Lesson for July 19, 2020
The Perfected Love of God
Lesson 1
“God is love” declares I John 4:8. The truth of this statement by John is stated over and over again throughout the Word of God. But what is the love of God and how does it relate to human love? Do we truly understand the magnificence of the love of God and have we allowed that understanding to penetrate our souls and impact our Christian lives?
I John 2:5 says, “But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.” The Greek word for keeps is “tereo,” which means to observe or obey. We obey the Word of God by the execution of the Protocol Plan of God as we live within the Divine Dynasphere. The Divine Dynasphere is God’s power system for the Church Age believer lived under the filling of the Holy Spirit. So, the first part of this verse is referring to a believer who is advancing in their spiritual life through the study and application of accurate Bible doctrine.
The Greek word for love is “agape,” which means unconditional love. The unconditional love of God is impersonal love for all mankind and based on the virtue of the One doing the loving, God. When impersonal love is developed in the soul of an advancing believer, he is able to exhibit the love of God toward everyone, even if they are not lovable. This is exactly what God did when He sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of those who were seeming unlovable, the entire human race. (Romans 5:6-8)
The Greek word for perfected is “teleioo,” which means complete, fulfill or mature. The only way in which the love of God can become mature and be fulfilled in the life of a believer is through obeying His Word. Obeying His Word is a matter of spiritual growth and coming to understand the true meaning of the love of God and how His love differs from the emotional human love believers often substitute for the love of God.
Only by perfecting the love of God in our souls will we truly be able to exhibit impersonal love for all mankind according to I John 4:19. The love of God is the motivation to not only love God with all our hearts, souls and minds, but also to demonstrate that love to everyone as ambassadors for Christ. (Matthew 22:37-40) It is the love of God that provides eternal salvation to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior, provides power and provision for the execution of the Christian Way of life and provides eternal rewards to believers in eternity. (Ephesians 2:4-10)
In order to fully understand and appreciate the love of God, we must have a solid understanding of the essence of God, His attributes and His character. Fortunately for us, God has revealed Himself in the Bible and we need only to learn what it teaches regarding His Person and nature to understand the love of God and how it can motivate us to reach our ultimate goal of spiritual maturity. (Ephesians 3:19)
“God’s essential being can never be completely defined or grasped by finite humanity. In the limitless, perfect splendor and majesty of His absolute existence, He is truly incomparable. (Isaiah 55:8-9) Only as He reveals Himself to us in the Bible can we, in a limited way, comprehend His Person and nature.” – Pastor R.B. Thieme, Jr.
Essence is derived from the Greek word “ousia” meaning being or substance. Therefore, essence is the inner nature, true substance, a person’s invisible qualities or attributes. Though invisible, these essential qualities of a person are manifested by their thoughts and actions. Divine essence means that God exists and that He possesses certain qualities and attributes which belong only to Him and which are demonstrated by what He has created, by His dealings with His creations (angels and mankind) and in the Word of God. (Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:16; John 1:1)
In grace, God has chosen to reveal Himself and to reveal some information about His essence. Information that God reveals to mankind is meant to be understood. Understanding of any spiritual information comes by means of the filling of God the Holy Spirit as He reveals truth to believers. This means that no one has an excuse for not knowing about the essence of God and His divine attributes and His character.
God is a spirit according to John 4:24, which means that He is real but invisible. God is an immaterial being. In contrast, those who He creates are both material and immaterial made up of a body and a soul according to II Corinthians 4:6-7, 16. Since God is invisible, His attributes are also invisible, but the quality of His attributes is clearly seen in Creation and the physical world around us. Because of this revelation in nature, no human being has an excuse for denying the existence of God or rejecting Him at God-consciousness. (Romans 1:20-21)
For those who are believers in Christ, God has provided the Word of God (the Bible) and the ministry of the filling of the Holy Spirit to fully understand the invisible, infinite, limitless essence of God. Apart from what He has revealed in His Word, there is nothing that can help a person understand the perfect, immutable character of God. His character is revealed in His Word. Therefore, the importance of making Bible doctrine the number one priority in your life.
Mankind is said to be created in the image of God and there is a parallel between the soul of man and the essence of God. Like God, man’s soul is unseen. The real you is not your outward appearance. The real you is what you are inside, the immaterial, invisible you. Just as God has many attributes, man’s soul also has many attributes. However, those attributes are not the same as God’s attributes which include sovereignty, righteousness, justice, love, eternal life, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, immutability and veracity. Man’s attributes include self-consciousness, mentality, volition and emotion.
God’s perfect nature was the pattern for creating mankind. God created a body for Adam with an immaterial soul, and with all the attributes of personality. Adam was created perfect with a soul, a human spirit and a body, but without a sin nature. Once Adam sinned, he was incapable of having a relationship with God because he was no longer perfect. His sin resulted in a sin nature which was incompatible with the righteousness and justice of God. Adam’s only hope was found in believing in Christ (Jehovah) as his Savior, which he did. However, now mankind is born with a sin nature and we are “born again” (become believers) by faith in Christ. (Romans 8:29; I Corinthians 11:7, 15:49; II Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:9-11)
The essence of God recognizes the existence of God in three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, God is One in essence, three in Persons, which we call the Trinity. All three members of the Godhead are coequal and coeternal with identical essence, attributes and character. (I Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 1:3; John 10:30, 14:8, 16-17; Colossians 2:9; Exodus 31:3)
The fact that God is a Person is documented throughout the Scriptures. When God speaks of Himself, He uses the word “I,” indicating that He is a Person. (Exodus 20:2) God expresses His thoughts, His desires and His decisions, therefore He is a Person. ((Isaiah 55:8-9) God has a personal relationship with mankind as a Person. (Genesis 5:22-24; Exodus 33:11)
Love is a divine attribute of God and Who God is, as well as what He does. Everything that God does is based on His love but must always be in complete harmony with all of His other attributes. God never contradicts Himself in thought or deed.
Pastor R.B. Thieme, Jr. in his book, The Unfailing Love of God, says this about his understanding of the meaning of the love of God in I John 4:8, “Love in this verse is the qualitative Greek noun, agape. In this context agape is a predicate nominative, meaning that God and agape are equated. Therefore, the quality of love is intrinsic to God, to His essential being or nature. John is also using agape, a noun of action, in an intransitive sense meaning God’s love does not require an object. God’s attribute of love can exist independently of any object. We understand human love as an attitude that must be inspired by an object, but that kind of love is exactly what God does not possess. God’s love is an inherent quality of absolute benevolence that does not require inspiration to be gracious, generous, or merciful, He always possesses love and gives of Himself whether there is an occasion or an object. Even with such compassion, God’s love is always rational. His love always functions in a dispassionate, but benevolent manner. God’s love is not complicated by ignorance, silliness, or absurdities.”
God’s love has always existed therefore it is eternal and totally unsustained by angels or mankind since they did not exist eternally. God’s love is self-sustaining. Angels and mankind were not created by God so that He would have someone to love (though He loves them both). There has never been a time when God did not have perfect love. (Psalm 136)
Even though God knows all the knowable, His love never changes because of mankind’s failure or success. God’s love is never increased by the good deeds of mankind and is never decreased by the evil deeds of mankind. God’s love is not subject to change in any way by the changes made by His creations. God is able to do all things He wishes to do that are compatible with His divine nature. This means that God has the power to love the unlovable and be benevolent toward them in grace without compromising His holiness or integrity.
There is no place that God’s love cannot reach since He is everywhere present (omnipresent). This means that the earth is full of the love of God. (Psalm 33:5) God’s immutability guarantees that the nature and character of God’s eternal love never changes. This is good news for us because God’s love is unlike human love which changes based on many factors.
God’s love is totally compatible with truth, since truth is one of God’s many attributes. God’s truth is revealed to mankind in His Word, the Bible. Therefore, Bible doctrine is the revelation of the love of God for mankind. In His love, God has provided the salvation solution for mankind in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Salvation is based on God’s love for all mankind and He wants everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth regarding Jesus Christ. (II Peter 3:9)
The righteousness and justice of God are also compatible with the love of God and together they make up the integrity of God. However, God’s love never overrides His righteousness and justice – they must be compatible. Therefore, God cannot deal with angels or human beings strictly on the basis of His love without considering all of His attributes including His righteousness and justice. Integrity is therefore the guardian of the love of God. The good news is that God in His marvelous grace found a way that the free will of man and His sovereignty can coexist without comprising His own integrity. That good news is found in the Person and work of Jesus Christ at the Cross on our behalf.
Psalm 33:4-5, “For the word of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice;the earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.”