1 John 4:7-21

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1 John 4:7-21

7 Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are, we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. [1]



Devotion

        The apostle John in the next several verses takes up the theme of Love. He begins by laying out a test to determine if one is living in love. Simply put if you love your brother you love God. If you don’t love your brother, you don’t love God. He then sums it up by saying “God is Love”. We have seen this before in John’s writing. I think the way John restates this point is simply to show how crucial to living the Christian life realizing that God is love really is. Notice also that the reverse does not work. Love is not God. This error produces idolatry and all manner of problems for human flourishing.

        Let us take a look at John’s teaching on love. First, love has its origins in God. “for love is from God” (vs. 7). We in our finite humanity could never stir up love were it not for God’s first loving us. Second, love is a two-way street. First God loves us then we love our neighbor and God It is only by returning God’s love that we learn how to love. Our loving is putting into practice the love we received from God. Third, it is by love that God makes himself known to humankind. We cannot see God any more than we can see the wind. Love is the effect that God has on the world and we see God’s presence through his love. Fourth, God’s love is demonstrated to us in Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that we see in full display the love of God. Fifth, human love is a response to God’s love. (Vs,19) We only can love because God first loved us. Sixth, When we are living in God’s love fear disappears. (vs 18) Fear has to do with punishment. When we are in God’s love, we know that there is no punishment for those who walk in God’s love. Finally, love of God and love of man are closely connected. The only way to prove we love God is to love our fellow human beings.[2]

        Let us now consider how God is love. When one confesses that God is love one is subscribing to nothing less than the Christian view of the universe and of the meaning and destiny of human life. The boldness of this declaration can only be truly seen in other religions answer to the question: What is God? Some oriental religions reply that God is changeless, unmoved without concern for human life. Pagan religions have said it is the life force within all creation. (May the force be with you.) Some European philosophy’s answer that god is pure mind, wisdom, or beauty. Science has contended that God is pure energy. All of these cannot account for love the way the Bible does. Love makes no sense in these religions. They cannot conceive of a loving God who would send his only Son to show God’s love on a cross. Not to mention the empty tomb. Other values in life can imitate God’s love; only Jesus actually and fully communicates God’s love.[3]


[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 4:7–21.
[2] Barclay William, The Letters of John, (The Daily Study Bible) Westminster Press, Philadelphia, pp 115-116
[3] Hoon, Paul Volume xii The Interpreters Bible, Abingdon, New York

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