Title “God Is Love”/Hosea 14:4-8,
Content: “God is love”
(Hosea 14:4-8, John 13:31-35, 1 John 4:7-21
The Apostle John described 'the nature of God' in one word, 'God is love.' (1 John 3:8,16) In the Old Testament, he summarized the 613 laws and made the 10 commandments to serve God and serve people. . The Old Testament can be condensed and summarized into ten commandments. Jesus summarized these ten things into two and summarized them as 'love of God and love of neighbor' (Matthew 22:34,40). The Apostle Paul summarized these things into one thing, which is 'faith, hope, and love'. The most important among them was 'love' (1 Corinthians 13:13). The apostle John summarized it with a new commandment, 'love one another' (John 13:34). Therefore, the core value of Christianity taught in the Bible is 'love'. I can tell you.
The Apostle John expresses the attributes of God by saying, “God is Love.”
I. What can be evidenced by the statement that ‘God is love’?
① If we look at the beautiful creation, we can see that God is love. (Psalm 8, Genesis 1) ‘How beautiful is the world of the Lord’ (Hymns 78)
② Through God’s ‘providence’, He takes care of and sustains all things with love, and sends sunlight and rain to the good and the wicked. (Matthew 5:45, Psalm 17:8)
③ You can know God's love through God's work of salvation. 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' (John 3:16) 'Be patient, so that he might save even one more life' (2 Peter 3: 9)
II. How did man respond to God's love? (1 John 4:19-21)
① Because God loved us first, we have no choice but to love. God's antecedent love awakens the love of God and brotherly love in us. Thus, our love for God is a reward for His love, and our love for our brothers is to imitate God's love.
② The evidence that a person who is loved by God loves God is that he loves his brother.
He said, “If you say you love God and do not love your brother, you are a liar.” Conversely, he said, “It is also a lie that a person who does not love his brother loves God.” (Verses 20-21) Those who hate others or do not have ethical love have no right to dwell with God and cannot love God. Those who are in ‘love’ are ‘people in God’ and ‘the people of the kingdom of heaven who have been saved’. However, those who are in ‘hate’ are not members of God’s family.
Ⅲ. How can a person know God? (1 John 4:7-13)
‘You can know God through love’ (verse 12). Because God is a ‘spirit’, we cannot see God with our eyes. But what we can see is the influence of God. We cannot see the wind, but we can see what the wind can do. We cannot see electricity, but we can see the light or power it represents. Although God is invisible to our eyes, when He comes to us as His Spirit, we can love God and love people (verse 13). As we see this love manifested in our lives, we know that God is with us. You can check.
The best evidence of God is a life of love rather than theory. Evidence that cannot be found anywhere else can be found in the life of a person who loves God. Therefore, by loving we learn to know God, and by knowing God we learn to love (verses 7-8).
conclusion.
Through ‘love’, we learn, become closer to, and become like God. When people love God, they enjoy true freedom in God and love people. Only when we love people can we receive God's love in God and God's guidance. Love casts out fear and becomes an unbreakable cord forever (Romans 8:37-30).
“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love. He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).