This love of God thing has really filled my mind the last few days. It's like there is something (or someone rather) inside of me reminding me of this all important thing. I came across 1 John 4:9 in my devotional reading this morning and was struck by the language. You see, I had always quoted other versions of this verse. Never had I been forced to look at the original language. I'm grateful to share with you what I learned.
Most versions of this verse read that "the love of God was manifested toward us" or "among us." All of those versions made sense because John goes on to talk about the sending of Jesus into the world. However, the New American Standard chose to use the word "in" to describe the manifest love of God. That's what caused me to look it up in the Greek. The Greek word "en" means "in, by, with, etc." It is a preposition that denotes a fixed place. His love was manifested among us in His coming but the real change happened when His love was manifested in us.
Too often we think of the love of God as something outside of us that needs to come in. However, I believe that His love is something that is inside of us that needs to come out. This is true for every person. It doesn't matter if they are a believer or an unbelievers, they were made in the image of God. When we share the love of God with people, it gives them an opportunity to respond to the love of God that is already within them. Confessing Jesus as Lord of their lives and believing that God raised Him from the dead brings them into a place where they can now express the love of God.
The key phrase that I want you to take away from this verse...the thing that will radically change your life is this: "That we might live through Him." Everything God does for you, He does in you. He goes after that nature that He placed inside of you. What He does in you then can come out of you. We need to stop seeing everything from the outside in and understand that God works from the inside out. When this happens for you then you will begin to learn how to live life through Jesus. You will see that it is His life at work in your life. It's His life being manifest in your life. Your faith in Him is not just an outward discipline but an inward reality that He longs to see come to the surface.
Be encouraged today that everything you need for life and everything you need for godliness is already inside of you. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring it to the surface. Learn to live so in tune with the Spirit that you never have to question these realities. Let the love of God be manifest in you first so that it can be manifest through you later.
Enjoy the journey!!!
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