May 28, 2024

Bob Maas
We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
1 John 4:19-21

In the beginning, God created the universe by simply giving a command. He spoke, and out of nothing came everything. He did this because He has always been and will always be love. That is His essence. And that is why He created us in His image and likeness.

The first thing we must understand about God is that He loved us long before we existed. Before creation happened, He had a plan for our redemption. (1 Peter 1:18-21) He did not create anything until His love for us had developed a strategy for our disobedience and rebellion. He knew that the people He would make would rebel and turn away from His love, just as we have.

When Jesus came into the world to live as a human being, He was conceived supernaturally without a human father. God was His Father, and He initiated Jesus’ humanity for one primary purpose: to demonstrate His love. The law, given through Moses, was weakened by our inability to keep it. Jesus, however, fulfilled the law because He was motivated by His love for God and us. Because He first loved us, we should love God and love one another.