History has a way of helping us understand God's plan. We see in revolving globe glimpses of God, and the message He has for us. Since the beginning there have been two approaches to Adonai, to the Alpha and Omega. One approach is love, and the other is law. When Yahweh delivered the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, He gave them Ten Commandments. These commandments read, "Thou shalt have no ther gods before me, Thou shalt not make a graven image of gods of the earth, the sea, birds, repitles, and more, Thou shalt keep Sabbath, Thou shalt honor thy mother and father.." (Exodus 20:1-17).Now tyhe Jews understand these commandments as Fatherly instructions, but actually they are more akin to wedding vows (Pitre). If you examine merely the first commandmemt, "thou shalt have no others gods before me," (Exodus 20:2) it is all too similar to "I do thee wed, forsaking all others." The words from Sinai were wedding vows, God was wedding himself to Israel. The problem, Israel took these vows and made them a god, they decided to follow them strictly to become perfect, to be exemplary in virture, but they were actually commnadments or vows for a relationship with God and this is what God wanted, "Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank." (Exodus 24:9-11), God and His people feasted together! Something that would happen again at Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-30). The Israelites at Sinai reject the relatinonship with God and instead want just the law, "And they said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen. But don't let God speak directly to us, or we will die!" (Exodus 20:19). This was rejection of the Bridegroom who is the Lord. The Israelites would rather just receive the Law from Moses (Exodus 31:18) than know the love of God too.
This cycle keeps playing out into modern times, even within the Church. What was intended for love and relationship becomes law and rigidity. The Lord Jesus came and died, why? "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us," (Romans 5:8) and "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, and whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NKJV). Jesus Christ during his ministry pointed out how the Pharisees and religious elite had fallen, reorieanting the commandments with love, which was purpose of commands, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus had to change the wording of the laws of God because man had twisted them into pladtitudes and a pathway to perfection, which is self focused, rather than a relationship with God. Ironically, those Jews of 30 A.D. believed they were keeping all Ten Commandments, when actually because they had made a god of those Commandments and the Law, they were breaking Commandment One, "Have no other gods before me," (Exodus 20:3) and "Make not an image of anything of earth for a god," (Exodus 20:4).
Jesus' message was radical because it returned people to the heart of the Law, relationship with God, wedding vows. Christ even made new wedding vows, "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides (remains) in me, and I in him," (John 6:56) this is wedding imagery (Pitre), and "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34). This new command or vow makes sense, if you love your brothers and sisters in Christ, you actually love Christ because He lives in them (see Galatians 2:20, 1 Cor 3;16, 1 John 4:12). This should then motivate us to love God more. But even the Lord's loving direction gets twisted, the Church has even made Law out of love! It seems man just cannot get his eyes off perfection, and stay on the passionate love for the Lord Jesus! Some prime examples in a generalized way are Queen Elizabeth I of England and King Phillip II of Spain. My argument is going to be based on the film, "Elizabeth The Golden Age," because I know that the actual history was far more complex and Philip was slightly different in nature. In Elizabeth the Golden Age, you have two kinds of Christians. You have Queen Elizabeth who had decided out of love for her people and God, to let her people be adherants of whatever denomination they prefer, Catholic or Protestant, Catholic, Angelican, and more. Elizabeth when urged to consider all Catholcis in her kingdoms a threat, "What would you have me do, hang half of England or just imprison them? Fear creates fear, I am not ignorant of the danger sir, but I will not punish my people for their beleifs, only for their deeds." Elizabeth I was a rare woman, she allowed all types of Chrsitians, from radical Purtians to Angelicans to Papist Catholics. Phillip of Spain on the other hand was very strict and was endeavoring to restore Catholicism to primacy of the world. His great contribution was a massive armada, called the Spainish Armada that he used to invade England, but the armada was smote by the Almighty and destroyed. Phillip of Spain was very devout, and prayed often, so why was he so wrong? Shouldn't he righlty haved been as concerned as the Purtians were by the Renaissance with its many isms, and the rise of Shakespeare and resurgent fairtales like "A Midsummer's Night Dream?" Why did God honor Elizabeth who was more liberal, and strike Philip who was conservative? The answer is love. Elizabeth loved God the Trinity, and loved her people (Mark 12:30-31). She actually adopted a Catholic concept of "Neo-Virgin" (Prude, Caro Plattliebau), and was inspired by the Marian doctrines in Catholic Church of Mother that claim Mary perpetual Virgin Queen. And yet despite Elizabeth adopting this Catholic custom, she prayed as a Protestant and did not worship or pray to saints. How could such contradictions exist in one monarch and her kingdom? The answer was love. Elizabeth loved the Lord and her lords and ladies, her people. She was ahead of her time, she was an interdenominational apex, she borrowed from best elements of Catholicism and Protestantism, rather than becoming a radical for either side. Philip was the opposite, he held the staunch belief that the Roman Catholic Church was Christ's true church, and made His faith into a law for all men called "The Spanish Inqusition" which did not inspire people to love Christ, but to fear Him.
Elizabeth's approach of love created an Golden Age in England that has never been matched. Phillip's approach of law created an Inqusitiion and Spanish Armada that bankrupted Spain. Elizabeth believed in living morally according to Bible, but her axis was love, while Phillip's was law which lead to death (fear of God, rather than loving reverence) and literal death of his armada. Those who approach the Alpha and Omega from a heart of law end up self focused via fear of not keeping the laws and fear of damnation or they become lax and care not about sin. Those who have heart of love are drawn to God's love which contains the laws (vows of love) that protect the relationship with God and people. Elizabeth found the secret that eluded Israel, it is love, treating the laws as wedding vows and relationship with God, not adhering to them like a religion or making a god or taskmaster out of the law which was meant for relationship not making you right.
I believe Phillip of Spain meant well and loved Christ. The problem was that fear, and suspicion lead to an austerity that was not the Almighty at all. Philip feared heresy, damnation, and the influence of unbeleivers like the Moors (Muslims) and Renaissance men. To combat this fear, Phillip created walls and an Inqusition to fight it. But what he should have done is realized what Martin Luther did, who seeing Renaissance, decided to Return to Scriptures to discover what God really wants, and Luther realized it was "Those who see God as angry do not see him righlty. To look upon Jesus is to see his loving heart. So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!" (Luther 2003). Philip had he been so inclined could have seen that the Moors and others were seeing an angry god, rather than the love of God manifest in Jesus Christ; Philip actually made the fear of angry god worse with The Spanish Inqusition. As Elizabeth so eloquently said, "fear creates fear," the Inqusition was fashioned out of fear of unbeleivers taking over Chrsitian lands and influencing people to follow the "broad path that leads to death." (Matthew 7:13). But in institution of the Inqusition, Philip and any predessesors created another broad path to spiritual death and gave credence to Elizabeth's words, "fear creates fear." The Spanish Inqusition was so controlling, that people who converted out of fear of being burned by Inqusitors became prime suspects and went into secret courts that could condemn them; it became impossible to please the Inqusition, if you converted you could be label converso or morisco, which means you aren't a true beleiver, that you have converted to escape persecution and so are to be taking captive by the Inquisition, but if one did not convert, they were put to sword or axe or deported. Elizabenth understood the love of Jesus Christ, that he asks man to choose, "Choose whom you will serve, you cannot serve two masters, you will hate one and love the other, you cannot serve both God and Mammon (money)," (Matthew 6:24) and "whosoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Believe or belief must be a free and voluntary choice, not forced upon someone or else it is coercion, which was the strange dichotomy of the Inqustion of Spain: convert or be destroyed or deported, but if you convert (converso) only to avoid persecution you are imprisoned, put on trial, and burned. This must have been when the phrase, "You are damned if you do, damned if you don't" came into vogue.
Queen Elizabeth I of England understood what Jesus taught (Matt 22:37, Luke 10:27, John 15:13, John 13:34-35) that all must be done in love, otherwise as the Apostle of Jesus said, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Elizabeth understood that the law of love, love must be axis, rudder, and center of all a Christian does. She knew the Bible because she was Protestant and read it, and it says "Love God.. and ..love others, which fulfills all the law and the prophets." (Mark 12:30-31). Elizabeth I lived this, and it created an England of Emmanuel that shined as beacon of freedom and God's love in a world with divided lines over religiomn: Catholicism and Protestantism.
I have pity of Phillip II of Spain. Falling into the trap of law without love, and austerity instead of amore is an easy pitfall. As Christians we can easily become like Phillip of Spain, fearful of foreigners and using our faith as filleting knife, than flame of love and hope that leads people to Christ. In our self protection we can create an Inqusition. C.S. Lewis said, "the chief demons are self protection, self promotion, and self determination." Phillip of Spain did all three, he tried to protect Spain with the Spainish Inqusition, he self promoted with his money and life a war for Catholicism, and he was self determined to destroy all heretics and take throne of England. All of these lead to Phillip and Spain's ruination. He forgot love, which is to forget God, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8). Philip left love behind and so left the will of God. Elizabeth maintained love in England to her own peril, and instead of her country going bankrupt like Spain, England prospered and entered The Golden Age. Elizabeth understood Paul's words, "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life," (2 Corinthians 3:6), and, "because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2). The spirit of the law or Spirit of New Covenant is love, while letter of the law brings death.
The letter of the Law leads to sinking, the spirit of Love leads to salvation (John 3:16)
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