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"And we have known and believed the love that God has for us..."

Text: 1 John 4:16

FROM YEARS OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

The apostle John wrote what he did from years of personal experience. His words must be understood as a reflection of a deeply personal faith.

“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us,
God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
1 John 4:16

1. “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us”

a) The verbs “known” and “believed” were written in the Perfect Tense.

b) John used the Perfect Tense in classical fashion.

i) The verbal idea may be traced way back.

ii) The verbal idea has an effect that is seen in the current present.

c) Knowing God.

i) John had indeed learned about the love of God many years ago.

ii) The verbal idea has effects that continue to the present.

John continues to show that the knowledge of God continues to affect him strongly.

d) Believing God’s love

i) John had personally heard Jesus speaking about God’s love.

ii) He also had personally experienced the love of God.

iii) God’s love is wonderfully expressed in the love of Jesus.

2. “God is love”

a) God is indeed full of love.

b) However we cannot say that “love is God”.

c) God has many glorious attributes.

d) John sought to highlight this special attribute of God.

3. “And he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him”

a) To abide in the love of God is natural.

b) To abide in the love of God is to abide in the Lord Himself.

c) When we abide in God then it will also be true that God abides in us.

d) The practice of abiding in the Lord was a great doctrine that Jesus had taught His disciples.

e) John had carefully and consistently practised abiding in the Lord and in His love all his life.