Has there ever been a time when a sentence from a book, a lyric from a song, or a line from a movie captivated your attention so that you kept returning to it? I’m quite certain this has happened to all of us. Recently, I read an arresting quote by a leading church figure from the twelfth-century, Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), describing the nature of God. It reads, “What is God? He is almighty will moved by loving kindness.” Obviously, Bernard had much more to say about the nature of God. God’s nature proves inexhaustible so that even the best descriptions from the greatest theologians and philosophers do not contain all there is to know. As someone who does a fair share of writing, I know that there is always more that can be said on a subject. Especially, when the subject is God and His nature.

I’ve been ruminating over these words from Bernard of Clairvaux as we await the Christmas celebration during the season of Advent. What is God? He is almighty will moved by loving kindness. My ruminations have led me to the simple question, “How far moved?” In other words, “How far is the Almighty Will moved by loving kindness?” The question keeps leading me back to a few scriptures in John’s Gospel.

So, the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son—John 1:14, NLT.

God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us—John 1:17b-18, NLT.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life—John 3:16, NLT.

How far is the Almighty Will moved by loving kindness?  He has moved from His heavenly realm becoming human in order to reveal His unfailing love and faithfulness to us through His Son, Jesus. The supreme revelation of God’s loving kindness is Jesus lifted up on the cross. It seems that to answer the question, “What is God?” the question must be changed to “Who is God?” The answer is Jesus who truly and fully reveals the Father’s heart. Jesus shows us the enormous lengths to which God’s almighty will is moved to loving kindness. Allow the reality of God’s love for you and for the world to captivate the attention of your heart and mind this Advent and Christmas season.