The Core Values of God
What comes to mind when you think about core values? Personal ethics, fundamental beliefs, non-negotiable principles that guide your actions? Yes, all of those and more, however, when we peruse God’s core values in scripture what rises to the forefront is life. He was, is, and ever will be about preserving life on all fronts. When we share His values our personal ethics change, our decisions are guided by Him, and what He thinks becomes our highest priority; it should absolutely drive our behavior.
The creation account exposes God’s first core value: life. He spent five days in preparation for His masterpiece, mankind, made in His image and likeness. Then, on the sixth day He breathed a fiery passion, ‘the living of life’, into this new creature giving him a body, soul, and spirit reflecting Himself. The assignment of this new creature was to reproduce life (chai, in Hebrew); it then became our core value as well. After sin we were guarded from the Tree of Life, undoubtedly because God desired our eternity to be free from death and full of joy, but that required Another Life substituted for ours to pay for sin.
Before time began Jesus’ mission was to reproduce life in the upper story,
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:4 ESV
The apostle continues in 1 John 1:1-4 reminding us that Jesus walked this earth as the Word of Life allowing people to experience eternal life beginning with a second birth: new life (zoe, in Greek) in Christ. The sharing of Jesus’ core values now helps us navigate our direction, guide our actions, and helps us focus on our highest priority which becomes life. Literally,
Our lives are in His hands, and He keeps our feet from stumbling. Psalms 66:9 NLT
God told Moses that the ‘words of the covenant’ (Dt. 29:1, 12-14, 30:15-20) would bring them a good life if they obeyed His words; He’s always about preserving life. The promise was that His people would continue to reproduce ‘good life’ living under His blessing. Here’s the caveat for you and your family; you must choose life by loving Him and doing things His way … not your own. That means we don’t live independent from God but in-dependence on God.
If your desire is to experience the good life of God then you must die; it sounds counter-productive but it’s true.
For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory. Colossians 3:3-4 NLT
The core value of Jesus’ resurrection was to give us a new life in Him,
“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying.” John 11:25 NLT
Now we live, body, soul, and spirit sharing His first core value: life.
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