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“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (I John 4:8).
The beginning of a New Year is a time for new challenges.  The apostle Paul gives us a challenge in the context of a prayer in Phil. 1:9-11, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in judgment.  That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”  Paul challenges us to grow in love.  In order to do this, we must be partakers of the divine nature.
The Divine Nature-Love
John affirms that God is love.  Love is not all that God is, but it is an aspect that characterizes God in the fullness of His Being.  Love permeates all that God is and does.  First, the love of God is His benevolent goodness.  God is good ((Mark 10:18). God created all things good (Gen. 1:31).  He is the benefactor of good things (Matt. 7:11).  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).  Second, God’s love is His selfless, sacrificial giving manifested in the unspeakable gift of His Son (II Cor. 9:15; I John 4:9-10).  Third, God always seeks our highest good (II Tim. 1:4; II Pet. 3:9) and this means He wants us to come to repentance and be saved.  A basic meaning of love is to seek the highest good of another.  God actively does this on our behalf.
Becoming Partakers of the Divine Nature
Human nature is unregenerated.  This refers to the spiritual state of man without Christ and the Holy Spirit while he is yet in his sins (Eph. 2:1).    Man’s redemption and salvation was promised through Jesus Christ when he (or she)  is born again (John 3:3-5; Gal. 3:26-17; Rom. 6:3-4).  Those who have been baptized into Christ have undergone a new birth.  They walk in newness of life.  They are new creatures created in Christ Jesus unto good works.  Paul states that the new man, “is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:10).  At conversion, the new man created in Christ Jesus becomes a partaker of the divine nature, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Pet. 1:3).  As Christians, we bear the image of Christ to the world (II Cor. 3:18).  Love is a part of the holy character of God.  Christians have been called to holiness (I Thess. 4:7) and are partakers of His holiness (Heb. 12:10).  Love is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  Our love must imitate God’s love (Eph. 5:1-2).  Our love must be:  undefeatable, benevolent, goodwill.  It must be selfless and sacrificial.  It involves seeking the highest good of others.
Love and Knowing God
Knowing God involves much more than being intellectually aware of some facts about God.  Knowing God involves intimacy with God through the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus Christ.  It is a personal, spiritual, relationship, communion, and fellowship with deity.  It is experiential in that we have tasted of the heavenly gift (Heb. 6:4-5).  In this way, we become partakers of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 6:4).  Whenever a person becomes a Christian, he/she must deny self (Matt. 16:24), sacrifice self to God (Rom. 12:1-2) and commit to a life of service to God (Rom. 12:1-2).  In short, the conversion process involves love for God which is manifested in each of these acts.  The alternative to love is selfishness and rebellion against God.  Unbelief and disobedience are the hallmarks of lovelessness.  Failure to love is failure to know God.  John goes on to show that when we hate our brother we prove our failure to love God.  If a man says he loves God and hates his brother, he is a liar.  This incongruity can only be reconciled by repudiating human nature and being a partaker of the divine nature.  If we truly love God, we will love one another.  Love for God is the greatest commandment and must take priority in our lives or we will fail to keep all of the other commandments God has given us.  Jesus said that if we love Him we will keep His commandments (John 14:15; 14:23-24).  You can obey God without loving Him, but you cannot love God and disobey Him!
The Nature of Love
In I John 4:8-10, John indicates that love is a virtue (God is love); a motive (love prompted God to send Christ into this world) and an action (God sent, God gave-John 3:16).  Whenever we become partakers of the divine nature, we will manifest love as a virtue, a motive and an action.  Unleash the power of love in your own life.  Love will bind you to the heart of God, change your heart, become the underlying motive for all that you do and impact the lives of others for good. Love, properly understood, is the greatest thing in the world (I Cor. 13:13)!

Jonathan Griffiths wrote a new book in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series edited by D. A. Carson titled, Preaching in the New Testament: An Exegetical and Biblical-Theological Study.  The book was published by InterVarsity Press in 2017.  I have posted a review of this book on my website and it can be found under the Book Reviews page.  This book (1) defines biblical preaching; (2) gives a thorough word study of the verbs in the Greek New Testament translated by the English word, “preach or preaching”; (3) establishes that preaching is distinct from other forms of word ministry and (4)  argues against the complementarian view –though this is not done as demonstrably as I would have liked Griffiths to have accomplished.  Every year preachers should read a book that pertains to their craft.  This book would be beneficial to furthering one’s own understanding of the value of preaching.  Preaching is irreplaceable and indispensable to the growth of the kingdom of God.

“I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).  At some time in Jesus’ public ministry He stated these recorded words.  Jesus also taught, “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure ye mete withal it shall be measured unto you” (Luke 6:38).
The Principle
Luke 6 records the Sermon on the Plain– a sermon similar in some respects to the Sermon on the Mount, but delivered at a different time and place.  In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus develops the principle of reciprocity.  There are five elements referenced:  be merciful, obtain mercy; judge not, be not judged; condemn not, be not condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; and give and it shall be given unto you.  The principle is:  with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  There is a positive and negative aspect to this principle.  The positive aspect involves blessing:  God’s rewards fit the good deeds of men.  The negative aspect is cursing: God’s judgments fit the crimes of men.
The Principle Applied To Giving
In 2 Cor. 9:6-8, Paul teaches, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”  Giving does not diminish us.  Instead, it empowers us.  When we consider that “power” is the ability to do work, especially the work of God, then our selfless giving increases our ability to do the work God’s has given to us.  Generous giving does not impoverish us, it enriches us.  Purposed giving reflects the intent of the heart as well as the selflessness that characterizes the heart.  When we give selflessly, we give resentment free and consequently we have great joy in giving.  Where love is present joy abounds.  Giving is a measure of your heart.  The amount you give serves as a standard made by you for you.  Once that standard has been established by your heart, then, God responds in like kind either rewarding you or condemning you.
The Greatness of God’s Grace
God’s grace is greater than any amount of our giving.  “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”  You cannot out-give God!  Be generous in your giving because God’s grace can supply you with all things that make you abound unto every good work.  As God blesses you through His grace, your ability to do His work and fulfill His purposes is enhanced.  Take God’s increased blessings and accomplish even more for His name’s sake.  God can and will use you to accomplish His purposes and you will become a channel of blessing to others. Your giving prompts God’s grace!  Herein lies the blessing in giving and why Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”