The Love Of God

God is the God of love. Jesus is the Love of God.

On the last week of Advent, we focus on love. The Bible has a lot to say about that. It was God’s love for mankind that brought us a Christmas Day in the first place. God loves His creation.

The ancients had over a dozen words describing all different kinds of love. Brotherly love, erotic love, marital love, the love of a good friend, the love for a good book, and many others kinds of love are all accounted for in Greek vocabulary. We, on the other hand, only have one word to describe all of them. When I say I love something, I could mean virtually anything at all. I could be talking about kind thoughts towards someone or a great sandwich or an unhealthy obsession for someone that consumes everything in its path. “Love”can mean anything between those extremes.

The Bible describes love by simply saying that God is love. Take a look at these beautiful words from the Apostle John:

1 John 4:7-11

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God … God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Notice that last sentence? It’s about what we do about the love of God. His love is never just a feeling or an emotion. God’s love should always spur us to action. Specifically, we should love one another. If we don’t let God’s love change who we are, or how we act, we are missing who God is and what He has done for us.

God is love. More on this tomorrow.