The Great Love of Jesus
Love is the beginning of everything. You and I have life and breath at this very moment because God loves us. God created us because He wanted a people to love, and we are the recipients of His great love.
In 1 John 4:9, John tells his readers that the primary way God showed His love toward us is through Jesus. Even while we were considered enemies of God, He sent Jesus to earth on our behalf. While Jesus was on earth, he lived a sinless life as a representative of humanity to God. His death and resurrection made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins and begin a relationship with God.
God now gives us His love freely. There is nothing that we can do to earn His love, and there’s nothing about us that deserves His love. This is why John says love comes from God (1 John 4:7).
Love is our greatest responsibility in life. Jesus made it very clear to His disciples that loving God and loving others are the two greatest commandments. But the basis for all of this is the love of God through Jesus.
John tells us in 1 John 4:7-8 that those who truly know God will also love others. Our relationship with God is the model for how we should love other people. We should never deny someone something we’ve been freely given. And since we have freely received love from God, we should also freely give love to others.
Consider some ways you can love the people around you. Sometimes simply spending time with people is the best way to love them. There might also be someone you know who needs encouragement, or help meeting their needs. Think of one or two things you can do this week to show love to someone in your life.
God as Your Creator
Have you ever paused to reflect on God as your Creator?
God is unlike any other that is, was, or will be. He alone is able to fully sustain that which He creates. And He alone is able to create—miraculously orchestrating His purposes—merely by speaking it into existence. But there's more…
If you dig even deeper into the pages of Scripture, you learn about this power by which God creates:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him, all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:1-3
For in him, all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Colossians 1:16
The writer of Hebrews assures us that, "By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible" (Hebrews 11:3 NIV).
This ...