Because God is Love
12/5 Reading Portions: 2 Chronicles 5:1-6:11; 1 John 4; Nahum 3; Luke 19
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
12/5 Reading Portions: 2 Chronicles 5:1-6:11; 1 John 4; Nahum 3; Luke 19
1 John 4:8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
AGAPE
The last part of this verse speaks volumes. Because God is love, it is the reason anyone loves at all. If someone does not love, they do not know God. But it can just as easily be said that someone who does not know God, cannot truly love at all. Since love is the very nature of God, that it is one of His attributes, He does not nor cannot turn it on or shut it off. Therefore, an unbeliever who does not know God cannot possibly know, understand, or even exhibit true love. The unbeliever’s relationships, with spouse, children, family, or friends, at best, is a counterfeit of true love. It is a love that is worldly, even devilish, but it is not from God. John told us two days ago when he wrote:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15
In describing the love for the world (1 Jn 2:15), and in defining the nature and attribute of God as love (1 Jn 4:8), John uses the same Greek root word, ἀγαπάω (ag-ap-AH-ō), what you and I know as agape love. It is an appropriate use in both cases because this Greek word may have its origin in a Hebrew word, עָגַב (a-GAV), which means “to love” or “to dote over.” But its original root means “to breathe,” or “to pant after.” If one cannot pant after God because one does not know Him, that one will pant after the world, and its lusts thereof.
Because we have been saved by grace, the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of our love, because God is love. It is Christ who makes our relationships with other human beings deeper, sweeter, and better,
…because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:5
Hallelujah! What a Savior!