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What does "for God is love" mean?


Introduction. The verse which probably prompted our question reads: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4: 8, cf. vs. 16). While the Bible abounds with readily understandable truths, there are also profound statements which are humanly impossible to fully understand. "God is love" is such a statement.

Love originates with God. "Beloved, let us love one another," John writes, "For love is of God..." (1 John 4: 7). In view of love originating and emanating from God, God is called the "God of love" (2 Cor. 13: 11).

God loves man. God's love for man is everywhere affirmed in Holy Writ. God's love for man is so great that when effort is made to present an example of the highest quality of love, it is God's love which is emphasized, not man's love. Hear John, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us..." (1 John 4: 10). One of the greatest statements in the Bible reads, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3: 16).

God is love. While the Bible repeatedly teaches God is the origin of true love and that God loves man, the phrase "God is love" is declaring an additional truth. It is in the phrase "God is love" that we find the very apex of love from an understanding point of view. "God is love" is not addressing or stating an attribute of God. "God is love" is addressing the very nature and essence of God himself. God does not simply love; God is love. How can finite man even begin to comprehend such a statement?

Conclusion. There is no system and no author so completely involving love as God's system and the God who gave it. Marvelously, "God is love."
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