God Is Love (2)

1 John 4

God is Love......1 John 4:7-12.....

Love....… “Agape”......… “The highest virtue. Self-sacrificial and others-focused.”

God is love, He does not have love, he does not possess love, He is love!

As we read in our text everything that is needed to understand love is there......

God is love

The nature and example of that love is in the sacrifice of God’s Son Jesus dying for our sins........

Look at Romans 5:1-8.......

When we were without strength, Christ died for the ungodly......

Again in verse 8 God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

This would be the nature and the example....

Jesus is and was the example......John 13:13–17 “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

Again in John 13:34–35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

This is how the world will know whose you are!

MacArthur emphasizes that although 1 John 4:8 calls God “love,” this does not eclipse His other attributes—holiness, justice, wrath. God's love complements, not overrides, these

He warns against a one-sided view that treats God as only loving—ignoring the reality of divine wrath tempered by love, especially seen in the cross .

2. True love is sacrificial, deliberate, and costly

Defining authentic love, MacArthur draws on 1 Corinthians 13 and Ephesians 5, highlighting that biblical love is self-giving and merciful, not mere feelings

He underscores that such love isn’t rooted in emotion but in a deliberate choice, reflecting Christ’s sacrificial example .

3. The cross: where God’s love and wrath converge

God’s love isn’t random kindness—it’s deeply tied to justice. The atonement on the cross demonstrates God’s love and His righteous wrath against sin

*******MacArthur teaches that without recognizing God’s justice, the full significance of His love cannot be grasped *********

4. Two dimensions of God’s love: general and saving

General (common) love: God’s kindness toward all humanity—e.g. postponing judgment, offering the gospel universally .

Saving love: A special, eternal love granted to the elect—committed believers—distinct from His common love

5. Love produces transformed lives and mutual affection among believers

Genuine love is the hallmark of the Christian. It flows from the new birth and becomes visible in our relationships—especially within the church

Jesus said that love for one another is the test by which the world recognizes His disciples (John 13:35)

In Summary

John MacArthur defines “God is love” this way:

Love is a divine attribute, harmonizing with all God’s characteristics.

True love is sacrificial, purposeful, and costly—modeled supremely by Christ.

The cross is the ultimate convergence of God’s love and justice.

God’s love has a universal extension but saving application only to believers.

Believers' transformed lives and love for one another reflect God’s love at work within them.

Ok the nature and the example......how that is seen in our lives......1 Corinthians 13......The love chapter!

Before we read let’s listen to a few verses.......Ephesians 5:1–2 “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

Colossians 3:14 “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

Put on love, walk in love as Christ has loved us........

The first part of this chapter explains the gifts of the Spirit......basically stating what we read from Jesus this morning.......Matthew 7:18 “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Verses 1-3.......If I do this or that and have not love, I am nothing!!!!........No agape love, no Spirit! It is not genuine!

Verses 4-8.....Characteristics of the fruit of God’s love.......Never fails!......

You might even say that it is the motivation behind the other fruit!

Verses 8b-10.....Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!

But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

Verses 11-12.....Childish things are appropriate for children, and the gifts are appropriate for our present time. But the gifts of the Holy Spirit will not be appropriate forever.

Paul is not trying to say that if we are spiritually mature, we will not need spiritual gifts. But he does say that if we are spiritually mature, we will not over-emphasize spiritual gifts, especially at the expense of love.

When we can fully see Jesus (not as in a poorly reflected image), the need for the gifts will have vanished, and so the gifts will pass away. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will be overshadowed by the immediate presence of Jesus. When the sun rises, we turn off the lesser lights.

Verse 13.......The greatest of these is love.......faith and hope will be fulfilled when Christ appears the only thing that will remain is LOVE.....1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”