*** 1 john 4:7-11

There’s a word from the lord and it’s coming from the book of 1 John Chapter 4 verses 7-11

and you should find these words as printed

1 John 4:7–11 (NRSV)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

There’s a lot of talk about love these days. Love is talked about from Hollywood, love is talked about in the news media, love is talked about in families, communities, and in church.

We live In a world that is in desperate need, of true love,

the church must come back to our roots and make sure we have received true love so that we can share true love with this world.

In the world love is a broad subject that has many sources and many outlets, but in reality

when we look at love, true love comes from knowing the God of the Bible and serving the God of the Bible.

And here, John instructed the church about the display of love.

Love is displayed through Christians because love has been dispersed to Christians.

And here, This passage shows us some facts about love on the line.

And here, when we look at this text

The first thing that we must understand about love is that

I. Love is required of us (vs. 7–8)

why?

A. Because of our position (vs. 7)

Look what it says in the text

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

And so, when we talk about love

Love is not an option for a child of God.

God requires that we love one another. In essence, We are under obligation to God and to our fellow men.

And so , here is John

John calls on the church with the heart of a pastor. He tells us to love one another and then he tells us why we should love one another.

Love is a vital part of the Christian faith. Without love, it does not matter what else we do. Love is required of God’s children because of who they are and because of what they have received. As children of God, we have received the love of God and now we are called on to display that love to one another.

See, A watching world will never be won to faith in Jesus Christ apart from true and genuine love from the church. We must love them that are in the world, but if we do not love one another, how can we truly love them?

John says that love, is of God. True love is of God.

See, Love comes from God, it is founded and originated with God. And John here, is stressing the importance of love. Because of our position as a child of God we are required to love. It is possible to detect who is of God.

Everyone that loves is born of God.

• From Heaven’s View: Position determines practice. Because we are children of God, love is required of us and expected from us.

• From Earth’s View: Position does not always determine practice.

Just because we have a position here on earth, does not mean we will perform and practice as we should. For a child of God, we are to practice love on a consistent basis because we have been born of God. We no longer act like we use to act because we have a new nature in us. We are to be controlled and compelled by the love of God. Those who have received Jesus Christ have received the love of God.

To be born of God, means that we’ve been born again by the Spirit of God through our faith in the Son of God.

watch what it says

Born: The word is in the perfect tense which signifies something that happened in the past that has present results. Those who are born of God, know God.

And so, The only way to show God’s love, is to know God’s love. Those who show true love show that they know God.

But to Know: speaks of a continuous action.

The child of God, does not just know about God. They don’t just know what God’s word says, but they personally know God.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “To know God, means to be in a deep relationship to Him—to share His life and enjoy His love. This knowing is not simply a matter of understanding facts; it is a matter of perceiving truth. The fact that Christians love one another, is evidence of their fellowship with God and their sonship from God, and it is also evidence that they know God.”

And Love is required of us because of our position

But then, Next we see that :

Love is required of us

B. Because of His Person (vs. 8b)

“for God is love.”

In John 4, we know that God is Spirit. In 1 John 1:5 we know that God is light. Now we learn something else about God. John says that God is love.

Notice the construction of the sentence. The Bible does not say that love is God, but that God is love.

See, A lost world, can love one another or love pleasures and possessions, but that does not mean they know God.

See, Love, is a part of the nature of God. God is also a God of justice, holiness, righteousness. Many have continued in their sinful lifestyle under the premise of God being love. Many deduct from the fact, that God is love that He will not send people to hell. Have you heard it said,

‘A loving God will not send people to hell.’ God does not send anyone to hell, they go to hell because they have sinned and rejected the love of God by rejecting the Son of God. Here’s a good way to look at it: Love does not completely describe God, but God completely defines love.

This world would know nothing of love without the grace, mercy, and love of God.

We are required to love because of who God is. Because God is love and because God loves, we that are born of God will logically be people of love. Love is required of us because of our position, because of His Person,

But then we see that Love is required of us

C. Because of the pagans (vs. 8a)

“He who does not love does not know God”

See this love that we see, agape love

this love speaks of a self sacrificing love, a consuming passion for the well being of another.

See, Agape is a divine love, it is a God given love. This word speaks of a love that is not of this world.

See, The pagan Greeks, knew nothing of self-sacrificing love for an enemy. This love never has its basis in human personality, human passion, or human pleasurableness.”

And John says, that he who does not love, does not know God.

The word for know in verse 8 is not in the present tense, but it is in the (past) tense. This refers to the reality that the unloving person has never known God at any time. It does not matter what a person says, if love is not a controlling principle and characteristic in their lives, then they do not know God.

I believe that John implies in this bold statement that those who do not practice love, does not know God and that’s the reason we are to show the world the love of God.

The pagans are those who love self and love sin, but they do not love God or God’s people.

God requires us, to love one another and He also requires that we love a lost and dying world. It is critical that we love one another and that we show the world love.

When we demonstrate New Testament love we are used of God to win a lost world to Jesus. The church should have a reputation of having Good Samaritan members.

” Love is required of us because there’s a lost and dying world that is looking for love in all the wrong places.

We’ve seen in verses 7–8 that love is required of us.

But the Next, we see:that

II. Love is revealed to us (vs. 9–11)

A. By the coming of the Savior (vs. 9)

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”

see, God does not have a secret love and He is not bashful about His love towards us. John teaches us that real and genuine love has been revealed to us. God’s love, is revealed to us by the coming of the Savior.

The love of God was Manifested toward us.

This means that God has brought His love out from heaven, to earth. The love of God was manifested in the Son of God. God’s love for us, may not be fully comprehended by us, but His love can be apprehended by us.

God has shown His love to the world, by sending Jesus into the world. Jesus came from heaven to earth for the purpose of giving us life.

Jesus was on the ultimate mission trip when He left the splendor of heaven, to come to the filth of the world. By the way John gets real specific here. God sent His only begotten Son.

God sent His One and only Son. John 3:16–18, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” The ultimate purpose for God sending Jesus into the world is that we might live through Him.

Romans 5:6–8, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Love is revealed to us by the coming of the Savior.

But then Next, we see, love is revealed to us:

B. By the cleansing of our sins (vs. 10)

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

The Son of God revealed the love of God, so that we would never have to experience the wrath of God. The word of God tells it like it is. None of us have loved God. We did not first love God, but God first loved us and sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins.

The reality is church, We are sinners by nature and by choice and none of us have loved God. The only way we can now love God, is because we have received the love of God though the gift of His Son.

God has shown His love to the people of this world by sacrificing His one and only Son.

Sam Gordon wrote, “He pulled out all the stops in order to purchase our eternal salvation; He went to considerable lengths to redeem us to Himself; He left no stone unturned as He sought to release us from the bondage of Satan and sin; He went well beyond the second mile as He successfully opened up a way for us to be reconciled to God.”

God sent Jesus into the world to be the propitiation for our sins.

Propitiation: used in 1 John 2:2. The word means ‘to appease and render favorable.

Kenneth Wuest wrote, “The pagan worshipper brought gifts to his god to appease the god’s wrath and make him favorable in his attitude towards him.

But the God of Christianity, needs no gifts to appease His wrath and make Him favorable towards the human race.

Divine love springs spontaneously from His heart.” God’s love sent God’s Son so that sinners could be saved.

When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He absolutely satisfied the demands of God’s law. At the same time He made it possible for God to forgive us. That is how much God loves us. He was willing to send Jesus to be the satisfaction for our sins.”

Every sinner that calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus, will be cleansed from all their sins. We need to constantly be reminded of God’s love for us. We need to be reminded that Jesus has paid the price for our sins. We ought to be the most gracious, loving, and caring people in all the world because we have received the love of God and the forgiveness of sins.

Love is revealed to us by the coming of the Savior, by the cleansing of our sins, and because of that we see that love is revealed through us:

C. By the challenge of the saints (vs. 11)

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

We are challenged to put our love on the line. John says that the logical progression and response to God’s love, is for us to love one another.

How did God so love us? God loved us completely, selflessly, sacrificially, sincerely, steadfastly.

Because He loved us the Bible says we ought to love one another.

That word “ought” speaks of Christian duty.

H.A. Ironside said, “Sometimes Christian do not like to be reminded of duty, for they have an idea that duty is not consistent with grace.

But the grace of God, when it is active in the life, leads men and women to do the things they ought to do.” We ought to love one another, we ought to love those who mistreat us, abuse us, ridicule us. We ought to love those who do not love us and those who would want to harm us and speak evil of us. We ought to love them in spite of themselves. We are to love them in and through the power of Jesus Christ.

There was a seminary professor

We belong to the family of God because of the love of God. Love is the hallmark, trademark, and the benchmark of the family of God. If we do not love one another we have not been born of God. God calls for us to make things right with Him and to make things right with one another. He wants us to love, not just tolerate, one another.