Article March 24, 1934 Issue

"Because he first loved us"

ALFRED ERLE

The new commandment given by Christ Jesus, "That ye love one another, as I have loved you," exacts love for God and man—love of good. The importance of love is stressed throughout the Gospels, a prayerful study of which cannot fail to deepen the seeker's love for God and man, and to widen his appreciation of the great work accomplished by Jesus and his immediate followers.

The Master's living interpretation of the Christ had left its transforming touch on the lives of his apostles, among whom was John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved ... which also leaned on his breast at supper." The epistles attributed to John clearly reflect the vision of Love which filled his consciousness. The love manifested by Christ Jesus became the great inspiration and theme of John's teaching, the guiding influence in his work, and the spirit of his message to posterity. He had witnessed the marvelous works of Christ Jesus and listened to his teachings, which were as relentless in the rebuke of evil as they were zealous in praise of his Father. Considering John's closeness to the Master, one does not wonder that his own later words of counsel, as preserved in his epistles, breathe the selflessness and spiritual vitality which Jesus radiated, and which were deeply rooted in Love.

John's statement concerning God, in his first epistle, "We love him, because he first loved us," is of peculiar interest to students of Christian Science. Included in Mrs. Eddy's inspired definition of God are the words "divine Principle" and "Love." In their scientific sense, which eliminates the elements of time and place, may not John's words be taken to mean that we love God because Love is man's divine Principle?

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