Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
Love Is From God
Love. It is a powerful word, far-reaching, vasty defined by the world, and sometimes completely misunderstood. Regardless of what the world says about love, there is one true love – the love that comes from God. It flows through us and pours out to those around us if we are loving the way He loves us. It is onlybecause He loved us that we can love others.
Sometimes we pick and choose who we are “able” to love. John is emphasizing love among brothers and sisters in Christ – the body of Christ – the church. Often, Christians will have the least amount of grace for each other. Loving others will not earn extra credit with God or make Him love us more. Truly understanding God’s love means truly understanding that there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more, and also that He loves us all the same, no matter what our differences may be.
John shows us why it is so important to love others. If love is of God, then those who claim to be born of God, and claim to know God, must be able to love one another. If we say we are a Christian, but cannot genuinely love and care for people, it will be very hard to convince those around you that you are a Christian. If we are walking in His love and in a relationship with Him, His love will literally flow through us to others. Our relationship with Him will be evident, and through a relationship with Him is the only way we can truly love others.
When we become a Christian, we are not only forgiven and given eternal life, but we are adopted by our Heavenly Father, and given a new identity in Him. We are chosen and loved as His very own. The grace and love that He shows us, because we know Him and He knows us, He expects us to show others. Grace and love. Nothing more.
The love of God that John is speaking of here is agape love- a love that loves without limits, knows no bounds, and expects nothing in return. This is how our God loves us. His character and heart are love and compassion. Everything He does expresses His love.
“Never let it be thought that any sinner is beyond the reach of divine mercy so long as he is in the land of the living. I stand here to preach illimitable love, unbounded grace, to the vilest of the vile, to those who have nothing in them that can deserve consideration from God, men who ought to be swept into the bottomless pit at once if justice meted out to them their deserts.” (Spurgeon)
God is love – and He is other things too. He Is also righteous and has perfect justice. He loves but He still holds the standard. He loves and gives grace and mercy, but we are still commanded to be holy like Him. Where grace abounds, we do not sin more. We rest in that love and let it give us hope and peace. We spread that love to others in everything we do. When He is in us, our lives will overflow all He is to others. We can love one another because love comes from God. We know Him and we have been born of Him. We have everything we need to love those around us.
