In the passage mentioned above, before informing us “God is love,” John tells us “love is of God” (See 1 John 4:7), indicating God is the source of love. In addition to suggesting love originates with God, this language hearkens to social and functional aspects of God sharing love and provides grounds for John to imply one is able and should love others; which he stated as “Considered together, these phrases “God is love” and “love is of God” infer God alone defines the moral principles and ethical behaviors that qualify as love in all contexts and that He alone is the source, distributor and moral authority of love. This is supported by John's defining declaration of love: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (1 John 4:10-11).

Thus, God is love exclusively, and He is the sole God of love. Accordingly, He alone possesses moral authority to define what is love, how love functions, who receives it and who we are to love. Therefore, when people assign new, unscriptural notions and behaviors to love they do not simply change the meaning of love, they change the meaning of God! Doing so is idolatry. It changes the truth of God into a lie and worships and serves the creature (man) more than Creator God. (See Romans 1:24).

Charity is rooted in God's love which proceeds through him to all who are born again (See 1 John 4:7, Galatians 5:22). In the Ephesian letter Paul aptly refers to God's love as “great love” (Ephesians 2:4) By all measures, the greatness of God's love is superlative. There is no greater love. It is eternal, unmerited love that is given completely to a vast quantity of people. It is given at the greatest cost, the most times and in the most ways love can be expressed. As such, there is no greater love than God's love (See John 15:13, Jeremiah 31:3). Its greatness is unsurpassed in abundance, commitment and power.

God's great love is utmost in abundance because no one has more love to give than God and no one loves more people than God. He loves “thousands of millions” (See Genesis 24:60) out of every “kindred and tongue and people and nation” (See Revelations 5:9). Neither does anyone love more abundantly than the number of times God loves, nor with greater loving power than does God (See Numbers 14:8, Psalms 86:5, 103:11). Throughout time the abundance of God's love has produced, produces and will produce billions of acts of grace by which he quickens His elect and will raise them from the dead. Moreover, everyday God performs millions, even billions of acts of loving kindness of providential care, blessed acts that are beyond imagination, for His children here on earth (See Ephesians 3:14-21). This includes all faithful thoughts, words and acts done by those who are born again since the love by which faith works by love is a measure of God's love which is received when a person is born again. The abundant scope of God's great love spans time and encompasses all eternity. He gives it to all who are born again in this temporal realm and it continues with them when their spirits enter eternity and is in their bodies after the resurrection. (See Romans 9:10-12, 2 Timothy 1:9, Jeremiah 31:3)

God's great love is likewise unmatched in commitment because it is perfect, eternal and immutable. It is perfect in that God's love devised a way to save dead, alien sinners by sacrifice and judgment while retaining His qualities of perfect holiness and righteousness. The superlative quality of God's perfect commitment to love is evident by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son to die for our sins and thereby redeem us to Himself, even though in nature and practice we opposed Him. (See John 3:16, 15:13, 1 John 4:9, 15:13, Romans 5:10). Moreover, God's loving commitment to save is eternal in that He chose in Christ all who would be saved before the world began and will raise them to dwell with Him in eternal glory, so that none will be lost (Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2, John 6:37-39). It committed Him to lovingly choose and save sinners without preconditions. It is wholly unmerited love (See Romans 911-16) Moreover, it commits God to quicken, preserve and raise from the dead all for whom Christ died, so none are lost (See John 6:37-39, 10:27-29). God's great love is committed to never change. It is immutable in that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our LORD” (See Romans 8:38-39).

By the supreme power of His great love God raised Christ from the dead and will raise all the elect family of God when Jesus comes again. God's great love is supremely powerful in effectual working as it has, does and will quicken every one of the billions for whom Christ died. Its quickening power is greater than death, its preserving power is greater than sin. (Romans 8:38-39). The unequaled power of God's great love will finish the work of redemption by raising the same “great multitude, which no man can number” to join the Savior in the air and ever be with the LORD (See I Corinthians 15:43, Revelations7:9).

God's great love is more than an example Christians are to follow. As impeccable, complete and perfect love it is the source, essence and ethical standard of charity (Christian love). It defines charity in form and function (See 1 John 4:10). Just so, Christ Jesus is charity personified. For in Him was witnessed and recorded God's greatest expression of love when Jesus died for God's children. (John 15:13) Thus, all the qualities of charity and every charitable behavior listed in 1 Corinthians 13 reflect the character and ethics of Christ, who is our perfect example (See John 15:9-10).

With God as the perfect standard of love and Jesus as its perfect example, 1 Corinthians 13 provides principles and ethics of charity which supply believers with necessary instruction in how to obey Jesus' two great commandments to love God and others (See Matthew 22:37-40). In this regard this chapter serves as a sort of “Quick-Start-Users-Guide” for discipleship. (See 1 John 4:19- 5:3).

Focused on loving God and others, charity is unselfish. It neither craves advantage nor seeks attention. It eliminates self-indulgence and self-promotion as motives by prioritizing devotion to God through obedience and attending to the needs and welfare of others. It does not seek gain, fame or power. Rather, charity seeks to mirror God's love, knowing to do so requires self-denial (See John 14:15-23, Matthew 16:24, 1John 3:16, 4:11),


“Love is of God” Part II of III will appear in the October Issue.