“Dear friends, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER, for love comes from God. EVERYONE WHO LOVES HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD AND KNOWS GOD. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8) There is a very familiar chorus which says:
- “Beloved, let us love one another:
- for love is of God; and every one that loveth
- is born of God, and knoweth God.”
- (This is the KJV of this verse).
The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. Our new nature as the children of God, as the offspring of his love: and the example of His love. The fruit of the Spirit is love, (Gal. 5:22). This love comes down from heaven! “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.” (1 John 4:9) We demonstrate the Love of God toward one another with our acts of kindness! “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and SENT HIS SON AS AN ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS.” (1 John 4:10) Our Abba Father, the Almighty God, The one who saw to our creation through His Son, our existence is a result of His love for us, but this love required an atoning sacrifice Jesus had to be the propitiation (which means; the turning away of wrath by an offering) for our sins; and to die for us, to die under the law and curse of God, to bear our sins in his own body, to be crucified, to be wounded in his soul, and pierced in his side, to be dead and buried ALL FOR US, for such an end, for such a good and beneficial end to us – that allows us to live forever through Him, to live in heaven, live with God, and live in ETERNAL GLORY and blessedness with Him and through Him! “THIS IS LOVE:” (1 John 4:10) We deserved to die, we were born in sin, and Jesus was not! So, yes, THIS IS LOVE!!!! Thank you Abba Father for your awesome love! Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU!!! “Dear friends, since God so loved us, WE ALSO OUGHT (A COMMAND) TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, GOD LIVES IN US and His love is MADE COMPLETE in us.” (1 John 4:11-12) How ambitious should we be of this brotherly Christian love, which God releases in us TO PERFECT US! To this John, is making known to us the high favor of God’s dwelling in us; it is by this (our loving one-another), that we know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit!
SINCE GOD SO LOVED US, WE ALSO OUGHT [something we are commanded to do] TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
-Bill Stockham