First John chapter four is one of my favorite chapters in the bible. In this chapter lie the foundations of truth that all of Christianity is built on. There are so many things here to meditate on and to build into our lives. I guess the best place to start is with the foundation.
Verse 10: Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
This is our beginning. Love does not begin or end with us. It has always had its beginning in God. He loved us so much and gave His only son to die and pay the price for our sins.
If you notice it was while we were lost in our sins that His love caused Him to send His only son to die for us. We could never earn His love or expect it. It has always been a free gift based on who He is and not on what we do. It is beyond my comprehension how the church today has lost its beginnings. Love has always been the foundation for everything God builds.
Maybe it's time we learned that God still loves sinners and wants them saved for no other reason than because He is desperately in love with them and spared no expense to save them. It is my great desire that the church will awaken unto love again and preach the message of forgiveness through the cross and the blood of Jesus and tell all people how much God loves them.
Verses 15 -17 declare this:
15: Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16: And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him. 17: Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Whosoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God dwells in God and God in him. Once we know the love of God we will understand that we are perfectly secure in His love. By dwelling in love we dwell in God. Notice that verse seventeen says that we can have boldness in the Day of Judgment. Most people live in fear their whole lives afraid that they are going to face the judgment of God. Verse eighteen says that there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out all fear. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
If we take time to meditate on His love and kindness and realize that it was his plan that brought us salvation. It is in no way based on anything that we did or could ever do. It was because of His great love that he couldn't leave us in our doomed state. Once we become perfected in His love we will no longer be afraid. I believe that's where He is trying to take us. He wants us to be totally secure in His love.
15: Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16: And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him. 17: Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Whosoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God dwells in God and God in him. Once we know the love of God we will understand that we are perfectly secure in His love. By dwelling in love we dwell in God. Notice that verse seventeen says that we can have boldness in the Day of Judgment. Most people live in fear their whole lives afraid that they are going to face the judgment of God. Verse eighteen says that there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out all fear. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
If we take time to meditate on His love and kindness and realize that it was his plan that brought us salvation. It is in no way based on anything that we did or could ever do. It was because of His great love that he couldn't leave us in our doomed state. Once we become perfected in His love we will no longer be afraid. I believe that's where He is trying to take us. He wants us to be totally secure in His love.
Verses 20 and 21 sum it all up when they say:
20: If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21: And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.
It's really simple when you look at it. We in the church have things so backwards. We have such an “earn it” mentality built into us. The truth of the matter is that God loves us. No matter what we do or don't do. His love can only be received by His grace. Once we understand His kind of Love then we are perfected, and we understand that if God loves me unconditionally then I can love others the same way.
I love my brothers and sisters not because it's the right thing to do but because I am so settled into God's love that I can't help myself. His great love pours into my life and it is too much to contain and I have to share it with the entire world.
I love God because He loved me first and I love others because it becomes my nature to do so. It's built into my born again Spirit because it is born of God. I can even learn to love my enemies because when I was God's enemy He still loved me and His grace saved me and took me from being His enemy to being born again into His family. He wasn't even satisfied with making an ally of a former enemy. That wasn't enough to satisfy His love. He took me prisoner of His love and put within me His Spirit and changed me not from enemy to ally, but from being an enemy to being a son.
Now we know His heart and we can see the world as He does. Not as angry wicked people but as future citizens of the kingdom of God and as future brothers and sisters. Just like us they need to discover His great love and then how could they resist the call of His Spirit to repent and believe the gospel. Maybe it's time to release more of His love through us to the ones that are lost and doomed forever if they don't respond to His love in time. We should remember to love like it's the last day, because it is.
I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael
For more information please visit our website at:
michaelottministries.org
20: If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21: And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.
It's really simple when you look at it. We in the church have things so backwards. We have such an “earn it” mentality built into us. The truth of the matter is that God loves us. No matter what we do or don't do. His love can only be received by His grace. Once we understand His kind of Love then we are perfected, and we understand that if God loves me unconditionally then I can love others the same way.
I love my brothers and sisters not because it's the right thing to do but because I am so settled into God's love that I can't help myself. His great love pours into my life and it is too much to contain and I have to share it with the entire world.
I love God because He loved me first and I love others because it becomes my nature to do so. It's built into my born again Spirit because it is born of God. I can even learn to love my enemies because when I was God's enemy He still loved me and His grace saved me and took me from being His enemy to being born again into His family. He wasn't even satisfied with making an ally of a former enemy. That wasn't enough to satisfy His love. He took me prisoner of His love and put within me His Spirit and changed me not from enemy to ally, but from being an enemy to being a son.
Now we know His heart and we can see the world as He does. Not as angry wicked people but as future citizens of the kingdom of God and as future brothers and sisters. Just like us they need to discover His great love and then how could they resist the call of His Spirit to repent and believe the gospel. Maybe it's time to release more of His love through us to the ones that are lost and doomed forever if they don't respond to His love in time. We should remember to love like it's the last day, because it is.
I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael
For more information please visit our website at:
michaelottministries.org
