What a Love Relationship With God Can Do

The case was closed – our sin required death. But because of God’s love, He offered the sacrifice Himself by offering His own Son. What greater proof could there ever be that “God is love?” What greater demonstration of that love? And God’s love was directed at us.

But that is precisely why John has the right to make this plea in 1st John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

When John addresses the beloved, he’s talking to believers. This plea is to you and me - to people who have been saved by grace through faith, who’ve experience personally God’s love. Only we can love like that, because the source is God – “for love is of God,” and we’ve been born of God. That’s why John can give us this test:

Remember? This epistle of John’s is a series of tests by which we can evaluate the genuineness of our salvation. Verse 7 said, “Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” If we claim to be born again, then we must be able to show proof, and the greatest proof of our faith is love. We will love one another.

It is a natural thing for a believer if we understand the process. The new birth brings the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit within us leads and guides us to love. It is inevitable, if the Spirit of God dwells in us because the Spirit of God will change us from the inside out.

It’s like the thieves that broke in and stole some radioactive materials and ignored the warnings. The radiation isn’t harmless. That’s why they store radioactive materials inside lead lined containers. If we aren’t protected, the radiation penetrates our bodies and changes our cellular makeup. It literally changes the way our cells are made as it is incorporated in our body.

But whereas the radiation may kill us, and probably will make us very sick, the Holy Spirit will give us life, and make us more like Christ. That means we will be more loving, since “God is love.” Christ’s essence will become our essence.

And, of course, in verse 7, it will lead us to “know God.” This word, know, has a deeper meaning than we are used to. We think that if we know someone, it means that we have been introduced before, or we that we know some facts about that person.

But the Biblical meaning is different. To “know God” isn’t simply to know some facts about God. The word was used in Scripture of a husband knowing his wife in the most intimate union of a married couple.

Obviously, then, to know God is to have a deep and an intimate relationship with Him - to have a love relationship with Him. And isn’t that the truest characteristic of a Christian? Of course, to know God’s love is to share God’s love. It’s to love like He does; to share His mission of loving this world.

Which is why John can say about those who don’t in 1st John 4:8, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Let me read a paraphrase of that to you:
“The person who does not love with a divine kind of love has never entered into a personal, experiential relationship with God – What he knows is in his head, but it’s never gotten into his heart.”

Ooh! You know what that means? That person has no evidence of salvation. They do not know God, so they are not saved. What a tragedy! It’s a tragedy because God is love, and God made the way of salvation. Plus God offers salvation to anyone who will receive it. If people really believed that, they would be crowding into God’s kingdom and loving Him for it.

Instead, as we talked about earlier, people are enemies of God, and they either spend their time running from Him, or they are shaking their fist in God’s face in open rebellion against God.

But, listen to me! People never go to hell because God doesn’t love them – NEVER! They go to hell because they spurn God’s love, and they ignore the door God has opened for them through Jesus Christ. It is so totally needless.

But, where are you at spiritually today? If you are a believer, you can rejoice in the great love of God toward you. But if you are an unbeliever, I shudder in horror for you. Don’t spurn God’s love. You leave God no other choice. If you refuse to enter in by the door God has opened, the only other door is the door to hell.