The Kind of Love that Glorifies God
God is love (1 Jn 4:8); and the reason any one of us loves God is because He first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:5). God also demonstrated His love toward us on the cross of Calvary that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). God’s love was also poured out in our hearts when Jesus baptized us with His Spirit sent to us to cause us to be born again of God (2 Cor 4:6; 5:5; 1 Pet 1:3).
In John 13:34, Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another in the same manner as He loved us. This is agape love — a love that only God can produce and distribute. This love never fails (1 Cor 13:8). It is contrasted with the love humanity produces in various forms. Love for a child is contrast with love for a friend or brother, and these are contrasted with erotic love.
In the context of the upper room, on the night in which Jesus was betrayed, we detect no love from Judas Iscariot toward Jesus nor God (Jn 5:42). There was also Peter’s attempted love toward Christ, “I will lay down my life for you (Jn 13:37b).” Jesus knew Peter’s heart; and the events that would soon unfold. Instead of loving Jesus, Peter denied his Master three times before the cock did declare the next morning.
Men love darkness (Jn 3:19). Men love the world (1 Jn 2:15–17). There is nothing in sinners that can produce any love for God, especially the type of love that glorifies God. It is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy Him, forever (WCF 1:1); but the natural man loves himself. Therefore, we must explore the origin of this love that glorifies God. It is sourced in God and sent from God to whomever He chooses to receive it (Jn 1:12–13).
Those who do not read their Bibles are easily persuaded by the Universalists, who say that God loves everyone head for head. They are also enticed by the Arminians, who say that Christ died for everyone head for head. For these reasons, the doctrines of God’s judgment, eternal punishment, and the lake of fire are either muted, diluted, or openly refuted.
It is the devil’s fodder to deceive men into thinking they are loveable creatures. The deceived might say, “Why, of course, God loves me; He loves me more than I love myself…if that is even possible.” Self-love is confused with divine love. Considering it is also the devil’s work to entice men to try their hand at being deity (Gen 3:5).
Divine love glorifies God. God was in Christ glorifying himself. Christ was in God, being glorified. “This is My beloved Son,” and these words assure us of the Father’s love for us who are in Christ. God is glorified in the exclusive love He has for His only begotten Son in whom He is well-pleased. This is the everlasting love within the Trinity that we enter by way of transfer.
God transfers His beloved elect from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13). It is within this kingdom that love thrives; and where love thrives God is glorified. Love flows on a vertical circuit; which transfers to a horizontal circuit. It is there that Christ is made known.
Knowing God’s love for Christ (Head and body), the beloved then make Him known. There is nothing more loving in this world than telling others the truth, who is Jesus Christ (Jn 14:6). Christians speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). There is a blissful vibrancy when two or more Spirit-filled believers communicate Christ between one another. When Christ is communicated in one direction and blocked; and it is blocked by something other than love.
The disciple Peter vowed great love toward his Master (Jn 13:37); but he blocked his own communication of Jesus for fear of man. The kind of love that glorifies God is fearless. It is a bold witness to the truth as it is in Jesus (Eph 4:21). It is winsome; but it will surely be opposed.
The members of the triune Godhead love one another with the perfect love of God for one another. In this, they glorify one another. Jesus’ disciples were brought into very close union with that flow of love between the Persons of the Trinity. For Jesus to leave, they feared they would be deprived of that fellowship of love.
Jesus taught his disciples to begin their own circuit of love between one another. If they did so, that circuit would then communicate Christ to others in the world. He was about to tell them of the Spirit to be sent to them (Jn 14, 16). The Spirit of Christ is the powerful current on the vertical and horizontal circuit of love and truth.
The tension built by Christ’s impending departure would soon be released by the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s denial was radically emboldened by the now indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Acts 2:38; rom 8:9, 11). The wisdom of God, Jesus Christ, was then preached in power and a demonstration of God’s Spirit.
Examine yourself, my dear reader, and judge for yourself where you are in loving others with the Gospel truth. It is the power of God for those who believe it. We believe it because of the Spirit of grace, granted to us to learn Christ, know Christ, and preach Christ because we love Christ. We love Christ because He loved us. We love others when we communicate Christ to them in word and deed…and in the Spirit.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
April 16, 2024
John 13:31–38
