“Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”
1 John 4:11-12 NLT
John promises something astounding in this passage. Earlier, it is noted that Jesus is the full and only expression of God’s love. It is noted that our love has no meaningful value innate to itself. Here, John states the importance converse. If God’s love is given to others through the conduit of man’s body interactions, then man can meaningfully participate in God’s love. This alone seems logical but the real significance of the statement adds the idea of “full expression.” In Christ, our doesn’t merely indicate God, it masterfully replicates God in a way that is complete to the human experience. This is the logical conclusion, given that Christ is the visible image of the invisible god. But for many Christian’s, God’s full expression is seen as unattainable. We can only point to it, we can’t participate in it. John promises that this is not so. The key to true partnership in God’s expression is loving as he loved, by faith in Jesus. This act is not only meaningful but it is perfect.
JOSH McGARY. COM 