1 John 4:7-21
God’s LOVE and Our Love
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 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. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
When we want to learn more about the Personality and who Jesus is one of the reasons I like reading the gospels...Jesus spoke and did things no other man has ever done before or after Him...He understands all things...I think of how He did miracles to help others and to teach us more about Himself...In His Complete Understanding and when we read these verses of Scripture, I think of His LOVE for others, His forgiveness of others, His helping others and wanting us also to help others, and His wanting us to reflect on who He is...I think of Him being a Servant to others, and how He served others...I think of His Great Humility...But overall of His Great Virtues I think of Hm as LOVE, because God is LOVE...
When I look to understand Jesus and how He has LOVE and Compassion for everyone, I read "For God so LOVED the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."...This verse encapsulates the essence of God's LOVE for humanity, demonstrated through Jesus' sacrifice and the death of God's Son on the Cross...
When I look to learn about Jesus' Teachings, I could read Matthew 22:37-39..."Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’...This is the Great and First commandment...And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"...These verses summarizes the "Great Commandment," highlighting the core principles of love for God and others...We are to love God and love neighbor...And Jesus is teaching us more about love and the importance of love...
When I look to learn more about seeing Jesus' and how He wants us to help others, be servants, and His call to discipleship, I might read Matthew 16:24: "Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me."...These verses emphasizes the commitment required to follow Jesus, including self-denial, unselfishness, service to others, and willingness to face challenges...
When I want to learn more about Jesus' Identity, I think of when He ask His Disciples Who do you think I AM?...In Matthew 16:14-20, His disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”...“But what about you?” He asked...“Who do you say I AM?”...Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”...Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven...And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it...I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”...And when I think about who Jesus is I read John 14:6: "Jesus answered, “I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life...No one comes to the Father except through Me."...These verses are a powerful statement of Jesus' unique role as the mediator between God and humanity...
When I look to learn about Jesus through His Miracles, I read Luke 5:17-26: On one of the days while Jesus was teaching, some proud religious law-keepers and teachers of the Law were sitting by Him...They had come from every town in the countries of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem...The power of the LORD was there to heal them...Some men took a man who was not able to move his body to Jesus...He was carried on a bed...They looked for a way to take the man into the house where Jesus was...But they could not find a way to take him in because of so many people...They made a hole in the roof over where Jesus stood...Then they let the bed with the sick man on it down before Jesus...When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”...The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers thought to themselves, “Who is this Man Who speaks as if He is God?...Who can forgive sins but God only?”...Jesus knew what they were thinking...He said to them, “Why do you think this way in your hearts?...Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Get up and walk’?...“So that you may know the Son of Man has the right and the power on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the man who could not move his body, “I say to you, get up...Take your bed and go to your home.”...At once the sick man got up in front of them...He took his bed and went to his home thanking God...All those who were there were surprised and gave thanks to God, saying, “We have seen very special things today.”...Then I read another healing, which goes beyond healing...In Mark 5:38-42: "When He arrived at the house of the synagogue leader, He saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly...When He entered, He asked them, “Why all this commotion?...What are you weeping about?...The child is not dead but asleep.”...They laughed at Him...But He put them all out, and took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with Him, and went into the room where the child was...Taking the child’s hand, He said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”)...Immediately the girl stood up and walked around, for she was twelve years old...At this they were astonished beyond measure."...This passage showcases Jesus' power to heal, a demonstration of His Divine Nature...
All these verses show us that He is the embodiment of God's LOVE and sacrifice...He is a Miracle Worker that Completely Embodies humility...He is a teacher who emphasizes love for God and others...He calls for dedicated discipleship...He is the Son of God, and the only way to reach the Father...And Jesus is Complete LOVE...