God is Love

One of the most well-known pieces of scripture is probably a portion of 1 John 4:8 which reads, "God is love." The entire verse (below) is one I decided to focus on for today.

"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (ESV)

I have a lot of different senses about what this means, but I wanted to dig into the original language to make sure I wasn't missing any richness provided with the original writing.

First, let's check the verb. The "is" in this sentence is in a verb tense called present indicative active. Really, if you don't let it intimidate you, the name of the tense itself pretty much says it all. It's present. Current. It's also active. This is a thing that is happening, currently. It's right now real & true. It indicates a prolonged state. God is love. Ahh, let that soak in a little...

The combination and grammatical structure of the entire phrase is also important and can teach us more about its meaning. The combination of the word for love with the structure of the sentence indicates that the statement is describing a quality of a thing; that is to say, God is described by love. Love, which is usually a "thing" or noun for us, is also a descriptive quality that helps comment on God...and, especially within this context, the reverse is true. God comments on what love is as well.

Lastly, the word for love found here is one many will know. It's probably the first Greek word I ever learned, and I bet I'm not alone in that. Agape (uh-gawp'-ay). One fact I think really helps explain this word at its root is that the word is sometimes translated to mean, essentially, "love feast." This is a word that describes an abundance and overflow of deep down, right to the core essential love. This word (and its root) are used to describe the way God feels towards Jesus, and describe the essential quality of what it means to be a Christian. Agape love is self-sacrificing, generous and abundant. And this, as we are learning, is what God is.