What’s Love Got to do with it? Part 1
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
1Jn 4:8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]
LOVE ORIGINATES IN AND WITH GOD
1Jn 4:8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]
- LOVE IS DIRECTIONAL
Jhn 3:16 “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Jhn 3:17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.
Notice the direction of movement. The text does not say:
The world loved God. It says: God loved the world.
That is the doctrine of divine initiative.
Aseity — God’s self-existence.
God did not respond to our worthiness.
He descended into our unworthiness.
That is what theologians call agapē — unconditional, covenantal, volitional, self-giving love.
This love is not reactive. It is initiating. We have confused love with endorsement.
But divine love does not affirm rebellion. It rescues rebels.
That is the doctrine of Redemptive Love.
God loved the world — not to validate it —but to save it.
- LOVE IS SACRIFICIAL
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
John 10:11: “The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
John 13:1 says: “Having loved His own… He loved them to the end.”
“Eis telos” — to completion, to the uttermost.
Love in Christ is covenantal perseverance.
At the cross we see the doctrine of- Substitutionary Atonement.
2Co 5:21 He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].
1Pe 2:24 He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed
Christ did not die as a moral example alone.
He died as a substitute.
He bore wrath.
He satisfied justice.
He absorbed penalty.
That is propitiation. – The act by which God’s righteous anger against sin is satisfied through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
Without propitiation, the cross is merely tragic.
With propitiation, it is glorious.
God’s love does not cancel His justice.
It satisfies it.
And mature believers must understand this:
If love never costs you anything,
it is not Christlike love.
- LOVE IS CONFRONTATIONAL NOT TO SHAME BUT TO RESTORE
(Not harsh — but holy. Not abusive — but truthful.)
- Love Confronts Darkness With Light
Love does not ignore sin; it exposes it so it can be healed.
John 3:19–21 — Light exposes deeds.
Jhn 3:19 This is the judgment [that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence]: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. [Isa 5:20]
Jhn 3:20 For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and does not come to the Light [but shrinks from it] for fear that his [sinful, worthless] activities will be exposed and condemned.
Jhn 3:21 But whoever practices truth [and does what is right–morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are–accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].”
- John 8:12 — “I am the light of the world.”
Ephesians 5:11–14 — Light exposes what darkness hides.
Eph 5:11 Do not participate in the worthless andunproductive deeds of darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character];
Eph 5:12 for it is disgraceful even to mention the things that such people practice in secret.
Eph 5:13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light [of God’s precepts], for it is light that makes everything visible.
Love refuses to let people remain in darkness.
- Love Speaks Truth Without Compromise
Grace does not cancel truth; it carries it.
- John 1:14 — “Full of grace and truth.”
- John 8:10–11 — “Neither do I condemn you… go and sin no more.”
Jhn 8:10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”
Jhn 8:11 She answered, “No one, Lord!” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]
Love corrects in order to restore.
- Love Disciplines for Growth
Correction is evidence of belonging.
- Hebrews 12:6, 11 — The Lord disciplines those He loves.
- Revelation 3:19 — “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.”
- 2 Timothy 3:16–17 — Scripture corrects and trains.
Love refines; it does not enable.
- LOVE IS TRANSFORMATIONAL
(Not static — but life-altering. Not sentimental — but powerful.)
- Love Brings Spiritual Resurrection
God’s love moves us from death to life.
- John 5:24 — Passed from death to life.
- John 11:25–26 — “I am the resurrection and the life.”
- Ephesians 2:4–5 — Made alive because of His great love.
Love regenerates.
- Love Reorders the Heart and Will
Love reshapes loyalty and obedience.
- John 14:15 — “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 — The love of Christ compels us.
- Psalm 40:8 — “I delight to do Your will.”
Love reforms desire.
- Love Produces Visible Fruit
Real love changes how we live and how we treat others.
- John 13:34–35 — Love identifies disciples.
- Galatians 5:22–23 — Love as fruit of the Spirit.
- 1 John 3:16–18 — Love in deed and truth.
Love manifests in action.
Love uplifts
Love empowers
Love constrains
Love renews
Love restores