Foundations
- The first principle, that love is outward looking, explains why God created the universe. God needed beings that could receive and return this love. This would explain why people are separate from God and are able to respond to love.
- The second principle, that love seeks for connection, explains why God through the ages has communicated with people. This was done to individuals in dreams, through angels that appeared to people, and through prophets. Admittedly this communication is indirect and at times obscure. But it is interesting to note that in all places of the globe and as far as we can tell in all times of history there have been religious ideas in human cultures. The central Christian message is that God communicated in a very different way by taking on a human body and glorifying it. Jesus was called "Immanuel" meaning "God-with-us." As a result human beings could have some concept of God as having a personal interest in them. They could have a loving relationship with God.
- Those who feel connected with God feel blessed. Jesus even said that He came that people might feel His joy. He said that He was present wherever two or three were gathered in His name. And where Jesus is present, there is heaven.
How do we honor His presence? We do so through prayer, through living a spiritual life, and through honoring what is sacred in other people. He said: "By this shall all know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another" (John 13:35). We also honor Him in worship – in our private prayers and in public worship services.
In the history of Christianity there has been much confusion about the nature of God. One of the creeds speaks of the "Son of God" coming into the world, but the Bible says that God Himself came into the world. We do not see Jesus as a person who is part of three divine beings, but as the fullness of God in a bodily form (Colossians 2:9). And as Jesus also said: "All power (or authority) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18).