Power in the Pulpit | 1 John 4:7–21 (2)

Intro: I don’t know how many of you are, but I’m a huge history buff. I find history extremely interesting. I’ve been fortunate enough to go to some places that have been important locations in United States history. I’ve had the opportunity to go to Boston on a few different occasions. I have been to the place at Boston Harbor where the Boston Tea Party happened. I’ve seen the old North Church. You know the one by land two by sea place, which helped the American Patriots know which way the British troops were coming. I’ve been to Philadelphia and gone in Independence Hall and seen where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were written. I’ve been to Montgomery, Alabama and stood on the steps where Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederacy and where the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery ended. The pastor of the church I served with in New York actually lived in the apartment building on the location of Ebbet’s Field where Jackie Robinson broke the MLB color barrier. I’ve been to the 9/11 memorial and seen where the twin towers stood before they were destroyed by a major act of terror. What I like about going to all these places, is that I can see the things I’ve read about come to life. I can finally picture what I was taught in school. I better understand some of the most important, good and bad, moments in the history of our nation. That is what John is doing in today’s text. In today’s text John is showing us how the love of God becomes real to us. The main purpose of today’s text is that Christ revealed to us the ultimate example of what love looks like and gave us and example to follow and a fact to hope in. We see in today’s text, the revelation of love, the result of love and the responsibility of love. If you would please stand with me to honor the reading of God’s word.

The Revelation of God’s Love (1 John 4:7-12)

EXPOSITION: John starts by using the phrase, beloved again. We know this begins a new topic. But then he goes on to saying something we have heard him say a lot. “Let us love one another.” It may seem that John is harping on this and it may even be to a point where you are kind of thinking, “can this guy move on already.” But it’s an important thing that shouldn’t be overlooked. If in one book of the Bible we see this topic, it’s something that we should pay attention to.

Application: My question for you is this. How important to you as young believers is loving one another. I’m specifically speaking to those of you in here who have professed Christ as your Savior and Lord. Is your speech to one another loving? Are your actions towards one another loving? If this topic is this important that it is emphasized this often, it should be important to us too.

Exposition: Going on in verses seven and eight, John writes, “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.” We see John once again presenting this dualistic either or view of something. Here it is love. John is telling us that true love comes from God because God is love.

Explanation: John is not saying that love is God. Love is not all that defines God. We know that justice and mercy also define God. But love is defined in relation to the existence of God. This doesn’t mean unbelievers can’t love. We are all made in the image of God and so we can still love. But love from those that do not know God will often fall short. I believe this is because from an unbeliever there is more of a self-centered focus of love than from believers in Jesus Christ. I think we see why in the following verses.

Exposition: Verse 9 says, “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.” John is telling us that Jesus is the ultimate example of love. He gave us the ultimate example of love. The word translated manifest, can also mean reveal. “In this the love of God was revealed.”

Explanation: We talked last week about the incarnation. Does anybody remember what that is? Right, it’s when God The Son left the glory of heaven and was born here on broken earth. the world wasn’t always broken. In fact, God created the world good, but sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and we were separated from God. There was nothing we could do. But the Father sent the Son to make a way for the relationship with God to be restored. We can have a hope of relationship with God. This life through Christ is eternal life. But that doesn’t begin when we die, it begins when we accept Christ. We have the opportunity to have Christ walk with us through all the things we go through in life, both good and bad.

Application: Some of you feel alone some time. Some of you feel as if there is nobody there for you. But John says that we can live through Christ. We can live now with the hope of Christ.

Exposition: This love that God demonstrated, it wasn’t because of anything we have done. It was an unconditional love initiated by God. Verse 10 says, “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.”

Illustration: When you think of people you love, you can probably think of a reason you love them. It’s not unconditional. If it is a family member it is probably because of something that they have done for you or the time you spent together. Even if the relationship is currently not good, the past memories and experiences are part of what cause you to love. But Christ’s love is completely unconditional His love has never been based on what we brought to the table. We have always been sinful and rebellious. Nobody had to teach us how to do that. But we know this true love, the love that only comes from God, in this way. How much did he love us, enough that he sent his son to be a propitiation.

Explanation: We talked about this a few weeks ago. A propitiation was a sacrifice made to satisfy an angry diety. The term was used a lot in ancient Greek literature and was something John’s audience would have understood right away. You see, we are all guilty of sin. And sin must be punished. It does not matter how many good things we do, we are still guilty of the sin we have committed. Paul tells us in the book of Romans that the wages of sin are death. Death is the ultimate punishment for sin. Not just physical death, but eternal death. If God does not punish sin, he is not just. But at the same time, God didn’t want us to be damned to hell. So because of the unconditional, and frankly inexplainable, love God has for us, he sent Jesus to die on the cross and die the death we deserved. Not but because of anything we have done or could ever do, but because of his love.

Exposition: There’s no way to not be overcome by the thought of this love. But the point isn’t just to be in awe of God’s love, which we should be, but also to be changed by it and for it. John writes in verses 11 and 12, “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.” What Christ did on the cross for us is an example for us to follow. We should love one another with this unconditional love. We shouldn’t love somebody based on what we have gotten, are getting or will get out of the relationship. Remember, love is an action not a feeling. We love because when we are changed by Christ, when we are followers of Christ, this love becomes a part of who we are. Now sometimes, it feels a lot more like a part of us than it does at other times, but we have to chose to show this love. And part of the reason for this, is because this is how God is revealed. No one has seen God. No one knows what he looks like. But what we can show is what his character is. The word for perfect in verse 12 can also mean complete. The evidence of the love God has for the world is seen largely in how God’s people treat one another.

Transition: In those first few verses we see the revelation of God’s love. But what John explains to us next is the result of God’s love.

Exposition: Verse 13 says, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us his spirit.” We have talked about this a lot. It is not common for somebody who has been baptized to doubt his or her salvation. There is one surefire way to know that you are truly saved. That is the evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life. If you feel conviction of sin that others don’t. If you feel guidance and direction that could only come from him, that is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. If you don’t, then maybe that’s a side that you just went through the motions.

Illustration: We know that the Holy Spirit dwells within those who are believers in Jesus Christ. If I were to swallow a radio, you would probably see evidence of that. If it’s a waterproof radio you may be able to hear it. You may be able to see it protrude through my chest. I would also probably be in some pretty bad pain. But there would be signs. It’s the same thing with the Holy Spirit. There should be signs of it in the lives of those who believe in Christ.

Exposition: John goes on to speak of another way one knows he has been saved. John says in verses 14 and 15, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him.” Remember, John was an eyewitness to the life of Jesus. In chapter 1 he talked about how he had seen and touched Christ. We know that there was nothing for John to gain by making that up so he must have really seen the risen Christ. We also know that the early church didn’t accept letters to have authority or be inspired if they did not know who the author was. So we know that without a doubt John saw the risen Christ. So John knew that without a doubt, Jesus was the savior he claimed to be. He also knew that anyone who confesses Jesus as Lord could be saved. Paul says the same thing in Romans 10:9 when he says, “because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Application: This means that we don’t have to earn our salvation. We don’t have to do a certain amount of good things. But it also means that Jesus is the only way to heaven. There are not many paths to God. There is no live your own truth. Jesus is the only way to heaven. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again for our sins, then we can have the opportunity to abide in God and have God abide in us.

Application: We also must deal with the phrase whoever and the word whoever. The gospel message is for anyone. It doesn’t matter what you have done. No matter how bad you think you are, God’s grace is bigger. It doesn’t matter how alone or far from God you feel, salvation is available to you. All because of the love God has for you. But for those of us who are in Christ, there is a quiet command here. If the gospel is for the entire world, we have a responsibility to tell it to the entire world. One of the commentaries I read preparing for tonight said, “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.” There are billions of people who need to hear this message of love. When referring to the result of God’s love, we should be driven, like John clearly was, to tell those who don’t know Christ, how great his love for them is. It may mean we go somewhere that we wouldn’t go otherwise, but people need to hear the gospel.

Exposition: Verses 16 through 18 say 1 John 4:16-18

1 John 4:16–18 ESV

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Exposition: As verse 16 tells us, the result of understanding how much God loves us, is a belief in that love. We then abide in that love. A part of accepting the hope that is in Jesus comes from the understanding of how much God loves us to do what He has done. That will always be the most overwhelming and compelling part of the gospel. “Oh what love how can it be, that you my king would die for me.” When we experience this understanding and belief, it changes us. Verse 17 says this love is perfected or completed with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgement, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. You see, when we have hope in this love of God, we have a certainty about eternity. Just like Christ exists for all eternity future, we also exist for all eternity future. We don’t have to fear what this world throws at us. We don’t have to fear if something life threatening comes our way, because we know that we are good for eternity. But if we have not placed our hope in the love of Jesus, we don’t have that hope. Those that do not have a relationship should be fearful of the day of judgement, because the day of judgement isn’t going to be a good thing. Those that die or even are alive when Christ comes back that do not have a relationship with Christ will not spend eternity in heaven. Instead, they will spend eternity enduring eternal punishment. Those perfected in love have eternity guaranteed and don’t fear. Those who do not do fear judgement.

Illustration: One of the things I hear a lot of people say is that they don’t think about what will happen when they die because then they don’t have to worry about it. They are saying they don’t fear it because they don’t think about it. When I was a college student I tried something similar. Every semester I tried not to think about the long papers I had due at the end of the semester. I just wouldn’t let myself think about it that way I wouldn’t have to worry about it. But you know what happened every semester? Every semester November or April rolled around and I was forced to deal with the fact that whether I wanted to or not, I was going to have to worry about that paper. But you know what is also true. Even though I was telling myself I wasn’t worrying about it. The fact that I chose not to think about it showed that I was actually worried about it. The same goes for those of us that chose not to think about eternity. It’s coming whether we chose to think about it or not. Also, if you chose not to worry about it, that shows that you fear what is coming. And fear has to do with punishment. But you don’t have to fear. Jesus has made a way for you to avoid that punishment. Abide in His love and allow Him to drive that fear out.

Transition: We have seen the revelation of God’s love, we have seen the result of God’s love. In the last few verses, John addresses the responsibility that comes with God’s love.

Exposition:Verses 19 through 20 say 1 John 4:19-21

1 John 4:19–21 ESV

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Exposition: As we have already seen, Christ initiated love. We don’t love for any other reason than the love he has shown us. This is why we have such deep affection for one another. This love compels us to love others. God is not visible. We feel Him, we see Him works in ways that make his existence irrefutable. But we don’t visibly see him. If we know God is real and we know just how deep his love is for us, we cannot then look at those we can see and turn our love away from them. If we are people of God, if we truly understand the love he has given us, how could we possible hold that back from one another.

Application: This isn’t just a message for now. It’s a message for the future. It’s a message for those times that you are tempted to hold a grudge and you have to remind yourself of what Christ did. It’s a message for the times somebody just annoys you and you have to remember that loving like Christ means to love unconditionally. It’s also a call to go out of your way to love one another as when Christ came to earth.

Conclusion: There’s something that students do sometimes, usually boys, that will never make any sense to me. For some reason some boys go through a stage where they refuse to wear anything but shorts. The way in which they try to justify this is by saying they aren’t cold. I remember being in school and seeing people turning purple and they would say they weren’t cold. Sometimes we resist God’s love in the same way. We refuse to think about eternity. We refuse to think about the loneliness or emptiness we feel and just try to act like we don’t need to be changed by God’s love. Some of us enjoy the privilege of God’s love but are hesitant to give that love out to others. Why not let God’s love consume your life? Why not live with gratitude towards Jesus and allow his love to change your heart. What if you took the step to have certainty for eternity. Don’t run from God’s love, embrace it.