Do we love like God? 1 John 4:14-21

Introduction

Last week John reminded us that we can know that God dwells in us by our love for others, this week we are going to look at the thought of God’s love manifested through his Son

Verse 14

They were eyewitnesses of Jesus, the Son of God.

From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry there were many things that authenticated that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

Jesus authenticated by The Father

At HIs baptism

On the mount of transfiguration

Just a little but before His death

They weren’t only eye witnesses, but they testified that Jesus was the Son of God

There were men and woman who laid down their life for the cause of Christ.

At the end of verse 14, we find again the purpose of Jesus coming to the earth

John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Let look at an eyewitness account of Jesus as the saviour of the world

Remember the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well getting water in the middle of the day and then Jesus showed her all the things she did. He offers her water, where she will never thirst again and she ran and told the whole city and this was the response.

John 4:39–42 “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

Verse 15

In 1 John 2:23 John writes this

1 John 2:23 “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”

Here we find the opposite

If we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God.

The word confess means To own, avow or acknowledge; publicly to declare a belief in and adherence to.

We must confess, without reserve, without wavering, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Verse 16

John tells them that they know and believe the love that God has for us.

Some might ask how did they know that God loved them.

for 3.5 years John followed Jesus without reserve, he was there for all the miracles, he was there for the trial, the crucifixion and the resurrection. He then spent 40 days with Jesus after the resurrection and not one time did John question Jesus’ love for him.

God is love

For the second time in this chapter, John reminds them that God is love.

God is just, holy, and perfect. If we were to try and explain all that God is we would run out of time tonight.

But all of God’s attributes lead back to this “God is Love”

Before the foundation of the world God had a plan for mans sin. Mankind owes a debt they could not pay, but God through His Son paid a debt he did not owe.

Every person born in the U.S in 2023 was born with $83,000 in debt because of the spending of the U.S. government. If there was no interest on that debt and it was the debt was frozen at $83k and you made monthly payments of around $106 from the month you were born until you were 65, that debt would be paid off.

That’s 65 years enslaved to a debt that you didn’t cause or have anything to do with.

Think about our sin debt, we are born sinners, and we continue to sin from the time we are born, until the time that we die. The debt we have accumulated, we could never pay off. But God had a plan from the beginning. Out of His love He would send His Son to die for the sins of the whole world.

The John gives us another way God dwells in us and we in him

He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in Him

If we love like God which is the first characteristic of the fruit of the spirit we dwell in God and He dwells in us. This is the secret of loving like God, we must be filled with God to love like God.

Verse 17

Then he tells us how our love is made perfect or complete and because of that we can have boldness in the day of judgement

John Phillips said this “That in itself is a revolutionary concept, in view of who we are and who is the Judge.”

On one side of judgement there will be no boldness. The great white throne where those who never accepted Christ as their Saviour. It can be confidently said there will be no boldness in that Judgement.

At the judgement seat of Christ their will be some tears, and some trembling but some can face that judgement with boldness.

The reason we can have boldness is not because of we are, but because of whose we are.

Because as he is so are we in this world.

Jesus is the Son of God. One outline I read put it like this

He is God’s infinite son

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

He is God’s incarnate son

Luke 1:35 “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

He is God’s invincible son

Romans 1:3–4 “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”

While Jesus is fully God, he is also fully man

He lived how God want’s every man to live, inhabited by God

Charles Alexander wrote it like this in his Hymn entitled “I would be like Jesus!”

Earthly pleasures vainly call me, I would be like Jesus; Nothing worldly shall enthrall me I would be like Jesus

Be like Jesus, this my song, in the home and in the throng(crowd); Be like Jesus, all day long, i would be like Jesus

Not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is we can have boldness in the day of judgement.

Verse 18

There is no reason to fear, when we are truly in the love of God

Romans 8:35–39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If we live in fear, then God’s perfect love has not been completed in us

Verse 19

Here we come to one of the most foundational, yet one of the most thought provoking statements in 1 John

We love him, because he first loved us.

God loves us so much that he sent his Son to die on a cross for you and me, we show our love for God by first accepting the free gift of salvation, and then we show our love by living our life for Him.

Verse 20-21

It is impossible to say that we love God and hate those around us..

If God’s love is truly in us, we will love our enemies even as Jesus commanded us.

Matthew 5:43–48 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

We are commanded to love others

Matthew 22:36–40 “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Conclusion

Have you witnessed God’s love in your life?

When is the last time you showed the love of God in someone else’s life?