GOD IS LOVE

From the West Meadow
By Pastor Wesley Higgins

Have you ever wondered what God is made of? Does spirit have substance? Is there some invisible, powerful, unbreakable, super-strong cosmic building material of which God consists? In a way–yes, there is. John describes it very simply in his first epistle: “God is love.” (I John 4:8)

John ascribes God’s existence, His purpose for existing–even our purpose for existing– to the power of love. “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us...God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (I John 4:12,16)

God is love. It is because of love that the Son of God came to earth: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

A great man once said “there are two ways of life: the way of give, and the way of get.” These two ways of life oppose each other; their bases come from two separate sources. The way of get is the standard by which this world operates. It comes from “the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2) The “prince of the power of the air”–Satan– cannot and will not, do anything in love. Neither will his followers.

The way of give is God’s way–the way of love. It’s only source is God. All acts of love, no matter who does them, come from one source only: the love of God. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God...he who does not love does not know God, for God is love...In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us...We love Him because He first loved us.” (I John 4:7,8,10,19)

Please understand: every act of love, whether performed by Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, whoever...every act of love is performed through the power of God. God is love. God’s makeup, His existence, His character, His substance is love. “Do not be deceived...every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:16- 17)

So, the next time you see someone perform an act of love, thank him or her. And then thank God, the Father of Lights–from whom all love comes.

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