And then, right in the middle of a fine set from the praise band, we slip a cog. We get really confused about love. We think it's about God's warm feelings toward us and our warm feelings toward Him. And it's not. How do I know? Because it's in the text.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for 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. (1 John 4:7-11)Now, right there in the middle of that passage is the phrase I already quoted: "God is love." It is not, however, all by itself. What else does it say? We are told at the beginning and the end that we should "love one another", but we aren't told that in a vacuum. We're told how and why. How? "Love is from God." Why? "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."
I don't know why we routinely read this stuff without batting an eye. John says something critical here. Love, this love of which John is writing (as opposed to our sexualized, emotionalized version today) is sourced by God and is not common. "Love is from God." This love is only possible to one who is born of God. If you are not born of God, you cannot, in John's terms, love. This love as it comes out of us is a result of and response to Christ's work on the cross. This love is rare, but it is the love we are commanded to have for one another.
One of the confusions over God and love is that "God is love" as if love is God. People see it as an equivalence, like "A = B". It's not. People see it as if love is God's biggest attribute, overshadowing all others (like His justice and His wrath). It's not. Love is not who God is. Love is defined by God. You see, God is the standard of standards, the standard without standards. God, by His nature, defines what is good. There is not a higher standard of good to which He must submit. Instead, His nature is the standard of good to which we must all submit. The same is true of God's love. God, by His nature, defines love. There is not some objective "love" out there to which God aligns Himself. He is the source.
Think of a dictionary. Dictionaries do not define words; they report the definition. If you use a word--say, "marriage"--to mean something different, the dictionary has nothing to say about it. It just reports that new definition. That's why you can find the description "archaic" in some definitions. It used to mean this, but no one uses it that way anymore. Because dictionaries aren't the ones that define words; we are. The same is not true about God. God defines good. God defines love. When it says, "God is love", it is not a limitation--"This is what God is"--but an explanation of the source of love. That is what the text says. We don't love because of ourselves or because there is a "higher love" out there that we tap into. We love because He loved us. He is the definition. He is the source.
God's love truly is amazing. We truly are blessed. God's love exceeds our comprehension. We can taste it, but we can never fully grasp it. Because of that love, we are to love one another. Because God is love.
1 comment:
Awesome! Very well said.
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