“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.” – 1 John 4:16
Many know the love of God in theory, but having a concept of God’s love, and experiencing the indwelling of God’s love are worlds apart. The difference is – knowing and believing – the love God has toward you.
Jesus said, “…to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” The inference here is that, to whom much is forgiven, the same loves much!
And, of course, “we love Him because He first loved us (I John 4:19).” I don’t know about you, but I’ve been forgiven of an immeasurable amount of sin. How about you?
Jesus left us one commandment, and that is that we “…love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34).” And, according to Jesus, in order to love Him we need to know He first loved us. And, in order to love much we need to know how much He has forgiven us of, because we cannot fulfill the commandment to love one another as He loved us, until we understand the monumental amount of sin we have been forgiven.
John 3:17 tells us that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. And, why not? We didn’t need any more condemnation. We were already condemned. We needed a Savior, One who didn’t come to condemn, but to save, and to liberate us from the sin that condemned us! Knowing His forgiveness is the open door to knowing the love of God!
So, if the love of God is still only a theory to you, it doesn’t have to be. You can experience His love! He came to forgive, and He died in order to obtain the legal right to forgive you without forfeiting the justice that His righteousness demanded of Himself; because heaven’s justice was settled at the Cross… for each one of us, including you!
With Love,
Pastor Tom