The Love Giver ∙

The Love Giver ∙

God is love. – 1 John 4:8

1 John 4:18-19

 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

 19 We love, because He first loved us.

Many people ask is there a God? This is soon followed up with another question if there is a God, is He a loving God?

These questions are among the most profound people can ever ask. Added to them is the question, Where does love come from?

We know that matter exists. We know that energy exists. Throughout the centuries, mankind has discovered various laws that govern matter and energy. If there is no God, then everything that exists came from nothing and no one was responsible for it.

The formula is simple and straightforward: Nothing + No one = Everything

I find this logically untenable.

I utterly reject the notion that there is no God. The Scriptures speak directly to this question.

Psalms 53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

As to the second question, is God loving? The Scriptures speak plainly.

1 John 4:8 God is love.

In my heart of hearts, I know what I am truly like. If a Father is truly good, righteous, and holy. He is totally perfect in all of His purity. I Ho also for short of His excellent, omnipotent majesty. Can I ever be lovable enough to deserve the Father’s love? How could He ever really love me? If He does love me, why does He love me?

The Scriptures provide an unequivocal answer: God is love. The Father doesn’t just love, He is love. The very core of the Father’s being is love. His very nature and essence is love. Love permeates all that He is. Love, agape love, emanates from Him. The Father lavishes His love on undeserving people just like us. His love is unconditional and sacrificial.

Romans 5:8 God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

1 John 4:9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.

Even with our fallen human limitations, most of us have known what it is like to both love and be loved. Where does the capacity of human love come from?

1 John 4:7 Love comes from God

One American Indian language translates this verse, “it is because of God that we become like ones-who-love” (UBS). The Father is the source and ultimate cause of all human feelings and actions of love. “Human love is a reflection of something in the divine nature itself” (A. E. Brooke).

The Father is the first and ultimate Love Giver. He is the source of all love.

REFLECT & PRAY

When we understand that the Father loves us unconditionally, all fear fades away.

Father thank You for loving me without reservation. It is so amazing and unimaginable that I can hardly take it in.

INSIGHT

1 John 4:18-19

 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

 19 We love, because He first loved us.

Agape love is totally unconditional love. It is not dependent upon anything that we do or don’t do. When we reflect upon this and allow it to penetrate the deepest recesses of our soul, something amazing happens. All fear is removed. Because there is no fear in love.

The Father has never, “out to get us.” He is at work all the time to bring us to maturity as children of the King. Because He loves us, he disciplines us.

Hebrews 12:7 As you endure divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

The Greek word translated discipline ispaideia. Paideia comes from the Greek verb paideuo which means to rear or guide a child toward maturity, to train, to instruct, or to correct. Pediatrics comes from this word.

Discipline and punishment are not synonyms. Discipline looks to the future and is all about personal growth and development. Punishment looks to the past. It is all about receiving a just penalty for previous wrong actions.

Because of the Father’s unconditional love for us, fear and dread should not be part of our vocabulary. Love and fear cannot coexist, they are mutually exclusive. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

If we continue to experience fear and dread, we do not fully comprehend and realize the Father’s magnificent and more than abounding love for us. We have not fully experienced His perfect love (1 John 4:18).

Because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, we are fully accepted unconditionally by the Father. We are the Father’s beloved children. He cherishes us and we are precious to Him. We should have absolutely no doubt regarding His commitment toward us. We are now part of His “Forever Family.”

Consider the incredible love that the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called “children of God” – and that is not just what we are called, but what we are. – 1 John 3:1 [Phillips translation]

The Father’s love is personal. He knows each of us individually and loves us personally. His love has no beginning and no end. Making it possible for children of the King to experience the Father’s love distinguishes Christianity from all other religions.

Why does Father love us? It is because of who He is: “God is love”

But there is more.

1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

The Father not only loves us but allows us to experience his love. Because we have received the Father’s agape love, we are capable of loving Him back.

His agape love empowers us to love other fallen people, even the unlovely.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 3-10-2

© Dr. H 2022