D. Scott Meadows
It is said, “Fish is the last to discover water.” I am a fish; love is my water. The Lord is giving me more light than ever on love. I beg your patience for saying what may have been obvious to you for a long time.
Any commentary is far less helpful than our unhurried, Spirit-aided meditation on Scriptures about love. Reflect on these from apostle John:
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me (John 8.42).
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13.34-35).
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John 14.23).
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15.9-13).
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17.24-26).
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another (1 John 3.11).
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him (1 John 3.14-19).
I also urge you to read all of 1 John 4.7-12, 19-21, and 2 John 5.
Trinitarian theology is foundational to our understanding of God. He is one God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “God is love” is a statement of His essence, not just His activity, but love must have an object. Only the true and living God is inherently and eternally relational, and that love is eternally in exercise between the Father, Son, and Spirit, as an expression of their fellowship.
God created man in His own image as a relational being with the capacity to love. Before our sin that fellowship of love was enjoyed mutually between God and His creature. Humanity’s love for God was holy, true, and subject to change. In the fall, we turned against Him and became estranged. His holiness assured His enmity against us sinners.
But the God who is love had loved a chosen people from eternity and planned to redeem and restore them in a perfect fellowship of love with Himself, to the praise of the glory of His grace and mercy. Toward this end the Father gave the Son in His incarnation and death. The Son, from love to the Father and to the elect, fulfilled the eternal divine plan of redemption. The initial historic triumph was Christ’s resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven. Then the Father and Son sent the Spirit to apply the grace procured by Christ for His own, reconciling them with God by the forgiveness of their sins, quickening and cleansing their hearts to love Him supremely and others unselfishly.
The special sphere of restored love and fellowship toward God and one’s fellow human being is called the Church. Mutual faith in Christ and spiritual love demonstrated toward one another is the mark of God’s true sons and daughters. This is God’s eternal purpose—perfect fellowship in love experienced between God and His people through Christ by the Spirit for the joy of all to the praise of His glory. To quote John again,
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full (1 John 1.3-4).
These great truths about love have implications far too vast to mention here, but extended meditation on God’s Word with God’s blessing will lead us into them. We Christians swim in love; let us then consciously appreciate it, and walk in the light. Amen.
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