1 John 4:7-12
“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. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Here are additional (and important) insights from this passage about the God who loves. It tells us that God’s love originates in himself (verses 7-8), was manifested in his Son (verses 9–10), and is made complete in his people (verse 12).
Scripture repeatedly emphasizes that love originates with God. It is accurate to say that God is the Author of love. “Love is from God … God is love.” (verses 7-8)
The Lord’s ultimate expression and act of love for us was sending his Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross as payment for our sin. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (verses 9-10)
What really draws my attention in this passage is the statement that “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (verse 12)
That is a powerful truth that has profound implications for how we go about everyday life, work, and fellowship. The Greek word for “brought to perfection” means “made complete.” It conveys the idea of fullness than flawless. It also carries the idea of being purpose-driven. God’s purpose for his people is fulfilled when his love is reproduced in us and among us in the Christian fellowship, and when Christians go about their lives and engage the world in a way that reflects God’s love.
What John is saying is that the unseen God, who has revealed himself in Jesus his Son, now also reveals himself to the world in and through his people if and when they love one another. This is why John writes, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Do you understand what this passage is saying? The love and obedience of Christians is how God makes himself known to a watching world. God works in the world through the kingdom community of believing Christians.
Keep in mind that love as God defines it is not the sentimental, emotion-based version that the world promotes. The world’s version of love is a counterfeit; it is weak and self-centered. It avoids the hard things that authentic love requires. God’s love is strong; it is selfless commitment guided by the truth of scripture. It embraces the hard things that authentic love requires.
The strategy of the kingdom of God is the powerful combination of truth + love that is lived out in the day-to-day stuff of doing our jobs and engaging with people. It is not easy. More often than not, it is messy, difficult work. And as we have written previously, truth without love is not God’s strategy. Nor is love without truth. The Christian life is to be lived at the intersection of truth + love; where truth defines and directs love, and where love is motivated and directed by truth.
Consider what happens when Christians in a company or team or family bring this powerful combination of truth + love to bear every day. That is our calling. That is how we fight the good fight. That is what it means to be an agent of the kingdom of God in the midst of a watching world.
Love God and do the work.
