When we say God is Love we may focus first on God’s love towards us.  But should we not rather focus first on God as love within himself?   Our God is love because He is three persons in love relationship.  In the gospel story we see the Presence of the One God in the dynamic and loving action of the three towards us but also towards one another. The Father loves the Son and always gives Himself to the Son in the Spirit.  The Son loves the Father and always gives Himself to the Father in the Spirit.

God’s action among us in Christ is the profound demonstration of the love that He is within Himself.  He does not act in love towards us because He needs someone to love.  He acts freely out of the fullness of love that He is within himself. We must not, therefore, even suggest that God created the world so that He might have others to love, or that the Father sent the Son to redeem us so that He might once again have others to love.

In the gospel story we do see the One God moving together in self-giving love towards us.  But they do so as three persons moving dynamically out of the self-giving love they are within their own Triune life.  There has always been within God a movement of love between three persons.  Each of the three is always with the others and towards the others and for the others in mutual self-giving.   We are glad to see God as love towards us, but what God is towards us flows out of  the Love He is within himself.  All three persons give themselves freely and fully to us as the overflow of their self-giving love within themselves.