The All Compelling Love of Christ

My meditation on 1 John 4.

To love the Lord means you must first hear the voice of God calling your life. You must confess that Jesus Christ has come to earth in the flesh and has died for you and you must then, follow the example of Jesus and deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. Following Jesus means that you're going to be obedient to His will and not your own. You're going to be conformed to His image and not the popular image of the culture you find yourself in. It means being transformed by believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection. It's in the resurrection that we are transformed. The transformation is that we are now hid in Christ. Our life is hidden in Him but His character in us is not. We begin to decrease to self and increase to righteousness.

To love God means we have the realization that God has built everything, not with His own hands as we build houses and cars; by the word of His mouth. He spoke and the earth appeared out of nothing. Out of a void, dark and desolate place, removed from heaven, the earth was made. In summary, the elements that God made came together by His sheer will. God's word is therefore extremely powerful.

To love God means that we not only understand that everything exists because of Him but also it exists through Him. We live because He allows us to live. We die when He decides. The love of God is spiritually felt. The reality of Christ's death exists and from the act of His death we see the love He has for us. We learn to experience that love everyday through seeking Him in fervent prayer, through reading His word and obeying Him in all the ways we know we ought to. Eventually we begin walking and talking with Him.

Christ's love is not earned and we can never be good enough for it. Yet we love Him because He first loved us. We love Him because nothing can separate us from Him. We love Him because in Him are pleasures forevermore. Ultimately we love Him because He is the only One we can just receive love from. He does not require what mankind requires for love. We can simply feel His love and then reflect it on others. What a joy to feel loved and have to do nothing about it!