Discovering And Demonstrating God’slove Series

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

A briefer sentence it would be difficult to find; yet how infinitely vast and wonderful is the truth which lies within its compass. God is love. - Eternity lies within the compass of that little word. God is perfect in love; all His affections are pure and clear as the crystal stream. The universe would not exist without love - It is the construct of love. The principle of prosperity would not exist without love - It is the expression of love. The concept of truth would not exist without love - It is the outcome of love. The sovereignty of self-government would not exist without love - It is the voice of love. Civilization would not exist without love - It comes from the heart of love.

Love is one of the warmest words in the language, and that God is love is one of the most sublime, uplifting, and reassuring truths known to mankind. In any language, “Love” is the most powerful expression of the most powerful emotion and experience in the world. John 3:16 presents the whole message of the Bible in the most summarized manner. It says “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.” According this text God’s love is unique, universal, unconditional, personal, supreme, saving, sacrificial, and surpasses all knowledge.

Bible says in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s kind of love is selfless and supreme which results in doing the best for another, even at the highest personal cost, without requiring or expecting profit. Love, by definition, is unconditional. Agape love is the experience of the love of God in all its fullness, all its completeness, experiencing a love to which nothing can ever be added. The fullness of God's love is available to us. And that's what John is telling us here. Perfect love is the legacy that God has left to His children. The kind of love that is defined and laid out for us by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 that wonderful chapter called the love chapter. Raphael Simon said “To fall in love with God is the greatest of all romances; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement” In a nutshell: Love is Life.

One of our greatest needs as human beings is to be loved. We need to know that somebody truly loves and accepts us unconditionally. When a child feels that he/she is not loved, they may develop unacceptable behavior patterns to compensate for it. For example, they may act irresponsibly in a desperate attempt to get attention. Attention is a poor substitute for love but it seems better than nothing at all. They may develop physical symptoms that bring them sympathy and concern. The symptoms cause them genuine pain, but the pain of sickness is more bearable than the pain of admitting that nobody loves us. Remember Only God can fully satisfy the starving heart of man.

There are three unique things told us in the first epistle of John concerning the character of God. First, God is life (1 John 1:2).Those who seeks relationship with God must possess His quality of life. Thus Spiritual life begins with Spiritual birth. Second, God is light (1 John 1:5)therefore, to keep in fellowship with Him we must walk in the light, Third, "God is love" (1 John 4:8)since we are His children we must walk in Love. It is not simply that God "loves," but that He is Love itself. Love is not merely one of His attributes, but His very nature. Love is the essence of His being. Everything about God is infinite. His glory fills heaven and earth. His wisdom is illimitable, and His love is without limit. There is a depth to it which none can fathom; there is a height to it which none can scale; there is a length and breadth to it which defies measurement, by any creature-standard. Beautifully this described in (Ephesians 2:4-6& 3:17-19)

So God is unconditionally committed to our well-being. Bible shows that God made love a law. Why? He made it a law because He could not trust us to do it ourselves. Jesus said “This is my commandment that you love one another…” (John 15:12). A command is not debatable because it is your duty. Duty is absent of feelings. In other words, we think that love has to do with feelings. However, the love that Jesus commands us to have is one that is above feelings. Biblical love is Agape love, which refers to unconditional love. Therefore, if anyone attaches conditions or reasons to why he or she loves you, then agape, unconditional love has ceased. This is why Jesus said “If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.” (Matthew 5:46-47NLT)