Knowing the Love of God

Ikthus Dumaguete

Ikthus Daily Word | November 27, 2023 | Monday

1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

How can my joy abound? How can I walk through this world with my head erect? How can I come through triumphantly? Well, here is the main thing: I should know the love that God has toward me. If I have that, I can say that “neither death, nor life . . . nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Therefore, the questions come to us one by one: Do I know this love? Can I make this statement? It is made everywhere in the New Testament. Paul is particularly fond of stating it: “. . . the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). No man could state the doctrine of the atonement in all its plenitude and glory like the apostle Paul, and yet here he says in essence, “He died for me; He loved me.” This is personal knowledge, personal appropriation. You find this everywhere in the New Testament. For example, “Whom having not seen,” says Peter, “ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

Do we know that? These people did not see Him, and so we cannot argue and say, “It is all very well for those first Christians; they saw Him. If only I could see Christ, then I would love Him.” But they did not see Him any more than we see Him. They had the apostolic witness and teaching and accepted this witness and testimony. They loved Him and rejoiced in Him “with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

A Thought to Ponder: They loved Him and rejoiced in Him “with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Devotional Source: Walking with God Day By Day

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