God is love

1. God isLove – 28th October2016
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives
in God, and God in them.”(1 John 4:16).
Firstlet’stryto define Love.Itisso widelyusedinourdayto daylives,books, movies,media…the usage
isendless.ButbroadlyspeakingLove isdefinedas: aprofoundlytender,passionateaffectionforanother
personthat isa feelingof warmpersonal attachmentordeepaffection, asfora parent, child, friendor
lovedone. ButmostimportantlyGod’slove takesgreaterprecedence because He isthe veryauthorof
Love.God islove andhas demonstratedthatlove ineverythingthathe does.ApostlePaul statesin1
Corinthians13:13,“And nowthese three remain: faith,hope andlove. But the greatest of these is
love"."God Is Love."Agape[ajgavph],the love theme of the Bible,canonlybe definedbythe nature of
God. Apostle Johnaffirmsthat "Whoeverdoesnotlove does not knowGod,because Godis love"(1
John4:8 ).God doesnot merelylove; He islove.EverythingthatGoddoesflowsfromhislove.
In the original Greekusedtowrite the New Testament,thereismore thanone wordfor love.The Greek
wordagapos,oftenreferredtoasagape love,isthe wordusedin 1 John 4. It isusedwhenspeakingof
an unconditional love…whichistrulypossible through love of God whichis boundless. AsChristianswe
mustknowthat God doesnot onlygive love;He isthe source of love.Asthe Creator of all things
(Genesis1:1),He is the One whocreatedlove.Itis because of Hislove thatwe are able to love aswe
can learnfrom1 John 4:19-21, "We lovebecause he firstloved us. 20
Whoever claimsto loveGodyet
hates a brother or sister is a liar.For whoever doesnot love their brother and sister, whomthey have
seen, cannotlove God,whom they have not seen. 21
Andhe has givenus this command:Anyonewho
loves Godmustalso lovetheir brother andsister."
The fullestexpressionof Godas love wasthrough HisSon,JesusChrist.God createdus,sustainsus,and
has revealedHimselftousthroughJesus We can learnfrom John1:14, "The Wordbecame fleshand
made hisdwellingamongus. Wehave seen hisglory,the gloryof the one and onlySon,who came
from the Father, full ofgrace andtruth." Amongthe mostfamousof Bible passagesonlove is 1
Corinthians13. In these verseswe findapicture of God'slove expressedinpoetictermsthatdisplays
manyof the aspectsof God's love towardus.We are told, "Love ispatient and kind;love does notenvy
or boast; it isnot arrogant or rude. It does not insiston its ownway; it is not irritableor resentful; it
does not rejoice at wrongdoing,butrejoices withthe truth. Love bears all things,believes all things,
hopes all things,enduresall things.Love never ends." (1 Corinthians13:4-8).
The Bible isalsoclearthat we have done nothingto deserve God'sperfect andunconditional love.God
showshislove forus inthat while we were still sinners,Christdiedforus." We can learnthisfrom
Romans5:8, “But Goddemonstrates hisown love forus in this: Whilewe were still sinners,Christdied
for us”.EvenwhenJesusknewwe wouldfail andevenbefore we wereborn,He gave Hislife asthe
ultimate expressionof Hislove.
Therefore we needtosteadfastlyknowthatGodislove.He createdlove,createdusto love Him, and
has extendedHislove toeachof us. AsChristiansourchallenge istoacceptHis great love.We can learn
fromEphesians2:8-9, “Forit is by grace you have been saved, throughfaith—andthisisnot from
yourselves,it is the gift ofGod— 9
notby works, so that no one can boast”. Thisfree GiftfromGod is
giventous so that we mayexperienceHislove inourlivestoday.We canlearnfrom John10:10, “The

2. thief comesonly to steal andkill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,and have it to the
full”.
We are constantlybombardedwithsinfulthoughtsthatare createdbythe evil one todraw us away
fromGods love andthe multitude of benefits suchasour salvationthatispossible onlythroughHim.We
can overcome the evil one throughourfaithandsteadfastbelief inJesusChrist becauseaswe learnthat
‘whoeverbelievesin him should notperish but haveeternallife’. We can read this from John3:16, "For
Godso lovedthe world,that he gave his one andonly Son,that whoever believes inhim shouldnot
perish buthave eternal life." God has made clearthat His love throughthe Sonof God,providesan
opportunityforthose whobelieve tospendeternitywithHim.ItisGod's desire forusto enjoyHislove
bothin thislife andforall eternity. The Bible teachesthatGodlovesus and that God islove andalso
that love comesfromGod.
We can readfrom 1 John4 that givesusa deepunderstanding aboutLove.“Dearfriends,let uslove one
another, forlove comes from God.Everyone who loveshas been born of Godandknows God.
8
Whoeverdoes not love does not knowGod,because Godis love. 9
Thisis how Godshowedhis love
amongus: He sent hisone and onlySon intothe worldthat we mightlivethrough him. 10
Thisis love:
not that we loved God,but that he lovedus and sent hisSon as an atoningsacrificeforour sins.
11
Dear friends,since Godso lovedus, we alsooughtto love one another. 12
Noone hasever seen God;
but ifwe love one another,Godlives inus and hislove is madecomplete in us.13
Thisishow we know
that we live in himand he in us: He has givenus of hisSpirit. 14
Andwe have seen andtestify that the
Father has sent hisSon to be the Saviorof the world. 15
If anyoneacknowledgesthat Jesus isthe Sonof
God,Godlivesin them and they in God. 16
Andso we know and rely on the love Godhas forus”.
“Godislove. Whoeverlives in lovelives inGod,and Godin them. 17
Thisis howlove is made complete
amongus so that we will have confidenceon the day of judgment:In thisworld we are like Jesus.
18
There is no fear in love.But perfect love drives out fear,because fear has to do withpunishment.The
one who fears isnot made perfect in love.19
Welove becausehe firstloved us. 20
Whoever claimsto
love Godyet hates a brother or sister isa liar. For whoever does not lovetheir brother andsister,
whom they have seen, cannotlove God,whomthey havenot seen. 21
Andhe has givenus this
command:Anyonewho loves Godmust alsolove their brother andsister”(1 John4: 7-21).