The Love of God!

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” – 1 John 4:7-12 NIV

First of all, we have to know that God is love and love is God. This is probably because the best characteristic attribute of God is love and there is no greater love than the love of God. We know this due to the fact that God sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into the world (John 1:14), to crucify Himself on the cross as an atonement of our sins (Colossians 2:13-15), and by doing so, we may become righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21) and have eternal life in Him (Romans 6:23). This means that Jesus Christ was crucified for us, even though all of us became sinners. The main reasons for the love of God that has been poured into us are that all of us have been created by God to be His image (Genesis 1:27) and He desperately wants to restore everything back to “normal” and how God intended His eternal kingdom to be (Genesis 1-2). Overall, God showed His steadfast love towards us through His beloved Son, in order to demonstrate what the righteousness of God really is (Romans 3:21-26; Romans 5:6-8) since He is the Creator (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1).

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

Furthermore, Jesus Christ has commanded us to love one another (Mark 12:30-31) by remaining in His love (John 15:9-17). Therefore, we ought to love others selflessly, even if they are our enemies (Luke 6:27-36). The main reason for this is that by loving others in God’s way, we would be the light of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:12). In addition to this, loving others is the law of the Spirit (Romans 13:8-10) as the love of God also covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8) and creates unity in Christ Jesus (Colossians 3:12-14). All of us need to be united in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) because each one of us are members of His body (1 Corinthians 12:27).

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7)