God Is Love

1 John 4:7-10

I ask you to bear with me this morning.....I have somewhat to say and I pray that I am able to convey what has been laid upon my heart.

I love these 2 verses, because it is a true explanation of God’s Love. Very important to understand from John’s words inspired by the Holy Spirit..........

It is not a love that is manifested from humans, never will it be....from the beginning until now the only love that truly matters is God’s love!

Important to note, that God does not have love or know how to love rightly, He is love!

By the info we can declare that our love has no lasting effect, it is not eternal.

The only was we can love rightly/correctly is by the Love of God!

Something this has spurned a thought or maybe a question.......how does folks outside the faith in Jesus Christ know the love of God.....

Maybe even that can be asked to some that say they are of the faith and do not know this love.

The basis of God’s love is shown in His forgiveness, mercy, and grace! This is the manifestation of God’s Love.

The part that presses upon my mind and heart is in verse 10......

1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Not the we loved God, but that He loved us and the manifestation is the appeasement of God’s wrath upon the guilty was fulfilled by His Son Jesus.

So, how do we display this love???? Or do we know true love?

To get a view of this, let’s turn to Exodus 34:5-9..........

God passing by Moses, at Moses’ desire......but in God’s Glory passing by we find the truth of God’s essence....

Oh there is more to His Glory....

The part that did not pass by Moses......that couldn’t because Moses would die, which is God’s holiness, purity, and Lordship!

What did pass by Moses, was the love of God........but in that love God declared that He will in no wise clear the guilty.

If you make a list of these attributes that God displays to Moses, they are all on the basis of love:

Merciful: Compassionate

Gracious: This word is only used as an attribute of God, as of hearing the cry of the vexed/distressed debtor.

Long-suffering: Slow to anger.\

Abundant in goodness: Plenteous in lovingkindness/benevolent affection....

Marked by doing good.

Abundant in truth: Faithfulness

Forgiveness of iniquity: wickedness

Forgiveness of transgression: rebellion

Forgiveness of sin: coming short of the Glory of God.

The most important understanding that God will in no wise clear the guilty.......

Not clearing the guilty, makes it clear that there is eternal punishment to be paid....

God’s desire is for us to be saved from His wrath......There is no way that we can stand before God in the state of sin that we are.....Only Jesus lived a life that can be before God......

So, In, through, and with Jesus Christ we have been forgiven and He paid our ransom on the cross.

I said all that to discuss this......we live in a world that has a leader (satan) that is attempting to desensitize sin, being guilty........It is all over TV, Internet, Social Media, commercials, and right in front of our faces.

The objective is for the world to not know their sin and guilty verdict, because without those nobody will know the true love of God!

This is important because, even in the church we have kowtowed to the thinking of let’s not talk about sin.........

The most dangerous thing for the world is for the knowledge of God not being about our sin and His forgiveness, without that the true essence of God’s love will not ever be known!

Also, their relationship will be just on the surface and will be wipe out by life!

The atonement, the propitiation, the forgiveness is the basis of our relationship now, not in the beginning (before sin) was not based on that, but after the fall redemption must happen for mankind.

Redemption that cannot be achieved by mere humans, but was given freely by God through His son.........This is love.....that is what John was telling.....This is Love, not that we loved God, we can’t truly know God without knowing that His Son was sent to appease His wrath on our behalf.

If we keep burying the conversation about sin and the guilt with it, no one will know the love of God!

How can anyone know the love of God, by someone just saying “God loves you”??

Let me read a quote from a book on Isaiah by David Pawson: “Logically, you cannot love God until you have been forgiven by God and logically you cannot be forgiven by God until you have realized that you are a sinner---and you cannot realize you are a sinner until you have realized that God is holy. You cannot love God until you have seen that He is holy and you are not. We can only experience God’s love through forgiveness.”

This understanding makes a relationship.....how can we have that relationship based on someone that we have not seen or touched?

God’s Word reveals to us God as Holy and that we have fallen and broken fellowship with the Father and because of His Love we have forgiveness........without knowing this, we will never know the true powerful love of God!

Last time turn with me to Romans 5:6-11......This says it all, however I go back to 1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”