Knowledge of God's love

1 John 4:16 (NKJV)

"And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."

Amen, thank you LORD.

The Apostle John who wrote this epistle personalized God's love for him and described himself as the one who Jesus loves. It is no wonder, his letter of 1 John is predominantly focused on love. This Apostle with the guidance of the Holy Spirit tells us above, that '...we have known and believed the love that God has for us..'. This shows us that God desires for His sons and daughters to have both the knowledge of His love and to believe it.

In 1 John 1:2 (NKJV), I believe Apostle John gives a description of this knowledge of God's love and says, "the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us - that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."

So we see that the knowledge of God's love is found in Christ who is eternal life (John 17:3). Apostle John had the physical experience of Christ's love because he saw Him in the flesh and he also had the spiritual experience of knowing the Lord after Jesus departed back to the Father.

However, the spiritual experience of knowing Christ is far superior to any physical experience for Romans 1:17 says, "...The just shall live by faith." After Jesus resurrected from the dead and appeared to His disciples, one of them called Thomas said he would not believe that Jesus had resurrected from the dead until he saw Him in the flesh. As God always stands true, Christ appeared to Thomas and the rest of the disciples. He then asked Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." (John 20:27). When Thomas did this, he believed. Then Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29).

When you believe in Christ, the Son of God, who is eternal life, who died on the cross for our sins and by whose stripes you were healed, was raised from the dead and destroyed all powers of darkness so that you could be redeemed, delivered from sin and spiritual death into the kingdom of His love, you have known and believed God's love for you. This is the foundation of your faith.

The second part of the above Scripture in 1 John 4:16 shares with us that "...God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." Apostle John earlier on in his epistle writes that God's love for us is seen through Jesus whom He sent into the world that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9).

Simply put, you cannot have the knowledge of God's love without Christ. Living a life in Christ is where you find God's love, God's forgiveness of sin, God's healing, God's hope, God's redemption, God's preservation, God's restoration, God's power, God's protection, God's transformation, God's mercy, God's peace, God's joy, God's grace, God's freedom & liberty to mention some of the few blessings that are available to one who has been born of God. I believe the second part of the above lead Scripture is saying, 'God is love, and he who abides in Christ (who is love) abides in God and God in turn abides in him'.

So the question then becomes how do you grow in the knowledge of God's love for you? - By consistently reading and meditating on God's Word. Thankfully, God's love found in Christ is illustrated from the first book of the Bible, Genesis, all the way to the last book, Revelation. As you read God's Word with the help of the Holy Spirit, God's character and His ways are revealed to you. It's like a young child and parent. Most children, especially babies and toddlers, will not be quick to gravitate towards an adult that is not their parent or someone that they are unfamiliar with. But as they spend time with you, they will get acquainted with you. If you are like me, I barely ever heard my mom use the words 'love you' unless she wrote it in a card but I know she deeply loved me based on the time we spent together, her actions and the sacrifices she made for her children. As you read the Word, you get to know God as a Father. You also see His heart concerning your life and your inheritance in Christ. Jesus says in Luke 11:13 (NKJV), "If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

The Word of God also paints a picture of God's love for you and what it took when God gave Jesus for your sins and for the world as well so that you could walk in freedom from sin, live a blessed life and experience heaven on earth. Jesus' death on the cross was not an easy death. It cost Jesus as much as it cost God, a very painful price to say the least and yet considered worthy because God loves you. However, we are the ones who have the responsibility to get acquainted with God through the Word. This is because the Bible is a love story. As a loving Father, God's arms are always open and ready to receive all who come seeking Him.

I'll end with this Word found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NKJV)

4. "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself; is not puffed up;

5. does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

6. does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth;

7. bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away."

Amen, thank you LORD.

Invitation to salvation: If you would like to be born again into God's Kingdom, that is saved and have a personal relationship with God as Your Father and you as His child by receiving His Son, Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, I invite you to say this confession:

"I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that; Jesus Christ, the Son of God came in a human body to die for my sins so that I could have a new life where I am dead to sin and alive to God. I repent of my past sins and enter the Kingdom of light where I choose relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour and with God as my loving Father today and forever." AMEN.

Congratulations, YOU'VE BEEN REDEEMED by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. To the glory of the Almighty God. Amen. In case you do not already, please join a church community and get water baptized!