I caught myself during a moment of meditation veering with the meaning of this text. I think I read it too quickly, or I just thought I had discovered something no one else had discovered before… Let me be honest. The latter was it. I was in the skies believing I have gone deeper than it has ever been deeped* before. & I had found something – a new revelation kind of feeling. This verse is easy to make one feel like “because you have loved me…” It can sound like we must first love and believe before God will love us back. As though His love is a wage we earn. Works!!! The Lord took this opportunity to teach me a quick lesson on internalising Him, to enable me to Internalise His Word. A cycle that is key to knowing and having a relationship with God. Know Him, Know His Word, Know Him more & repeat.
One reason we need to study the Bible deeply, and read all of it for that matter, is to understand the heart of the Father. This helps us to internalise scripture as the author intended it to be internalised or to be understood first then internalised. The book of John, or the book authored by John is particularly interesting because it is the book that tells us of Jesus being the word and the whole complexity or simplicity of The Word becoming flesh. John 16:27 is a good example. The verse says: “For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” At first glance it catches your attention. It feels like it goes deeper than what we usually hear. When you break it down, every part sounds true and good. Jesus is telling His disciples they have direct access to the Father, who does not need to be persuaded to listen.
The Love of God is not a wage we earn… It does not match the God we know. Here is where the original language helps, because English struggles to carry the full picture. The word John uses for the Father’s love here is a word of close, family affection. This is the love of a Father for His children, not a reward for good performance. When we compare it with what Scripture says elsewhere. John 3:16, which comes before this passage, tells us “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” His love came first. And 1 John 4:8 tells us plainly that God is love.
So what is verse 27 saying? It is describing the fruit, not the root. We love Jesus and believe He came from God because the Father’s love reached us first. It is not that we believe, and then God starts to love us. We love Jesus and believe in Him because the father loved us first. Looking at the graphic below, you will notice that it feels very off. What happened here is that I took a verse – let us call it a sentence. This sentence broken down would mean a whole lot different by itself as compared to what it would mean when it is placed in the context of “Who God is”. Coming to think about it. It’s scary how easy it would be for words to be twisted and to mean something else if not cross referenced with the rest of scripture. This is why we study the Bible in context & whenever possible refer to original language. English being a “later” language leaves us having to kinda overwork to find the actual meaning of the author or speaker of a text. When a verse sounds like new revelation or seems to contradict the rest of Scripture, don’t rush. Go deeper, compare it with what we already know of God, and let Scripture interpret Scripture. God is not the author of confusion.
Here is the lesson for how we read. When a verse feels like new knowledge, or seems to say something that clashes with the rest of Scripture, slow down. Take time to process it. Go deeper and compare it with what we know of God’s character. Since God is not an author of confusion, if something seems to contradict, the answer is more study, not a quick conclusion. Also, can I throw it in there for good measure, that AI as smart as it is, does not have the discernment to tell TRUTH from facts. The sentence (verse) was factual grammatically but it was not “The Truth”. That is why it took the Holy Spirit to whisper to me that something was off, as soon as I gave it the instructions to produce the graphic above, which makes the Love of God a wage for our loving His son – which is a lie.
Let Scripture interpret Scripture, and you will see the Father more clearly. Also this is part of the reason why a perspective you had 5 years ago could be a perspective you no longer hold today, or has been refined closer to the Truth, because we grow in the word daily.
Grace & Peace✌