He First Loved Us

The only way we can love God is because God has loved us first, and it is He who empowers us to love other people.

He First Loved Us

"We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?"

(1 John 4:19)

This week in our devotions, we are looking at the power of love as described by the Apostle John in 1 John 4. Aren't you eternally grateful for the love of God? I know I am. Were it not for His first loving me, I would still be hopelessly lost and living in sin. But thank You Jesus for Your love for me and the entire world as seen in Your life, death, and resurrection!

The only way we can love God is because God has loved us first, and it is He who empowers us to love other people. I like to say that salvation from beginning to end is from God. He pursued us because He loved us. As the popular song "Outrun You" by Band Reeves, puts it:

You chased me down through the wind and rain
The hound of heaven kept calling my name
All Your love coming after me
'Til this wayward child finally hit my knees
Oh, no matter where my wandering heart ran to
I couldn't outrun You
Couldn't outrun You.

Verse 20 is pure Johannine. He tells it like it is. The fact that he mentions this scenario leads me to believe that this was happening. There must have been people in the church then like there are today who say they love God, but they are lying because they do not love their brother. Their behavior betrays their lofty profession. The word hate is in the present tense. They were continually hating others.

John gives a simple illustration that communicated to his audience very clearly: "For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" It would be analogous to me saying, "I love hockey, but I hate ice, skating rings, pucks flying into the air, and guys throwing off their gloves and going at it... but I love hockey." I really don't love hockey because I do not love the very things that constitute the game of hockey. Or I could tell you I love Nascar racing, but I hate lightning-fast cars, quick pit stops, photo-finishes, and guys with last names like Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon, Busch, and Elliot. The truth of the matter is, I do not love racing, or I would love what is associated with racing.

The Apostle John says if you do not love people, you are telling a lie when you say you love God. To love God, you must love the things God loves; you must have the same defining characteristic in your life that is His: namely love. Dr. Brian Harbour writes, "We may talk about loving God all we want, but if we are in turn critical of other Christians, quick to jump to negative conclusions about them, slow to bear their burdens, unwilling to walk in their shoes, then we don't really love God!" (Source: Harbour's sermon titled, "God Is Love," 1 John 4:16-21)