Love is not simply one aspect of God’s character among others, such as wisdom, justice and power: love is the essence of God’s Being, the fount of all His attributes; the motivating principle behind all His works.
Love is, as it were, the soil from which the roots and branches of all His purposes draw their life and fruitfulness. Love underlies, surrounds, and permeates everything God says and does in relation to the redemption, reconciliation and salvation of His children.
Sadly the love of God has often been made part of a theological balancing act, in which His judgment, wrath and vengeance are often made to tip the scales against His love, goodness and mercy, when it comes to the fate of many of His creatures.
But when we understand that God’s love is the eternal foundation and edifice of all His dealings with us; and that His judgment, wrath and vengeance are but the sharp edge of His love for us; we can rejoice with joy unspeakable that even the severest outpouring of His anger is for our eternal benefit.
God, in His wrath, does not purpose to destroy us, but only our fallen, sinful nature and ways – the ‘flesh’, as Paul calls it – that being purified of evil we might partake of His holiness (Psa 99:8; Isa.4:4; 1Cor.5:5; Rom.7:13- 25; Heb.12:10).