THE CHRISTIAN IS LOVE
1 John 4:13-21
“Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
This is an amazing statement and I think we do well to not quickly explain it away.
The problem in our theological minds is that it seems to bypass the sacrifice of Christ or we will have to claim that only Christians are capable of “living in love”, which seems rather arrogant, or restrict “whoever” to mean only Christians. To me, however, the issue is an issue only when we insist on the logic of western argument and thinking that wants to filter everything down to its essence.
The statement does not focus on faith in Christ and so we should not bring it into the picture to complicate what it tells us. Instead we should let it inform us just how much God – is – love; how much love is the very essence of God; all love that is unselfish and sacrificial and imparts life (see vv9-10).
In Mark 12, the lawyer, who asked Jesus which he thinks is the most important of all the commandments of God—and Jesus replied in that famous statement about love—affirmed Jesus’ answer and added “To love … is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices,” and Jesus responded, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Even to understand what love means to God brings a person closer to the kingdom of God; what more to live in love—that is, to make love (as defined in vv9-10) as the foundation of your life and lifestyle.
The logical conclusion that John brings us to is that as children of God, hatred must never be in our DNA; love has no place for hatred; children of God love, not hate; Christians must be marked by their love.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)