I came across this in my Bible reading today:
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. – 1 John 4:10-12
John was a way of writing that is repetitious, simple, and therefore, sometimes confusing. You have to go a little slowly to really pick up on how the directions of love are flowing and how God’s love then displays itself in the world. First is this good affirmation that we are not accepted by God because we have pursued him and desired him – but rather, it is directionally the opposite: we were enemies of God in our sin (Rom. 5:10), with a pervasive sinful nature, and yet, God in his mercy, pursued us and called us to himself. We are not to make the mistake here of thinking then that our every word and action is somehow displeasing to God; rather, we are to know by texts like this that we are not able to earn our way to him or in any way merit salvation from our good deeds – we just can’t climb our way to God and we are inherently sinful beings – God is clear about that. And with this directional action, God pursuing us, then all glory goes to him for our salvation!
And notice, too, that the problem that he came to solve is expressed here explicitly: it’s a sin problem – it’s not all the social disorder you see around you, or just a “shot in the arm” pep talk from him to do better – there is sin in the world and it is dealt with at the cross. So, now, in response to his mercy for us, his deep, deep love for us, now we must love another.
And this is my favorite part of this section: these weird words – “no one has ever seen God.” We must allow John to speak hyperbolically here – because people have certainly seen Jesus. What he’s saying is this: God is Spirit, and you can’t see him, you cannot see His Spirit, you can’t see him physically, but if we love one another, God abides in us, and therefore, they will see him in us! His love will grow in us – will grow to perfection in glory, but it’s an always growing vine on this earth right now, manifested in the lives of real human beings, the real body of Christ in the world – that is visible and impactful and fruit-bearing! Check your heart, Christian. Do you really love them, the body of Christ? Do you love your neighbor? Is your way of loving tangible, meaning – can it be seen by the world, or is it just hidden for the few that you enjoy or those with whom you find affinities? Love as Christ has loved us.