GOD IS LOVE Devotion 32 of 34 – Tomorrow:
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love . . . God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:8,16)
"GOD is love . . . God IS love . . . God is LOVE
Here is a most profound utterance -- "God is love." He does NOT say "love is God," for the words "love" and "God" are not interchangeable. The point being made is both powerful and profound. He is not defining God, but is rather delineating, or giving an exposition of, love.
Five times this Epistle speaks to us of loving one another – that is, of the members of the body of Christ loving each other. "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that WE SHOULD love one another . . . And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, AS HE GAVE US COMMANDMENT . . . Beloved, let us love one another: for LOVE IS OF GOD; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God . . . Beloved, if God so loved us, WE OUGHT ALSO to love one another . . . No man hath seen God at any time. IF WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us" (1 John 3:11,23; 4:7,11,12).
The manner in which the Spirit opens this to our understanding is most challenging. In summary, the expression "God is love" means that wherever God dwells, love is prominent, and where love is not found, God is not found. Love cannot be separated from God, for "God is love." It is not possible to have God within and remain unloving. To put it more succinctly, it is absolutely impossible for God to abide in an individual without the love of the brethren being expressed through that person. "God is love."
For a person to have God within, and yet fail to love His people, would be a contradiction, for "God IS love." It is not possible for God to walk in and dwell in His people while suppressing His love. "God is LOVE!" The person who does not love simply does not know God – period! Thus it is written, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:8). It is not possible to know God, or have eternal life (for eternal life is knowing God, John 17:3), and not love His people. That is a moral impossibility. If "God is love," it is folly to imagine that a union can be forged between Him and men without love breaking out in the ones joined to Him.
At this point – because "God is love" – the children of God and the children of the devil are made known. John cites two tests in this regard, and neither one of them can be omitted. "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother" (1 John 3:10). Reasoning from the truth that "God is love," the Spirit continues, "He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14). Again the point is driven home. "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:8). And again, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar" (1 John 4:20).
Taking the matter further, John affirms that loving the brethren is irrefutable evidence of the presence of God, for "God is love." "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light" (1 John 2:10). And again, ". . . every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (1 John 4:7).
Knowing there are competitive influences at war within the believer, the Spirit speaks to the "new man" (Eph 4:22-24; Col 2:10) – the part of us that is born again, or born of God. He is awakening the part of us that has been risen with Christ, and is intended to "walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:4). He does not appeal to our minds, but to our hearts, which control our minds. There is a part of us that does not, and cannot, love the people of God. It is "the flesh," which is to be "crucified" (Gal 5:24) and "mortified" (Rom 8:13; Col 3:5). However, what God has made "new" (2 Cor 5:17) not only can love the people of God, it is inclined and empowered to do so. Wherever the people of God are not loved, men are walking in the flesh, making a place for the devil, and quenching the Spirit. There may be loud boasts about precision in doctrine and procedure, but they are all empty and vain words. "God is love," and where love is not prominent God not only does not dwell, but CANNOT remain.
Throughout church history, the absence of love within the professed church is like a colossal monster of flesh that cannot be passed over. The hatred, division, exploitation, and vanity found in the professed church testifies to the absence of God – for "God is love." That is the resounding message of the Epistle of First John. In it the Spirit makes no allowance whatsoever for identity with God without possessing and expressing a love for His people. However strong that may appear, it is still grossly understated.
One of the besetting sins of institutionalism is that it causes love to wither and eventually die. It promotes itself, invents programs to advance its own agenda, and trains leaders to do the same. I realize it is all done in the name of Jesus, but the serious deficiency of love speaks more loudly than its claims of goodness and progress.
The statement "God is love" is a point from which holy reasoning begins, and where it concludes. It is like a measuring rod to be placed along the side every word and deed. Wherever real love is found, God is there, for "God is love." That means love cannot exist without His presence and influence. Conversely, it means that the presence of God brings the capacity to love, the inclination to do so, and the discretion to express it to the glory of God.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, teach me to make the proper correlations between my own expressions and Your presence, or the lack thereof.