God is love and love is from God (1 John 4.7-8). God’s love is expressed in his actions, which reveal his desire and commitment to relate with us, accept us, save us from our sin, and restore us to health. In the Old Testament, God’s steadfast love is centered on his relation with the people of Israel, beginning with the call of Abraham. God chose Abraham and promised to bless his descendants, Israel. God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, established an everlasting covenant with them, and gave them the Promised Land. But God’s love and care has always extended to all peoples and all creation. God’s primary and ultimate aim in choosing Abraham and Israel was to work through them to bless the entire creation. Through Israel, God would teach all peoples his plan for loving and peaceful human relations. And although Israel proved to be unfaithful to God (read the Prophets!), God has remained faithful because of his steadfast love. We see this fully and finally in Israel’s Messiah and Lord, Jesus of Nazareth.
“In this the love of God was made known among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (1 John 4.9). God’s love for humans is enacted through the person of Jesus, the Son of God, and is made effective through God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus, God showed his extravagant love by gathering his rebellious people. Jesus embodied the love of God by healing those who were sick and “unclean,” by accepting the unaccepted, by entering into fellowship with “sinners.” In Jesus’ teachings he presents God as one who bestows his love, mercy, and forgiveness as acts of undeserved grace. And most chiefly, God’s love is manifest in Jesus’ sacrificial death: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4.10).
In the Christian worldview, love is defined in God’s terms. Humans do not set the standards. We are called to know God and embody his love in the world, to walk in the strength of God’s Spirit, and align our will and actions with God’s good purposes. May God give us grace as we travel this road together!
