Reflection: The Greatest Testimony

A reflection of 1 John 4: 7-21.

The greatest testimony possible, of anything, is that of love. Love is the grandest expression of that which is real, a true force for good, and the power to change lives. Love needs no explanation, nor can its logic be conceived through any form of rationalization or constructed theory. Love needs no scientific equation to be proven. We know that love exists, simply because we have experienced it, and witnessed its sheer nature.

Then, if love is the greatest testimony to anything, God's love must be the greatest testimony to three things:

1. The depravity of man

"In this love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10 (ESV)

The greatest act of love ever known. God sending His Son to die, a death on the cross, so that man may be saved. It speaks deeply about the human condition - the nature of man's depravity. We are so depraved that there is no way we can ever hope to save ourselves. Our sins are part of our nature, and they bring us the wrath of God for He is pure and just. Let this be clear: without the Son, there is no way we can come before God without being utterly destroyed by the nature of His holiness. 

Therefore, in order that we may come before Him, to reconcile and even dwell in Him, a price must be first paid. This payment was free for us, but costly to God. This was the personal cost of love - this is a personal sacrifice by God, to send His beloved Son to pay the price for the sins of man. This is a personal sacrifice by Jesus, who gave his life willingly so that the wrath of God may not fall upon us. He alone took on the sins of man, the one who is pure, blameless, and perfect in every way.

2. The identity of Christ

That it took one who had to be pure, blameless, and perfect in every way to pay the price for our sins is a testament to the identity of Christ: Jesus is Messiah. Jesus is God himself. 

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." 1 John 4:15 (ESV)

While John does not explicitly make that claim here, it is entirely congruent with the claims of Jesus, where it was said: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides by the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." John 15:4 (ESV) This parallel is clear: Jesus had to be fully God.

However, I'd like to be more concerned with the implications of the identity of Christ here. It was him, and him only, that could take on the sins of man. The blood of Christ was pure. It had the power to cleanse us of our unrighteousness. With full knowledge of this, it is crucial then, that we consider how we respond to our sin.

As it was said, unless we abide in him, there is no way we can bear fruit. Should we wish to see the fruit of the spirit in us, we must abide in him. This is true, for it is said:

"By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his Spirit." 1 John 4:13 (ESV)

To the ones who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he died for our sins, God gives his Spirit. By abiding in the Son, we testify to this; by abiding in the Son, we love.

Love is our greatest testimony to what Christ Jesus has done for us. Love is the only appropriate response. Love is abiding in Christ.

Which brings me to the third thing...

3. An abiding in Christ is perfected in love through our love for others.

God's love testifies to this truth. 

"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 (ESV)

The commandment to love others is more than a commandment. It is the fundamental response that any one should have if he truly believes in the identity of Christ, his love for us, and the imperative to abide in Christ. It is often preached that one cannot love God (whom he cannot see) if one does not love his neighbour whom he has seen. 

There is no mistake. God's love for us is more than a story to believe in. It is one that we take part in: because we have received his love, more than we can ever repay or understand, the only appropriate response is that which is an outpouring of love from the depths of our souls. And we do this unrelentingly, not withholding it from whomever we come across - for the nature of love is to flow from he who abides in God, and is not dependent on one's worthiness of love. In fact, if love were to be demonstrated on the basis of worth, it'd be a tragedy for none of us are worthy.

God's love is perfect - it is given to all freely but costly to the heavens. It requires nothing from us, the only demand is that we allow love to flow through us freely and that in itself is a form of love as well. And through our love for others, we will slowly start to understand, as the days go by, the depths of His love - when He first sent His Son to die for us on that ragged cross.

Final Thoughts

It has certainly been a long time since I've had a reflection piece like this. I've spent the last half a year wondering what I had to do to gain peace, wondering if there was something I had to do... but the Word is clear: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us. 

Therefore, there is nothing to do other than to take God's word as an examination of my life. The rest will be as He leads. The one who abides in Him shall overcome the world, and I shall continue to hope and pray that Jesus will be present in my every moment of living and breathing, and till my dying breath.

Friend, no matter where you are in life, know that the door to Jesus is always open for you. He welcomes every one of us with open arms. He invites us to feast with him. He is always waiting for us to return and to pour on him our woes and our joys. Jesus is the greatest gift we have, and in spirit, he will never let us go. Take heart, despite how you have been in life: it doesn't matter whether you've been living well or not; it doesn't matter if you feel too shabby to enter his house. If you truly believe in Him, all of that does not matter. In Him, you have a new tomorrow. 

"There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future." St. Augustine

Sola Deo Gloria,

Matt