Oct 22
11
“We Love Him” 1 John 4:19
We readily acknowledge that God’s love for us precedes our love for him. “The
LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah
31:3). His love is without beginning, without cause, without change, and without
end. God loves his own elect with an eternal love!
We gladly confess that God’s love for us is the cause of our love for him. If
he had not loved us first, we would never have loved him at all. We had no love
for God. But he loved us. In everlasting, covenant love he chose us and
determined to save us. And in time he created love in our hearts for him by his
almighty grace (Hosea 2:6-23).
But we do love him. This is the testimony of all true believers. We love our
God and Savior. We do not love him as we should, as we would, or as we shall;
but “we love him.” Those who are born of God love God. We love the triune
God as he is revealed in the Scriptures. We love everything about him because
everything about him is perfect. Show me a man who has any quarrel with
anything God is, or anything he says, or anything he does, and I will show you a
man whose heart is enmity against God. I will show you a man who is lost,
altogether without faith.
We who are born of God love God the Father, our covenant keeping God.
We love his will, his Word, his works, and his ways. We love all that he is and
all that he does. His attributes are not distasteful to us. They are his beauty, his
character, and his glory. His holiness, sovereignty, love, mercy, and truth are
the very things that cause us to love him.
We love God the Son, our Surety, Substitute, Mediator, Redeemer,
Advocate, and Friend. There is nothing about Christ that is the least disturbing
or distressing to us. We love him entirely because he is entirely perfect and
lovely. We love Christ in all his offices and works. We love him as our Prophet
who teaches us, our Priest who redeemed and intercedes for us, and our King
who rules over us.
And we love God the Holy Spirit, our Divine Comforter, Teacher,
Preserver, and Guide. His irresistible grace charms us. His witness within
assures us. His power preserves us. Because we love our God, we rejoice in
anything by which he is exalted, magnified, and honoured. And we are distressed
and angered by anything that would rob him of his glory.
Don Fortner