He Loved Us First: Day 13
“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. 9In 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. 10In 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. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” - 1st John 4:7-12
This passage brings us both a command and words of comfort. It causes our hearts to be challenged and relieved in just these few verses. Love is one of the most notable characteristics of who God is. The essence of love is found in God, and God in his essence is love. This means that love in its purest form can only come from God himself. Apart from him and his way, love is not truly love. Here we see that love is more than an emotion or desire, it is much greater. Often we define love through the idea of emotions. We say that we LOVE this thing or that thing, yet in reality, we just experience a pleasant emotion that tickles our hearts with momentary happiness or endorphins. Real love is greater than this. Love compels, love transforms, and love provides a way when there is no way. With that said, let us evaluate both the challenge and comfort of this passage.
The challenge: “Beloved, let us love one another.” and “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Both these statements from John challenge us to go against our sinful nature. Due to the fall of man and growing up in a broken world, we grow skeptical. We grow cynical and cold to the world around us; to the people around us. We are wired for self-preservation and protect ourselves by pushing away from others. In some ways self-preservation is founded in wisdom, instinctually protecting ourselves. Yet, like many things in this fallen world, after sin, things do not operate exactly as they were created. We are called to love one another, to, as Paul writes in the book of Ephesians, “bear one another’s burdens.” This displays a greater richness in our relationships with others. It shows that the way we treat our neighbors ought to be much deeper than surface-level kindness. But we ought to love. To show others the same love that was shown to us. Not an emotion, but pointing to the person of Jesus. Reflecting God in showing love. For God is love.
The Comfort: “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” The love of God was made manifest through the action of God sending his only Son into the world to live the life we should’ve lived, and bear the punishment that we deserve. Now if you recall a few devotions ago in this series, manifest when found in biblical context essentially means “CLEAR AS DAY SEEN.” Jesus would say in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” God through sending his son to be the propitiation for our sins, has made his love clear as day seen. He made his love manifest to us through Christ. He also chose us first. Now this sometimes gets people a little crazy with the theological debate of predestination, however, John makes it clear here, that God initiated first through his love. This is where we find the comfort. Not only in the fact of WHAT and WHY God chose to do what he did through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus but also in the fact that it is entirely based upon His love. God’s love for us is not dependent on our efforts, work, accolades, or anything we could do ourselves. Rather, it is through an overflow of His love that he has chosen us, set us apart, and called us by name. Where is the comfort? Simply in the fact that we are loved beyond measure and it is not because of us but because of WHO God is.
DAY 14: Reflection. Take the next day to reflect on what we have walked through so far. Reflection is key to retention and application.
