KBM The Love Of God
Notes
Transcript
Today we are going to be skipping ahead a bit in our Impact 3:16 series to 1 John 3:16 because it is theme week at Bible Way Media and with it being Valentine’s Day every one is doing there podcast on “The Love Of God.” Because I already went over John 3:16 we are going to, as I mentioned a moment ago, to a later written letter by the great apostle of love in 1 John 3:16. This great letter contains the word love 46 times in just 26 verses. Obviously love is the central theme of the letter and in chapter 3 that is no difference where we find the word love 9 times in this chapter alone and starting in 1 John 3:11 the message of God through John is “we should love one another” The question is “what is love” according to God?
People today love everything from their dogs and cats to their cars and houses. They love everyone from their teachers to their husbands and children. Certainly we don’t love each of these in the same way but if you ask someone to describe what the difference is between their love for their dog and their spouse they will be hard pressed to give you a good distinctive definition between the two. The reason for this is because most people think of love as an emotion instead of an action. Love is not an emotion and we can know this because wives don’t have to be trained how to be emotionally attached to their husbands and children but God does require the older women to train the younger women in how to love in these two areas.
Titus 2:3–4 (ESV)
3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,
This is not limited to the women, men must be taught and trained to do the same for their wives and children.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
7 Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Learning what love actually is from God’s perspective is vital because God is love (1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16). This means everything he does has a foundation in love. With that in mind there are two passages that demonstrate what love “is” at its peak.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
And our text…
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Those who have counted the cost of discipleship (Luke 14:25-33), who have accepted the gift of grace which is Jesus the Christ (Romans 6:23), who have given their word to put God first in their lives always (Luke 10:27; Matthew 10:32), and have found their sins washed away by the blood of the lamb through baptism (Acts 22:16) must reciprocate that love towards others by being willing to “lay down our lives for our brethren” which puts 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in a whole new light.