Understanding the Kingdom of God and Its Significance in Faith

Scripture: 1 John 4:7–21 (NIV)

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”— 1 John 4:7–8 (NIV)

The seed of the kingdom.

Have you ever paused to truly reflect on what it means to say, “God is love”?

Not that God simply has love, or that He chooses to act in love, but that He is love. Just as He revealed Himself to Moses with the words, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), we see in the New Testament that God’s very identity is love. And just as Jesus told the woman at the well that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), we begin to build a picture of who God is:

1. God is Spirit

2. God is Love

When we look at Jesus, we see the perfect manifestation of this invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Jesus, full of love and truth, walked among us to demonstrate exactly what God’s love looks like in action—sacrificial, holy, unrelenting.

Now here’s where it gets even more personal: if God is love, and He has planted His seed within us through the Holy Spirit, then that seed is love.

Just as 1 John 3:9 (NIV) tells us: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them…”

And this seed is not dormant.

Jesus explains in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1–23) that the seed of the kingdom is meant to bear fruit—love being the first of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). This is what the Kingdom of God is like: a seed planted in the soil of our hearts, meant to grow into something visible, transformative, and holy.

So when Scripture commands us to love, it’s not optional. It’s a defining marker of our relationship with God. 1 John 4:12 (NIV) says: “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

Application:

Take seriously the command to love. It's not just a moral good; it's spiritual evidence. To love is to reflect God, to prove that His Spirit is alive in you. To reject love is to reject His very presence.

As we continue to study this truth, let it shape your heart, your prayers, and your daily walk. Ask yourself: Is love growing in me? Is the seed bearing fruit?