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God is love. 1 John 4:8
D.L. MOODY
If I could only make men understand the real meaning of the words of the apostle John—“GOD IS LOVE”—I would take that single text, and would go up and down the world proclaiming the glorious truth. If you can convince a man that you love him, you have won his heart. If we could really make people believe that God loves them, how we should find them crowding into the kingdom of heaven! The trouble is that men think God hates them; and so they are continually turning their backs on Him.
ERWIN LUTZER
Yes, God is love, but today’s understanding of love is used to justify that which is evil. Love must be defined by the teachings of the Bible, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3) and love “rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). That being said, Moody’s preaching was a great example of someone who preached the love of God in almost every sermon. The love of God was Moody’s central theme.
The statement “God is love” reminds us that God is personal; it means that God invites us into fellowship with Him. Love has implications for companionship for the redeemed. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we might know that He loves us even as He is loved by the Father! And as He was loved by the Father in eternity past, so we also have been loved from all eternity.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism has it right. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.”9 This is the God who loved His own from all eternity.
And yes, because we have been loved, let us love one another.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for loving me from all eternity. Help me to know what it means to love you with all my heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How can you grow in your relationship with GodWhy is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy Him forever?