TOPIC:“You Can't Live Without Love”
“God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, that God sent His
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him…Beloved, if
God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (I John 4: 8, 9, 11).
Like Paul in I Corinthians 13 the Apostle John also has his own hymn of love here in chapter 4 of I John. Now the love of which John writes is something that needs to be closely examined by us. Though we have only one word in our English language for love, there are three Greek terms used by the New Testament writers to describe this word. There is the word EROS from which we get the word “erotic,” setting forth the sensual side of love. It is the sexual passion and possessive love one has for another.
Another New Testament word used for love was PHILEO which carries with it the thought of being fond of as between friends. It is our sentimental attachment to certain people, things, or interests. But the term John uses in the verses before us is the word AGAPE which means to love deeply without expecting anything in return. It is a self-giving love, a sacrificial love, which involves a consuming passion for the well-being of others. It is the kind of love that the New Testament writers used exclusively to describe God's love for mankind, and the kind of love that ought to characterize God-possessed people in their relationships one with another.
Such a disposition of love is not possible within our own strength. This way of living is only possible as we permit the Holy Spirit of God to have His way in our lives. The Apostle Paul writes about this in these words: “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). Or as Weymouth renders it: “God's love for us floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Let us now consider three important things as found in the words of our text about the love of God. For as I have written in the title . . .