The only way God can be true love, not self love, is if somehow He is a complex unity.
Do you like hearing stories about the early days of your parents, or even earlier ancestors? If you do, this is it! Of your very first parents, the Bible says, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’” (Gen 1:26). That’s more than a mouthful—that’s a brain-full! Look at the first amazing fact here. God says, “Let US make man in OUR image.” Who was He talking to? Not the angels—we’re not made in their image. It’s true that God is one, but here we’re introduced to the fact that God’s oneness is complex, not simple. We call our world the UNI-verse. Uni- means one; verse comes from the Latin vertere, meaning combined, or turned. So our universe is one, but three in one: time + space + matter. Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity showed that we can’t have just two out of three; all three must be present to have our universe, three turned into one. In a similar way, God here calls Himself Elohim, the plural form of God, meaning three or more. Amazing, isn’t it? In 1 Timothy 3:16, we read, “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit…” That means that God the Father was revealed through Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit can prove it to us. This three-in-one God is essential to understand, if we believe that God is love. How could He selflessly love before the worlds were made, unless it was love among the divine Persons? But now He also loves you! How do I know? Here’s the proof, in John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Note the four positive verbs: God loved, so He gave; I believe, so I have. That’s the good news, plain and simple!