To have a revelation of the love of God is to have a revelation — not only of what He has or what He can do — but of God Himself.
“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” 1 John 3:22-23
If you ask most Christians today the one commandment Jesus gave, they will answer, “We are to love one another.” That is true, but it is only half the commandment. The first half is just as important as the second half. This is his commandment, That we should (1) believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and (2) love one another as he gave commandment. This love commandment fulfils all the others. When you walk in God’s love, you will fulfil the law.
We must receive the commandment of love as exactly what it is — the commandment of God! As long as, in your thinking, it is just a “take it” or “leave it” proposition, you will never walk in the power of God’s love. The pressure is too great. The moment you attempt to step into the love life, Satan will put so much against you, you will never stay with it. That’s why God put it in the form of a command. We have no choice! When we accept it as such, it will become like a bit in our mouths during those times of pressure. That takes it out of the realm of just loving when we are loved, or as long as our feelings are not hurt, and into the powerful realm of God’s love — where you love because you are committed to God’s Word and His command of love is a reality in your heart. Receiving it as a command demands that we love whether anyone else does or not. Keeping this commandment of love will keep you from breaking the others. Therefore, this one is more important than all the others combined.
As believers, we have just passed over a spiritual threshold, embarking on the greatest out-pouring of the Spirit of God that has ever been on the face of the earth. We are dealing with the greatest mass sweeping of souls into the kingdom of God that has ever been exercised by the Holy Spirit. This great move of God today involves two particular areas about which there has been very little revelation knowledge. One is the realm of prosperity. There is a wider scope to prosperity than just financial matters and having your own personal needs met. The world measures prosperity in silver and gold, but God’s prosperity is not based on a monetary system. True prosperity is the ability to use the power of God to meet the needs of mankind. Of course, this includes finances, but it also includes all the things money can’t buy — things such as healing, peace of mind, answers to social and political problems, etc. All these are part of the revival occurring today in the earth. The second area involves a revelation of the love of God. The Lord said to me a number of years ago: A revelation of the love of God is the highest revelation of the Church because I am love.
To have a revelation of the love of God is to have a revelation — not only of what He has or what He can do — but of God Himself. God is love and He is revealing His love as never before to the world today. I believe with all my heart that it is the revelation of God’s love in the Body of Christ that will usher in the Great Resurrection. The Lord said to me: I want you to preach and tell people that My mercy endureth forever. Teach them and tell them how to walk in the love walk. Train them and let them realise that My love is alive, that My love is powerful, that faith worketh by love, that in love there is no occasion to stumbling, that they can walk in My love and be perfected in it before they come to heaven, that My love will protect them. I want them to know the reality of My Word that says, “Above all things have fervent love for one another” (New King James Version). The Greek text of 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all things, have a white hot love for one another.” The Bible says we are baptised with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Luke 3:16). That fire is the all-consuming love of God. God’s love will consume sin. It will consume death. It will consume the work of Satan and absolutely swallow it up.
There are men and women today who have committed themselves to keeping God’s commandment of love. There are things available to us in walking in the love of God that are not available any other way. Every problem that has ever defeated anyone in the Body of Christ was a result of not walking in the love of God. God, His Word, His Spirit, His Name and His love are successful in all realms. When you receive a revelation of the love of God, you will have insight into something that does not fail. Think about that. In this world where nothing is failure-proof, we have been given access to God’s love. Love is the cardinal law of God—and it never fails. It is a must that you learn how to operate in God’s love. You must have your mind so renewed that you function entirely according to God’s love rather than the methods and systems of the world. You should be developed in His love to the point that it governs your thinking, your speech and your actions.
Not only do you have the same capacity for faith as Jesus, you also have the same capacity for love. This can be proven very easily through God’s Word. Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Jesus said to the Father while praying, “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). Notice He said the same love the Father loves Him with is in us! You have the very love of God Himself in your heart—not just part of it, all of it. Praise God! You need to allow a revelation of that truth to grow in your consciousness to the place where you fully realise that God Almighty lives in you! Remember, He is love. This is a truth that has never been fully received in the Body of Christ. Through religious traditions, we belittled ourselves by not knowing who we are in Christ Jesus and not understanding the fullness of God that is in us through Him. Ignorance has robbed us of God’s best and kept us below the standard of life God desires us to have.
For an in-depth study of the love of God, the place to start is the first epistle of John. John is called the apostle of love. In Chapter 1, he explained why he wrote it: so we could fellowship together with God the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Without a revelation of the love of God, you will never have close fellowship and communion with Him. Let’s look at 1 John 4:15-16: “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” Here is the answer to the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17.
He prayed that the love the Father had for Him would be in us: “That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). God is love and love is God, so that he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him. The following is a prophetic utterance given during one of our meetings as we were studying the love of God: Remove from your thinking, saith God, that love is a form of nothing. Love is not a form of nothing or just a state of mind. Love is a
reality. I am love. When you are talking about love, saith the Lord, you are not talking about something that is in a state; you are talking about a living being, you are talking about Me. When you speak of love, saith the Spirit of Grace, you are speaking about all that I am, all that I can do, all I ever was, and all that I ever shall be.
Article by Kenneth Copeland taken from the BVOV Magazine March 2008
