Perfect Love

Intro

In 2017, the band Kingdom Culture released a song titled “Perfect Love.” Listen to part of that chorus. “Perfect love drives out fear, and love regrets all the years that were stolen, and were broken. You’re restoring them all.” — Kingdom Culture

Love is a mark of a true Christian. One could argue that love is the main mark of a true Christian. When we read the word, we accept Christ, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, is love manifest in us? Do we begin to love like never before?

We should.

Not only should we love, but we should manifest a love that is modeled in Scripture by Jesus Christ. We should model a perfect love

The perfect love of God is manifest in us, or at least it should be. But, in order for us to properly fulfill the perfect love of God, we must understand a little more about it.

1 John 4:7-5:1

Manifest In Christ

1 John 4:7–12 (KJV 1900)

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

We have talked MUCH in recent weeks about love toward one another, so today I want to take a different route. I want to remain true to the text, so we will talk about love. But, let’s look at the perfect love of God, first, in how it was manifest in Christ Jesus.

From before creation, the love of God, perfect love, was manifest in the person of Jesus Christ for the redemption of our souls and the remission of our sins. From the very beginning, we have needed a Savior. We have a sin-debt that we cannot pay. We have punishment awaiting us when death takes over.

But love.

Love plays an important role in our lives here and our eternal lives hereafter for, if it weren’t for the love of God manifest through Christ, we would have no hope for eternity.

‌or a moment. In most family structure, one parents takes the role of “the disciplinarian” while the other is “the comforter.” When you get or got in trouble, you knew who to go to and who could wait to find out… …maybe from another source than you. You knew that you were loved by both, but one tended to discipline more and one tended to comfort more.

Your sin is the disciplinarian, you are sinful, and your sin is going to lead you to punishment eternal. But love.

John writes that God is love and we can be saved, not because we first loved God, but because God first loved us. And, in this love, He made a way of escape. A way to escape punishment eternal, a way to escape sin and addiction, a way to live a life wherein you are truly loved and loved a lot.

This love was manifest in Christ.

Jesus is the love of God manifest toward you. Why? Because God is love. So much so, that in our deep dark nasty sin, He still died for us to make a way.

How is Jesus the manifestation of God’s love? He is the propitiation for our sins. What does this mean? Simply, He is the one who became the perfect sacrifice that you needed to pay the price for your sin.

Because of this, you have a chance. You have a chance for true happiness, a chance for freedom from the chains of addiction, you have purpose, you do not have to be defined by your sin.

Jesus makes all things new, He turned Rahab from a prostitute to Rahab a grandmother of Jesus. And, he can make you new this morning as well. He is love, and He loves YOU this morning.

Say that with me, but add your name. Jesus love [Matthew Stone.]

Manifest in the Spirit

Once we see the love of God manifest in Christ, we can then see that love manifest in the Spirit of God.

1 John 4:13–16 “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

When we decide to follow Jesus, we have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. And, we have assurance of that because of the promises of Scripture and the changes taking place in our lives.

The love of God is manifest once-for-all in the person of Jesus when He died on the cross and daily as He continues to be the one pleading our cause to the Father. And it is manifest in the Holy Spirit every moment of our lives as he works to guide us and he pleads our case as well.

Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

The Spirit of God, even when we know not what to pray, intercedes for us. He groans for us. He knows our needs and takes them faithfully to the throne of grace.

When you feel guilt, the Spirit of God is getting your attention often for repentance. When you feel alone, the Spirit of God will comfort you. When you are confused, the Holy Spirit will help clear things up for you. When you don’t know what to say, the Holy Spirit will say it for you.

The Holy Spirit may not answer your prayer immediately, but He is working toward it and will fulfill it in His timing, for His timing is better than yours and mine.

Having the Holy Spirit indwell you though is contingent on your decision to follow Christ Jesus with your life. To fully surrender to Him in belief and repentance. And when we do, we can see the love of God manifest in our eternal state.

Manifest in Eternity

1 John 4:17–5:1 (KJV 1900)

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

So many fear what will happen when they die. So many Christians fear what will happen when they die. So many people live in fear for we forget the beauty of the cross.

When we are born again, we can rest assured in our eternity. We can rest assured in the fact that we will one day be in heaven. We can rest assured, with no fear, that our eternity is set as we live for Christ.

The perfect love of God gives us the promise for eternal life, and that perfect promise out to cast out our fear.

Yes, the Scriptures teach that you could possibly renounce God and forfeit your eternity, but rest assured, if you are concerned with apostasy, you are not an apostate. For to be an apostate is to totally renounce and reject God so much so that you forfeit Him and if you forfeit God, you wont be concerned with repentance, you wont be concerned with guilt, you wont be concerned with your eternal state.

The love of God manifest in Christ, the Holy Spirit, and ultimately your eternity exists in part to bring you confidence in your eternity. Love drives out fear and drives in confidence that you are going to heaven if you are saved.

Rest this morning, if you are repentant, rest. Rest in the fact that your eternity is all but set, no the Scriptures don’t teach once-saved-always-saved, but it does teach that it is harder to forfeit your salvation than it is to keep it for what does John teach in His Gospel? We are given grace upon grace!

Manifest in our Actions

And, if we are given grace upon grace then our actions should model that.

1 John 4:7-5:1

This is what perfect love all the way down the line leads to. It leads to us showing the perfect love of God back to God and then to those around us so that they, too, can know God’s perfect love.

They go hand in hand, loving God and loving God’s creation. We know the commandment is to love God first, but too, if we don’t also love those around us who we see everyday, how can we love the One who we don’t?

The perfect love of God was not designed to be hoarded up in the four walls of a church building. It wasn’t designed to be holed up in the hearts of God’s people. It was designed to impress upon us such awe of God that we share it with any and everyone around us.

When I was in college, we had a new restaurant come to town, Slim Chickens. My goodness what good food. I loved Slim’s and so did much of the college. So, what did we do? Well, we told everyone where they could find good chicken! It was so good that it impressed upon us a conviction to let others share in it with us.

And how insignificant is chicken compared to the perfect love of God?

I’m convinced many people don’t share the perfect love of God because they are either so used to having it that they forget how good it is, or they have become so lazy in their faith that they don’t readily see the blessing of it engulfing them on all sides.

May we never be so forgetful or lazy that we don’t see the great blessings of God as often as we can.

And, those blessings out to be so powerful in our lives (and they are when we humble ourselves) that we want the rest of the world to share in them with us!

We want heaven to be as full as possible! We want every tribe, tongue, and nation to hear about the good perfect love of God, but we are afraid to share it with Kingsport.

We must tell the world about their sin, but we must also tell them about God’s grace upon grace. Perfect love drives out the fear of eternity and replaces it with confidence in heaven.

You, oh child of God, are known by your fruits. Your fruits are actions. Your actions must reflect Christ.

SONG

Intro

“Perfect love drives out fear, and love regrets all the years that were stolen, and were broken. You’re restoring them all.” — Kingdom Culture

Perfect love has been manifest. It has been manifest in Christ, in the Holy Spirit, into your eternity, and hopefully into your actions.

The perfect love of God manifest upon you means that you have hope. You have a God who loves you ever so much. It means that you have heaven as your eternity to be with God rather than separated. The perfect love of God is stronger than any love you have ever demonstrated or experienced. It is the reason you, too, can be saved.

*salvation plea*

Oh, Christians this morning, do you manifest the perfect love of God in your actions? If not, why? Are you too scared? Is it uncomfortable? Is it awkward? Yeah, in a world of sin, sometimes it is. But, let us be like the first century church and pray for boldness to proclaim the truth of God’s word with grace upon grace. To demonstrate the perfect love of God no matter what the cost is. From humiliation to persecution, let us manifest the love of God. Love God. Love others.