There was an amazing article a couple of years ago found in the Christian Post and written by a lady named Hedieh Mirahmadi.

The article was called, “What Drew Me Out of Islam to Follow Christ.”

Hedieh shared a list of points about how to witness to a Muslim. At the top of her list is this one major point – God is Love.

She wrote, “In over 20 years of being a devout Muslim, I never heard God referred to as being love or commanding us to love others.” She said, “Islam teaches that God is merciful and kind, but the word love is never mentioned. A Muslim must worship and sacrifice for a God that does not ever tell you he loves you. You cannot rely on him to console you in times of trouble, and he was mainly there to judge you. Quite frankly, it was incredibly depressing since I could never maintain the countless set of rules and laws that demanded strict obedience. Compare that to the Bible, God’s infallible, living Word where God describes Himself as love.” She quotes 1 Jn. 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

Isn’t that amazing? There are millions of people in the world like Hedieh, who have never heard that God loves them.

Can you imagine life without knowing at all that God loves you?

I had to admit to myself that I’ve always taken His love for granted because I’ve always been told that God loves me. I never stopped to think of just how precious that knowledge is. There are people out there who would give anything to know for certain that God loves them.

After reading her article, you can’t help but consider just how powerful the love of God is. His love is so powerful, Hedieh was willing to not only change her faith, but also face intense persecution, and even death, just so she can experience the love of God!

God is Love

Only in 1^st John do we find that expression, “God is love.” We read earlier 1 Jn. 4:16, but we also find earlier in the chapter in 1 Jn. 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

He’s making the point that saints must love because God Himself is love. Just as love is behind all the divine purposes of God, love must also be the center and the circumference of the believer’s life. Just as nothing can alter God’s love for us, we cannot allow anything to alter our love for one another. We can never abandon the truth, and we can never abandon the principles of love. We must live a life of love. Why? Because God is love.

The fact that love exists in the world is because God is our creator. He is love, and it’s a reflection of His nature that love exists in the world, which makes Him the source of all love, which makes Him love itself.

If you really think about it, God isn’t loving. He is love itself. We often talk about how love is a choice for us, but God never chose to love you. He will always love you because He is love itself. That’s who He is. That’s part of His nature. Love is the eternal active energy of His essence.

As God Himself is without end, so His love is without end. As no man can measure the heights and depths of God, so no man can measure the heights and depths of His love. As God is eternal, so His love is eternal. Jeremiah wrote in Jer. 31:3, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love…” The Lord wasn’t talking about Israel. The Lord said thee, the singular you.

I have loved YOU with an everlasting love.

Can this not also be said of each one of us?

I don’t think He means that He’s loved Jeremiah all the way in eternity past. This is a statement that speaks to the nature of His love. His love is an everlasting love because He is an everlasting God. Love is the very essence and nature of His being. His love isn’t temporary. His love isn’t conditional. His love doesn’t fluctuate. His love doesn’t stop. His love doesn’t require any effort on His part, nor does He view His love as something separate from Himself or His nature, as if it’s something He has to make an effort to do. He makes no effort to love because He is love itself.

His love is a holy signature attribute of His divine nature, and we know that God’s nature never changes. He said in Mal. 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” The writer of Hebrews said, Heb 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” His love for us never changes because He never changes.

There is that expression in 1 Cor. 13 that “Charity [Gr., agape] never faileth.” God’s agape love is constant, permanent, and never ends. His love is as eternal as He is. The Greek word translated “faileth” has the idea of falling powerless to the ground, like the picture of a fading flower with falling petals. His love has a limitless eternal energy to it. There is no beginning to His love nor an end to the presence of love in Him, because God IS love and God IS eternal. And if God is eternal and God is love, then the edifying power of love will never die. His love will abide forever. His love never faileth. His love never ends. His love is eternal because He is eternal, and our eternal state as believers is to forever abide in His love.