Obligations (1 John 4:11)

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)

Years ago, a politician referred to the supporters of her opponent as “deplorables.” The outrage caused by this comment reverberated through the national headlines for weeks, becoming a slogan for many of the maligned. But there was something far worse than the statement itself; there was the hypocrisy by those offended. From Genesis 4 through today, human society has been splintered into sects, groups, clicks, and parties. Call it what you will, but every segment of society has another which they deplore. The general rule of thumb is: “Like attracts like; and if you are not like us, then we do not like you.”

But what about God and man? God is spirit; we are flesh (John 4:24). God is righteous; we are unrighteous (1 John 1:9). God is goodness and love itself, but is that what we find in us? Far from it! What could be more deplorable to a holy, righteous God than a corrupt, sinful human being? And yet, God did not merely tolerate us; God loved us. God sent His Son from heaven’s rest to a manger, from heaven’s praise to scorn, from heaven’s throne to a cross. God’s Son was assailed by every sect, every click, every party on earth that we may be called to a world of love where all envy, division, and dissension are forever laid to rest in God’s loving embrace. As we, Christians, continue to walk this earth, we live under the obligation of that same love. We live under an obligation to make our fellowship on earth mirror that in heaven. We continue in this obligation, not by our own strength, but by the strength extended to us in the very love of God Himself. To those whom we find deplorable on this earth, we stand obligated to love because of and in the strength of the God who loved us.