GOD IS LOVE
The three words that change the universe and change our lives… God is love.
ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν
(ho Theos agapē estin)
Although the Bible gives us many descriptive statements about God’s character— such as His omniscience, omnipotence, patience, and kindness—there are only a few places where the Bible directly tells us what the essence of God is.
The essence of God is love.
And the powerful truth is this: He has put His love—His very person—inside each of us, since we are His sons in Jesus. And when we love one another, God’s love is made complete—because it wants to flow from Him to us, and from us to others. As this happens, we are filled with joy, and God reveals more of Himself to us!
Do we really believe that?
So every embrace, every conversation where we truly listen with curiosity, every hour we spend together knowing each other more deeply—is God the Father showing us more of who He really is and who we really are!
In other words, we don’t get to know God only by reading the Bible or going to church. We get to know God in the process of loving one another. And that is the true meaning of our fellowship in Christ and in His church.
This is a huge, huge, huge truth for our Christian life.
If you felt anything last week when we were together as Marvel Men, as Marvel brothers, please know—it was the Father’s love!
ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν
(ho Theos agapē estin)
Although the Bible gives us many descriptive statements about God’s character— such as His omniscience, omnipotence, patience, and kindness—there are only a few places where the Bible directly tells us what the essence of God is.
The essence of God is love.
And the powerful truth is this: He has put His love—His very person—inside each of us, since we are His sons in Jesus. And when we love one another, God’s love is made complete—because it wants to flow from Him to us, and from us to others. As this happens, we are filled with joy, and God reveals more of Himself to us!
Do we really believe that?
So every embrace, every conversation where we truly listen with curiosity, every hour we spend together knowing each other more deeply—is God the Father showing us more of who He really is and who we really are!
In other words, we don’t get to know God only by reading the Bible or going to church. We get to know God in the process of loving one another. And that is the true meaning of our fellowship in Christ and in His church.
This is a huge, huge, huge truth for our Christian life.
If you felt anything last week when we were together as Marvel Men, as Marvel brothers, please know—it was the Father’s love!
Much of the New Testament is simply about two things:
The Christian life was not designed to be complicated, burdensome, or impossible. It is not something that makes you tired. That is not the gospel!
Remember Jesus’s words on His final night—after the Last Supper and after washing their feet? He said the greatest form of love is to lay down your life for your friend.
Here is the real truth: We must have friends first before we can lay down our life for one of them.
So, building friendships, understanding and knowing one another, and feeling brotherly affection for each other—this is one of the first things we can do to stay close to Jesus, to live in Him, to obey God, and to know and love Him more.
- What God’s love really is
- How we can respond to the love of Jesus—first by loving Him with all our heart, soul, and strength, and second by loving one another.
The Christian life was not designed to be complicated, burdensome, or impossible. It is not something that makes you tired. That is not the gospel!
Remember Jesus’s words on His final night—after the Last Supper and after washing their feet? He said the greatest form of love is to lay down your life for your friend.
Here is the real truth: We must have friends first before we can lay down our life for one of them.
So, building friendships, understanding and knowing one another, and feeling brotherly affection for each other—this is one of the first things we can do to stay close to Jesus, to live in Him, to obey God, and to know and love Him more.
Isn’t that incredible?
I want to love like Jesus. I want to love brothers like Jesus loved them. But it is not wishful thinking. I realize Jesus took time to know them. He not only knew their names, He knew what they desired, loved, and feared. He knew their weaknesses and what would cause them to fail. He knew what made them angry or envious.
He knew these things because He spent time with them. He prayed with them and for them. He walked with them, ate many meals with them, and He served in ministry alongside them. He did life together with them as an act of love—not out of duty.
They were not just coworkers. They were His deep, deep brothers.
So a question for me and for you is:
“Who would you lay your life down for?”
And another one I have been asking myself lately is: “Who would come to your funeral and talk about how much you loved them?” I have also wondered: “Who would carry my coffin that day?”
But let’s bring it down to daily life—your daily life.
Who do you laugh with?
And who do you share your sadness with?
So this is a little bit of a challenge and encouragement for us to continue to be true Marvel Men.
Remember the “L” in MARVEL?
It stands for: “LOVE AND LEAD COURAGEOUSLY!”
I can’t think of anything more important in life than that. Can you?
It’s what our Jesus—our Lord and Friend—wants us to do. It will bring us deep joy.
And by it, we will know God more, because He said He would show Himself to us.
I want to love like Jesus. I want to love brothers like Jesus loved them. But it is not wishful thinking. I realize Jesus took time to know them. He not only knew their names, He knew what they desired, loved, and feared. He knew their weaknesses and what would cause them to fail. He knew what made them angry or envious.
He knew these things because He spent time with them. He prayed with them and for them. He walked with them, ate many meals with them, and He served in ministry alongside them. He did life together with them as an act of love—not out of duty.
They were not just coworkers. They were His deep, deep brothers.
So a question for me and for you is:
“Who would you lay your life down for?”
And another one I have been asking myself lately is: “Who would come to your funeral and talk about how much you loved them?” I have also wondered: “Who would carry my coffin that day?”
But let’s bring it down to daily life—your daily life.
Who do you laugh with?
And who do you share your sadness with?
So this is a little bit of a challenge and encouragement for us to continue to be true Marvel Men.
Remember the “L” in MARVEL?
It stands for: “LOVE AND LEAD COURAGEOUSLY!”
I can’t think of anything more important in life than that. Can you?
It’s what our Jesus—our Lord and Friend—wants us to do. It will bring us deep joy.
And by it, we will know God more, because He said He would show Himself to us.
“We love because He first loved us.”
— 1 John 4:19
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
— John 13:34–35
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
— John 14:21
— 1 John 4:19
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
— John 13:34–35
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
— John 14:21
So there it is — in pure logical order:
He loves us first.
He then pours His love (Himself) into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Then, we love others—deeply from the heart. (Peter’s words)
He loves us first.
He then pours His love (Himself) into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Then, we love others—deeply from the heart. (Peter’s words)
I love you guys.
Keep pursuing loving one another courageously.
— Coach Hoover
Keep pursuing loving one another courageously.
— Coach Hoover
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