1 John 4:9-10: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
The social networks are currently abuzz over current legislative affairs with slogans like "love is love." Love has been reduced to a subjective ordeal, removed of all its substance and weight. In this relativistic world love has been deified while God has been reduced. The truth, however, is that a god-less love is no more love than a water-less pool is a lake. We must be clear that love apart from God is, in fact, not love; it is a counterfeit.
By definition, given us throughout Scripture but especially and directly here in 1 John, is a theological matter. There is no escaping this reality. And while this is an inescapable truth, we must also add that love is an active theological reality. It is God's love for us that, it turns out, affects and empowers our ability to love for it is God's love shown for us in His Son that perfectly exemplifies true love.
Jesus is the utter and ultimate love. It is His life and death that stands as the quintessence of love in the finest most profound sense. God did through His Son what no man could due for him or herself: He redeemed us from sin and saved us unto eternal life. Love defined is thus both self-sacrificing as well as wholly compassionate. In other words, love is doing for another what that other could not be able to do while not expecting any sort of recompense in return; purely out of love.
Hence, when we speak of love with an eye on its highest order we should not ever remove God and what Christ has done for it is Christ who has defined love for us. Love should not be allowed to wander Christ-less as if it is a singularly human endeavor, lest we forget that the human version is but a shadow of the eternal one.
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