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7Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. 8He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
The overall theme of the above passage is love and how we should love one another. The surprising factor, however, is the reason for loving. We are not instructed to love one another because ‘that would make the world a better place’ or because it is simply ‘a nice thing to do’. The reason, from verse 8, is quite plain: God is love. If we do not love then how can we know God since we do not understand something which is fundamental to what God is? It is interesting to note the statement in verse 7 — “he who loves is born of God and knows God”. This implies that all who truly love know God. It is interesting that all people have a fundamental desire to love and be loved, and hence an intrinsic desire to know God — the source of love.
We are further told, in verses 9 and 10 how God’s love for us is manifested — through Jesus. This ties in very closely with John 3:16; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. Furthermore, God did this not due the fact that we love Him but because God loves us. Verse 11 goes on to tell us that, as Christians we should reflect this love of God in our relationships with one another.
Verse 12 makes the remarkable statement — “no man has ever seen God.”. This again, seems to refer back to John’s Gospel — John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the father, he has made him known”. The rest of the verse seem to hint that, perhaps the closest we can come to seeing God is to love and that, in this, we will truly know Him.
It is worth considering the above with respect to John 13:34–35; “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Here, a further reason for loving one another is given — that the world might know that we are followers of Christ.
We can see, therefore that the command to love one another is far more than just something ‘nice’ to do. If we are followers of Christ, we have a relationship with God. If we have a relationship with God, then we have love for our fellow human beings and by showing this love we bear witness to Christ — “By this all men will know that you are my disciples.”
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Last modified: 25th November 2005