Making the Invisible Visible
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. – 1 John 4:7-8, ESV
“John is concerned to relate the love which should be in us…to God’s very nature of love and this loving activity in Christ and in us.”
“The greatness of God’s love, manifest in the nature of his gift and its purpose, is seen also in its beneficiaries, for God gave his Son for us undeserving sinners.”
“The historical manifestation of God’s love in Christ not only assures us of his love for us, but lays upon us the obligation to love one another. No-one who has been to the cross and seen God’s immeasurable and unmerited love displayed there can go back to a life of selfishness.”
“…the unseen God, who once revealed himself in his Son, now reveals himself in his people if and when they love one another. God’s love is seen in their love because their love is his love imparted to them by his Spirit.”- John R. W. Stott
The most important part of loving as God’s children is reminding ourselves of it’s source. God’s love can only come from us if it is His Spirit and not our flesh. In ourselves we can do our best to be loving and self-giving, but, that is not what God wants of His children. He wants instead to equip and empower them by His indwelling Spirit to love as He loved us. His love is not of human origin or strength. His love does not depend (thankfully!) on the loveliness of His children. His love is extended without our being anything but sinners who are objects of His wrath. This is so helpful to us if we can remember and act upon it. God is not anticipating any love being manufactured by a human. His plan is instead to indwell by His Spirit those who are born again as His children. And once that new birth happens, that new indwelling life-giving Spirit will begin to love others through us.
One last helpful but somewhat disconnected thought on this passage (1 John 4:7-21). Knowing God is linked to loving God and one another. This knowledge is not some lofty though process. This knowing is relational knowledge; like you know a friend or, even closer to original intent, as a husband or wife knows their spouse. You don’t read this knowledge in a book, you learn it by relationship. My point in bringing this forward is simply this: you cannot love the way God loves unless you know the person you are to love. You must have a relationship with a person to love them. Otherwise, your love is very theory heavy and practice light. To more deeply love a person, you must more deeply know them. When such knowledge is gained more love can be imparted. In other words, I am again pointing out the need for deep connections among brothers and sisters in Christ. If we seek to make God’s love visible to the world around us, there is simply no other way.
In short then, I am calling on us to do two things. First, to love others by the Holy Spirit’s loving through you. Second, to know more deeply and love more deeply one another. If we do this, we will show everyone around us what God’s love looks like. We will make visible the invisible.