God is love. The arrangement of those few words issignificant. God IS love. Now, I hate to invoke a former president’s paper-thinargument about what the definition of is IS, but I have to say: it IS veryimportant here. The Word says that God IS love. It doesn’t say that God loves,although we read that elsewhere. Love is WHO God is. It is His very existence.Love is what makes Him up. I venture to say that true love does not exist apartfrom Him. After all, if God is love itself, mustn’t he be the source of thatlove which is pure and undefiled?
Early on in verse 16 I am challenged by the truth that “…weknow and rely on the love God has for us.” There is so much there. First andforemost, as Christians we KNOW that God has love for us. It is inescapable. Itis undeniable. A crucified and risen Savior is all the evidence I need. Butthen comes the word RELY. Wow. Do I really? Do I rely on the love that God hasfor me? Not always. Truthfully, rarely. What does that even mean? Carefulthought leads me to the conclusion that my life would be radically altered. Ino longer rely on myself—my talents and abilities. I am no longer responsiblefor the outcome of situations but my participation in the process. Myself-reliance becomes complete dependence on He who is Love.
And what do we know about love? According to the apostlePaul, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, itis not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is noteasily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil butrejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,always perseveres.” Wow. Love is who God is. He ispatient and kind. He takes pleasure in us. The Lord of all Creation is humble.God honors those He created, is selfless, patient, and forgiving. He is theway, the Truth, and the life. He protects us, trusts us, hopes for us, and perseveresin His pursuit of us. Love is so much more than what He does; it IS who He is.
Early in the 4th chapter of 1 John, verse 12 reads:“…if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”I love that! God’s love requires our participation to be “made complete”. This reminds of a song lyric by MichaelW. Smith in which he sings: “Love isn’t love/Until you give it away”. For God’slove to exist in the way He intended it, we must spend it on one another. Inthat we experience love in its totality. It is not lacking in any way. We getthe full effect. Love Himself is inviting us to let love explode from withinus, leaving no one surrounding us untouched by who He is. It’s kind of like amushroom cloud from a volcano (like the one pictured) or an atomic bomb. Here is how it works according toWikipedia: “Themass of gas rises rapidly, resulting in turbulent vortices curling downwardaround its edges, forming a vortex ring and drawing up a column of additional smoke and debris in the center to formits "stem". The mass of gas eventually reaches an altitude where itis no longer of lower density than the surrounding air and disperses, thedebris drawn upward from the ground scattering and drifting back down.”In short, the fallout is widespread. That’s how our love is to be madecomplete. Be the blast that lasts!
“Let love explode and bring the dead to life/A love sobold/To see a revolution some how” [from ‘Like a Lion/My God’s Not Dead’]
