somewhat scrawny girl and lost. Everyone was shocked by this, given her large mass. But one of our classmates said, “She’s got the muscles but she doesn’t know how to use them”.

Once we became children of God when we gave our lives to Jesus, we became apart of His family and army, but many of us don’t know how to use the armor, much like my then-classmate. When we do our part, God moves and fights for us!

When Moses cried out in desperation to Yahweh for help when he and the Jews were locked between Pharoh’s army and the Red Sea, God said, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the people to get moving!” Their movement to what seemed to be an impossible situation brought the warrior out in the Lord for His people.

It wasn’t until Moses raised his staff that God parted the Red Sea. It wasn’t until Esther broke palace rules and exposed Haman’s plot, that God spared the Jews. It wasn’t until Joshua blew the shofar that God confused the enemy, causing them to attack within their own army.

God is such a warrior that He will provide armies of angels to protect you  (2 Kings 6)! Don’t even get me started on His battle for us in the Book of Revelation!

Acknowledge, stand firm, and believe that our loving God will fight for us, being the Warrior that He is, but we must put our armor to work, also.

His fight is always for our protection! Aren’t you happy we have a Warrior for a Father and God?

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