Twice we read in 1 John 4 the words, "God is love" (vv. 8,16). Don't miss the full significance of this statement. It is not merely that God is loving, nor that love is merely a quality which He possesses. Rather it predicates the very nature of God Himself; it is His nature to be a loving God.

The love which God is was exhibited perfectly when He gave His only Son for sinners. When God saw man's sin and hatred against Him, He did not turn away in wrath, but was moved in love "and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (v. 10). Never has the world seen so lofty a display of love. It is not any kind of love, but that particular and unique love that God is. It is divine love.

—Lehman Strauss