Let Us Love One Another as God Has Loved Us. 1 John 4:7-10

Let Us Love One Another as God Has Loved Us

1 John 4:7-10

Father, we thank you for the Lord’s Day. and also thank you for your word. Now I’m going to share your word. I ask you to help me as I preach your word and bless the hearers as well. In Jesus name, I pray…. Amen

Introduction

When we hear the word love or love one another we might first think about romantic relationships, dating, or marriage. In today's generation, love is often seen as selfish and related to physical desires, self-centeredness, physical appearance, social status, etc. But according to the teachings of the Bible, love is described particularly in passages like 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, which emphasizes selflessness, kindness, patience, and enduring commitment. So, the ultimate example of love is demonstrated through Jesus sacrificing himself on the cross to bear the sins of humanity.

This morning, we are going to discuss a type of love that is much bigger, stronger, and more powerful than any romantic feelings we usually think about. Today, John will guide us to the beginning and origin of love, which is God Himself. Love is a fundamental part of God’s nature, and showing love is a key aspect of who He is. We can see this through the symbol of the cross. The cross at Golgotha represents that our God is filled with love.

1. Loving Others Gives Evidence We Have Been Born of God (1 John 4:7)

John simply says to his spiritual children, “Love one another,” a statement he will repeat twice more in this chapter that is in (vv. 11, 12). So, the question is Why are we to “love one another”? The first reason John gives is this: “because love is from God.” Real love, true love, always has its source in God. And whoever loves with a “God kind of love” gives evidence that they have been born of God. So, the question is in what sense can we agree that everyone who loves is born of God? It would be wrong to conclude that anybody who shows love is a child of God, regardless of whether he or she believes in Jesus.

Both Christians and Non- non-Christians practice love because the ability to love is not limited to one’s religious beliefs or affiliations. Love is a universal emotion that transcends boundaries and can be expressed by individuals regardless of their faith or background. Just because someone is not a Christian doesn’t mean they can’t love. Sometimes non-Christians show more love and care towards the poor and needy compared to Christians. Examples like helping the poor, social welfare, community support, etc.

However, Howard Marshall a Scottish New Testament Scholar says, “Human love, however noble and however highly motivated, falls short if it refuses to include the Father and Son as the supreme objects of its affections.

In simple terms, Howard Marshall is saying that human love, no matter how good or well-intentioned it is, is incomplete if it does not include God the Father and Jesus Christ as the most important objects of its affection.

Several times in the Bible God gives us His thoughts on love. We find it in 1 Corinthians 13, John 13: 34-35, and here in our passage as well.

Let me read John 13:34-35, Jesus instructs his disciples to love one another as He has loved them, stating that this love will be a defining characteristic of His followers: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have a love for one another.”

John Piper puts it well:

  the way heat is from fire, or the way light is from the sun. Love belongs to God’s nature. God’s nature is love, and in the new birth that nature becomes part of who you are.… When you are born again, God himself is imparted to you. He dwells in you and sheds abroad in your heart his love. And his aim is that this love be perfected in you.

So, love has its very origin and source in God, and it is evidence that we have been born of God and are a part of “the family of lovers.”

2. Loving Others Gives Evidence We Know God

In verse 8, Then John flipped the coin over, claiming that anyone who does not show love does not know God. The reason for this is that God’s essence is love, so if a person truly knows and understands God, they will naturally show love to others. How it is possible for someone who has experienced the love of God through Jesus and has the Holy Spirit within them to not show love to others? The answer is if someone has been saved by love and has love within them, they should demonstrate love towards others. A person saved by love and indwelled with love must love. Brothers and sisters, we may have trouble loving others perfectly, but there is a big difference between not loving perfectly and not loving at all. Remember no one can love perfectly but Christ alone.

As seminary students, we are taught many times to love one another and the importance of loving one another. But many times, instead of loving our brothers and sisters we hate one another or cannot love them perfectly. Why? Because we are imperfect beings meaning sinners and therefore may struggle to love perfectly. But remember, God's very nature is love. Therefore, if a person loves God, he/she becomes a loving person; he/she takes on the very nature of God. When a person truly loves God, they will act in a way that reflects God’s actions, that includes loving others.

3. God Sent His Son That We Might Live and He Might Die

Verse 9 says, 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.

When God provided for our salvation, He gave His very best by sending Jesus. This echoes the Gospel of John, in (John 3:16) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This is how we know what love is: God sent his one and only Son, knowing he would be horribly treated and ultimately crucified. God sent His Son into enemy territory, into a world of sinners to rescue us.  So, the question is why did He come? He came “that we might live through Him.

To live through Him means to be born of God and to know God, reflect His love and grace in one’s own life, walk in the light, and enjoy fellowship with one another.

God did not send an angel; He sent His Son. God did not send His Son to live but He sent His Son to die for us. And this was not an ordinary death. Nor was it simply the death of a martyr. It was the death of a Savior dying in our place and bearing our punishment.

In verse 10, God sent His Son to be the propitiation (NIV, “atoning sacrifice”) for our sins. The word “propitiation” is a rich theological term and one of the most important in the Bible. Propitiation refers to the turning away of the wrath of God as the just judgment of our sin by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

In other words, Jesus took upon Himself the wrath due for our sins and satisfied God’s justice on our behalf. This selfless act reveals not just what it means to be loved but also how deeply committed God is to restoring humanity’s broken relationship with Him. So, Propitiation teaches us the greatness of God’s love in which He provided the offering to turn His wrath away and also it teaches us the truth that Christ’s death satisfied the Father and was a substitution for sinners. True love is not about what we can gain but rather about what has already been given: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a propitiation for our sins.”

Conclusion

My beloved brothers and sisters, Remember, when we were in darkness, God sent His light. When we were in sin, God sent His Son and when we were in despair, God sent His love.

When we love each other, the word of says in John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have a love for one another.” And as followers of Christ loving others should be our identity. Remember, God’s essence is within us (3:9), and His Spirit is also in us (3:24) because the love we receive from God fills our hearts as we stay connected to Him.

Brothers and Sisters, we should not only think or understand how much God loves us but we should also actively live it out by loving one another, because it was not you and I who first loved God, but rather it was God who loved us first.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your gift of love demonstrated through Your Son Jesus Christ. Father, help us adopt these truths from Your Word today so that we may live our lives actively by loving one another. As we go from here today, may Your Spirit empower us to live out this calling—to truly “love one another” as You have loved us.  In Christ's name, I pray Amen.