the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 5 of 5
1 John 4:1-10
Truth has always had its "counterfeits". Just as every citizen must learn to recognise the currency of his country if he wishes to avoid trouble, so we should be able to recognise the origin of the different teachings which we meet. Each one of them needs to be tested (v. 1; 1 Thessalonians 5:21); the Word gives us the sure means of sorting out the "false coins" from the good. The good always bear the seal of Jesus Christ come in the flesh (v. 3).
As to His nature, this Epistle teaches us that God is light (1 John 1:5) and that He is love (vv. 8, 16). The unique source of all love is to be found in Him. If someone loves, it is the sign that he is born of God (v. 7). On the other hand, the person who does not love does not know God. To know what love is it is necessary to have a nature which loves (1 Thessalonians 4:9). Moreover that love with which God first loved us (vv. 10, 19) is the perfect answer for the need of His creatures. Man was dead: God sent His only Son so that we might live through Him (v. 9); man was guilty: God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (v. 10; 1 John 2:2); man was lost: the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world (v. 14; John 3:17).
