“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8 ESV)
It usually surprises people when you speak about the nature of God. They never thought about it and didn’t realize He had one. But He does, and the Bible talks about His nature from cover to cover. We could write volumes and never completely cover the subject, it’s huge! For instance, He has a holy nature. He’s completely pure and righteous. And we could talk about those parts of His nature. But let’s start simply by looking at who He says He is, which tells us a lot about His nature. Let me explain.
God has a love nature!
You can understand God’s true nature when you realize He is love and you use the Bible’s love definition which is found in First Corinthians, chapter 13, which is also called the love chapter.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Cor. 13:4-8 NIV)
God demonstration His love nature by His actions
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)
Therefore…
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7-12 ESV)
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:16 NIV)