God is Love....
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I John 4:7-21
I John 4:7-21
Good morning my friends, I hope and pray you are well today.
I am incredibility thankful for the opportunity to worship together with each of you today. It is a blessed time.
We are just three weeks from Christmas, and you know, we get excited as Christmas approaches....
We enjoy planning, selecting gifts and just spending some time with our family.
But I want to encourage you each day over these next three weeks to reflect on God’s gift.
God thought of us, our need and because of His great love for us, The Father sent His Son into the world to redeem us from our sin...
There is no better gift my friends, no better message and this is the most valuable gift we could ever receive… and we cherish it. I pray you will share this gift with those around you.
Without a doubt, we know as John has stated, God is love. We have been looking at that topic, and in this portion of 1 John chapter 4, John continues the message again.
It makes you stop and think, We must need to hear this if God is having John revisit it this topic so many times. We need to know (and be certain) that God is love and we are to love as well.
So this morning join me as we come to verses 7 thru 21 here in I John chapter 4.
So let me share this first thought with you my friends, are you ready.
1. Let Us Love One Another
As we open the text today, we find John speaking to the topic of brotherly love again.
This is the third time God has directed him to share about this topic. He previously shared the importance of brotherly love back in chapters 2 and 3.
Look with me at verses 7 and 8 1 John 4:7-8
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Now looking at this, we see John begins in a familiar way, affectionately as that father figure to the church. He is speaking in love in the hopes that they would receive the message and act likewise.
And starting with verse 7, John makes a couple statements that we need to consider…
A. He begins with this ....“…let us love one another...”
The command is for us (members of the body of Christ) to genuinely love, and take care of each other.
There should be a unique relationship between each of us because we are members of the body of Christ. We are family, brothers and sisters united under Christ Jesus who is the head of the body.
And let me say this, loving one another also should extend outward to those outside of the body as well. Why? Who is the source of our love.... it is God. This is what John tells us.. Go back to verse 7,
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” V 7
So look here, John tells us that we are to love one another,
and here is the reasoning, that God is the source of our love… right?
Being the source, love originates and flows from or out of God like water from a spring to the outlying areas.
So God is love, it is a part of His attributes, his nature… and likewise we are to love each other and the world around us.
Now you might say, how can we genuinely love like He does, we are not God. Listen as his children we bear His characteristics, as He is love we have the capacity to love as well.
My day was born blond hear and blue eyes, he passed that down to me. My heavenly Father is love and we are to love.
So we are called to love one another because love is from God. And if you have been born again, you will love.. it is that natural.
God can take the vilest sinner, save and change them and make them the most compassionate, caring person who will love those around. Because we have been born from above!
And likewise, John also says in verse 8… if you don’t love you do not love God.
How can we say that with certainty.
Consider this… All of humanity, being made in the image of God can express love… but they will not love each other in the way God loves, there will not be compassionate, they will not have a godly type of mercy.
But inject God into the equation, suddenly you see everything change. People will love and care for each other, more especially those of the household of faith.
So the command is simple, knowing God we are to love one another!
Remember what Jesus told his disciples in John 13:35?
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We are to love one another. But if we do not love, it is evident that God is not in us....
But lets ask this question, How can we demonstrate God’s love?
Pray for each other. Bless one another, Encourage one another, help one another, do for one another...
These things are the outward demonstrations of His love my friends,
Question.... How do you demonstrate God’s love? How are you showing the world God’s love?
Now lets move to our second thought for today.
2. God has Taught Us What Love Is?
When we think about God’s love, it is uniquely revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
And as the body of Christ we have the joy of knowing and experiencing this love. And how will this knowledge effect the way we live and love?
Well, lets talk about this...
Lets go back to our text… verses 9-12 1 John 4:9-12
9 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. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
So look here, John is not telling us about something that is only theoretical, No! He says what we are to do, what we are to put into practice… we are to live and love like Jesus.
So lets break this down...
A. His Love was made manifest among us.... God demonstrated His love to us. He sent His only Son into the world. Consider Paul’s words ....
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God sent His Son into the world. The word I want you to consider here is the word “sent”:
The Word “sent” emphasizes the permanent consequences of the action of God. God sent His Son to destroy sin and death and to set the captive free.
We were doomed for a spiritual death, the Scriptures tell us we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). So God sent His Son that we might live, that spiritual life might be imparted to us in Christ Jesus
And this brings us to the very next thought John shares..
B. Jesus came to redeem us… Jesus came to satisfy the requirements of the law, and the wrath of God in regard to sin.
The purpose of bringing Jesus into the world isn’t primarily the incarnation, it is the atonement.. Jesus came to die, to satisfy what was broken, what was required because of sin.
So John says that Jesus was our propitiation. Propitiation = The atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world. He came to die so that we might in turn not die, but live in and through Him.
This is God’s love.... and His love does two things:
1. It takes away our sins..
5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
2. And secondly it destroys the work of the devil…
1 John 3:8b “.... The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
You see my friends, Love is always demonstrated by our actions… Words are one thing, but actions are a whole different level.
God sending Jesus to lay down his life has taught us uniquely that love is sacrificial.
Go back and look at verses 11 and 12 again… 1 John 4:11-12
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
In this is love… John says, Jesus sacrificial death demonstrates this to a tee! It teaches us all we need to know about sharing that love with those around us.
He loved us so we are to love others!
Our love then is a reflection of His love my friends.
In our old ways, we didn’t know nor could we demonstrate God’s love, but now we can and we should. All because He abides in us.
A old professor I know once said It took his boundless, sacrificial love to break our hearts of stone and bring us to himself.
So consider that word abide, it means to remain in, stay with and not depart from it. We are to abide in Jesus and Jesus in us. By remaining in Him we can love in any situation of life my friends.
We are to love!
I guess the best question I can ask of you is this: Are you abiding in Christ each day. If you abide in Him, he will in you also,
Now this brings us to our last thought my friends,
3. We Can Be Confident In His Love...
One of the greatest joys of the Christian life is the fact that our faith is not a hope so faith, it is a know so faith. We are confident in our salvation.
Look with me at verses 13-17 1 John 4:13-17
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 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. 17 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.
So lets break this down this morning, John tells us exactly why we can be confident...
It is really built on what we started talking about just a few moments ago… He is to abide in us and us in Him… So in that regard why can we be confident?
So lets break this down...
A. He has given us His Spirit… verse 13 We have a personal knowledge of the Savior because of the indwelling Spirit. Listen to John in John chapter 16, verse 7. John 16:7
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
So He did indeed come into the world as Jesus promised and we know that He indwells us at the moment of our salvation. And Romans 8 :16 reminds us that He bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
How incredibly wonderful to have this blessing, an assurance that is with us until the moment we see Jesus.
Next we see the Apostles witness....
B. Apostles Witness.... Coming to verse 14, we find that John says the Father sent His Son into the world, we have seen Him and testify concerning Him. It is not just John’s word, it is the entire apostolic community, all 12 say Jesus came, lives, died for our sins and rose from the dead on the 3rd day. John and the 12 witnessed this, and many more did after the resurrection as well.
There testimony and that of many others can be trusted and give us confidence for the days ahead. They saw Jesus!
Now what about our own confession
C. Our Confession Speaks to our Heart… John plainly says that our confession, having professed Jesus is Lord and Savior is the proof test for God’s abiding love in each of us.
You see it is the public confession and acknowledgement of Jesus that speaks to our inward commitment to the same.
Look at verses 15-16 again 1 John 4:15-16
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 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.
I love this here, John is pulling several thoughts together here, He is emphatic here, We know and believe the love God has for us, We do not doubt that love, He has done so much for us. And since God is love, remaining in Him we know that God and His love abides in us s well.
Our heart knows and does not doubt, God loves us, we are His children and He is our God...
And the last thing I want you to see my friends is this truth,
D. Our Love ( His Love in Us) knows no Fear…
We do not have to fear anything, including death because we know the one who holds death and has removed its sting...
We would fear death if punishment was coming, but my friends, Jesus took our punishment, He took our judgment and bore those on His body.. why… because He loved us.
We love, we know love and we share our love simply because He came to us and shared His love with us.
His love predates the foundation of this world and we are blessed to share in it and to know it.
But please remember my friends, His love is transformational… His love transforms us and moves us to love all around us, even those who do us wrong.
Now I will say this, Your walk with God is transformational, the more you walk, the more you spend time with Him the more you read the Word.. The more your life is being made more and more like Jesus.
The same one who said Father forgive them will change us, it will require us to act the same way, that we forgive, that we love and that care, we care for those who we might even consider our enemy.
Now I say that to remind you, that growth isn’t instantaneous, but the Holy Spirit will convict you and teach you from the moment of our salvation,
So if we live or walk in error, if we do not love or care for those around us, His Holy Spirit will convict us, teach us and allow us the joy acting as he would toward those around us.
And so, God’s Holy Spirit will help us grow in our faith so we do not stay in our old ways and the way of thinking, so that we do love.
But if we say we hate our brother or sister, there is something wrong with our life and walk…
Just as we love God so we must love our brothers and sisters my friends… and the world at large.
And so my friends, it is all about love. Loving God and loving those around us.
So ask yourself … How would consider judge the way you love?
Do you abide in Him each day? And do you allow Him to abide in you?
This morning I want to encourage you, if you need prayer, if you need encouragement, if your heart is burdened over something and you want your brothers and sisters to help bear thie burden and pray for you… ask
Do you need to know the Savior?
Come this morning and allow God to be glorified in your life as you are obedient to Him.
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
12 The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
15 the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no one spares another.
20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.