A Picture of the Invisble God

Welcome & Opening Prayer

Turn to 1 John Ch. 4...

Open in prayer

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I. Introduction: Bad Vs. Good Examples

I AM SURE we’ve all had the UNFORTUNATE EXPERIENCE of BUYING SOMETHING that NEEDED ASSEMBLED W/ BAD DIRECTIONS.

KIDS GIFTS @ CHRISTMAS

FURNITURE

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Greenhouse Example:

OVER SUMMER,, ME & UNCLE ASSEMBLING SOMETHING for PAPA

UNCLE —BUILD HOUSE

ME—HANDY

COUPLE HOURS—NO PROBLEM.

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NEARLY 12 HOURS LATER—DISCOVERED PIECE UPSIDE DOWN HALFWAY THROUGH.

GAVE UP.

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Focus: THANKFUL—GOD GIVES US CLEAR PICTURES of CHRISTIAN LIFE in HIS WORD

INSTRUCTION

& EXAMPLES

=> NOT ALL SCRIPTURE = EQUALLY EASILY UNDERSTOOD

PETER: “PAUL’S STUFF is HARD”

BUT GIST of CHRISTIAN LIFE = UNAVOIDABLY CLEAR.

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Transition: THIS = WHAT WE’LL SEE in TODAY’S TEXT…

LOOK W/ ME @ 1 JN… CH. 4:7-12

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II. Passage Reading:

1 John 4:7–12 (ESV)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

9 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.

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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

12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

This is God’s Word for us this morning…

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III. Context Recap:

Two Weeks Ago: “Testing the Spirits”

Warning:

DON’T BELIEVE EVERY SPIRIT

BUT TEST THEM…

FALSE PROPHETS = REAL PROBLEM

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MANY TEACH FALSE THINGS CONCERNING JESUS.

DISTORTING HIS PERSON

DENYING HIS WORK

👣=> KNOWING WE HAVE SPIRITUAL ADVERSARY (DECEIVER) — WE MUST TEST WHAT WE SEE & HEAR AGAINST GOD’S WORD (ENCAPSULATED FIRST-HAND APOSTOLIC TRADITION)👣

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Transition: REMEMBER— JOHN’S CONCERNS AREN’T JUST DOCTRINAL

BUT ETHICAL

CONCERNED W/: BOTH RIGHT BELIEF & RIGHT LIVING...

📸 TODAY: LOOKING @ RIGHT LIVING… 📸

LOOK W/ ME @ V7

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IV. Passage Exposition:

Thought 1: An Exhortation (v7)

1 John 4:7–12 (ESV)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

John Begins: “Beloved” = PERSONAL ADDRESS…

Contrast w/ Last Week: EXHORTATION VS. COMMAND.

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THIS WEEK: DRAWING LOGICAL CONNECTIONS💡

Parenting Illustration:

SOMETIMES: BECAUSE I SAID SO

SOMETIMES: EXPLAIN WHY

REASON WHY—HELPS SHAPE the HEART & UNDERSTANDING…

💥 REMEMBER—CHRISTIAN LIFE = SHAPING HEART—NOT JUST OUTWARD, SUPERFICIAL OBEDIENCE. 💥

✨Goal: HEART-LEVEL OBEDIENCE—DELIGHTING to DO GOD’S LAW!

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GOD’S WORD = FILLED W/ COMMANDS— LIVING OUT NEW LIFE in CHRIST

SOMETIMES— AUTHOR SHOWS US “WHY”

Today’s Text: LOVE—FOR LOVE is FROM GOD.

ONE WHO LOVES:

BORN of GOD

KNOWS GOD

EVIDENCE of NEW-BIRTH—GIVES ASSURANCE

🗝️Key Truth: LOVE = PROOF in the PUDDING🗝️

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Transition: LOVING OTHERS = FROM GOD

LOGICAL CONTRAST:

LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 8

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Thought 2: A Contrast (v8)

8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

CLAIMING to KNOW GOD—WITHOUT LOVE—PROFESSION is a LIE!

🗝️Key Truth: LOVE = NOT ONLY FROM GOD… BUT GOD is LOVE!🗝️

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Exhortation on God’s Nature:

SCRIPTURE PRESENTS MULTI-FACETED VIEW of GOD…

WE CAN ONLY BEGIN to COMPREHEND!

One theologian has said: IF GOD WERE SMALL ENOUGH to BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD,

HE WOULD NOT BE BIG ENOUGH to BE WORSHIPED…

=> WE CAN KNOW GOD & ABOUT HIM

BUT WE’LL NEVER HAVE the FULL PICTURE—HE’S TOO VAST!👀

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Some Attributes,, Understood Conceptually

OMNIPOTENCE—GOD = ALL POWERFUL

OMNIPRESENCE— GOD is EVERYWHERE

OMNISCIENCE—GOD is ALL-KNOWING

Other Things = Partially Understood:

GOD is JUST—WE HAVE a JUSTICE SYSTEM

GOD is KIND—WE’VE EXPERIENCED KINDNESS

GOD is LOVE—WE UNDERSTAND LOVE — IN PART...

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Exhort: GOD = ALL HIS ATTRIBUTES ALL the TIME😮

HE DOESN’T HANG UP JUSTICE WHEN HE is MERCIFUL

HE DOESN’T HANG UP LOVE WHEN HE is HOLY

JOHN:

GOD is LIGHT (1:5) = PERFECTLY PURE & HOLY

GOD is LOVE—IN HIS NATURE

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Disclaimer:

NOT PANTHEISM… LOVE is NOT GOD.

Helpful Illustration:

HUMAN BODY—COMPOSED of TRILLIONS of CELLS

CELL = MOST BASIC BUILDING BLOCK of LIFE

CELL COMPOSED of ATOMS & MOLECULES

⭐EVERY CELL in HUMAN BODY — HAS H20 (WATER)

=> NO SINGLE PART of OUR BODY DOESN’T HAVE WATER

BUT WATER is NOT HUMAN.

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GOD is LOVE—EVERY PART of HIM is LOVE

IN HOLINESS GOD is LOVE,

IN JUSTICE, GOD is LOVE

THAT DOESN’T MEAN LOVE is GOD.

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Transition: IF GOD = DESCRIBED AS LOVE… WHAT EVIDENCE is THERE FOR THIS?🤔

C.C.: PERHAPS YOU STRUGGLE W/ IDEA of “LOVING” GOD.

LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 9-10

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Thought 3: God’s Demonstration of Love (v9-10)

9 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.

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

LOVE of GOD = MADE MANIFEST—PROVEN

GOD HAS DEFINED LOVE.

C.C.: WE LIVE in a WORLD—DEFINES LOVE ALL SORTS of WAYS:🌍

FEELING

SEX

EMOTION

ACCEPTANCE

GOD as CREATOR DEFINES TERMS—HE is LOVE!

LOVE = SELF-GIVING ATTRIBUTE—DOING WHAT is BEST for OTHERS @ OWN EXPENSE.

🗝️Key Truth: LOVE = VERB 🗝️

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LOVE of GOD = PUT on DISPLAY— SENT HIS SON—SO THAT WE MIGHT LIVE!

(V10) IN THIS = LOVE…

WE DIDN’T LOVE GOD...

HE LOVED US.

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Gospel Invitation

GOD SENT HIS SON SO THAT WE MIGHT LIVE!!🙌

🗝️Key Truth: SIN,, DISOBEDIENCE to GOD—MISSING HIS STANDARD—RESULTS in DEATH. 🗝️

Genesis 2:17 (ESV)

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

James 1:15 (ESV)

15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Death:

SPIRITUALLY SEPARATED from GOD

EVENTUALLY PHYSICAL DEATH

ETERNAL SEPARATION from GOD.

People Debate How Literal Imagery of Hell is: 🤔

FIRE

DARKNESS

WORMS

WHAT MAKES IT SO BAD = TO BE SEPARATED ETERNALLY from GOD 💡

GOD is GOOD… GOD is LOVE

PRESENCE of GOD = SOURCE of JOY in HEAVEN

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MANY CLAIM THEY WANT to GO to HEAVEN AFTER DEATH

BUT IF YOU’VE REJECTED GOD YOUR WHOLE LIFE—WHY WOULD YOU SUDDENLY WANT HIM THEN?🤔

C.S. Lewis: HELL = GOD SAYING “THY WILL BE DONE” to THOSE WHO HAVE PUSHED HIM AWAY THEIR WHOLE LIVES…

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BUT JESUS CAME in ORDER to BRING LIFE!🙌

John 10:10 (ESV)

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

IN JESUS CHRIST—WE HAVE HOPE of RESURRECTION,

… ETERNAL LIFE—IN PERFECT ABODE W/ HIM!!

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Problem: WE ALL DESERVE SEPARATION from GOD BECAUSE of OUR SINS & TRANSGRESSIONS

Solution: BUT GOD MADE a WAY FOR US:

SO WE MIGHT LIVE

✝️✝️CHRIST = PROPITIATION

JESUS LIVED PERFECTLY

DIED—BEARING OUR PENALTY ✝️✝️

THROUGH FAITH & TRUST in HIM—WE CAN BE FORGIVEN, REDEEMED, MADE NEW

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Invitation: HERE WITHOUT HOPE, ASSURANCE, CHRIST...

I’D LOVE to SPEAK W/ YOU AFTER the SERVICE...

GOD MADE a WAY FOR YOU…

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Transition: BEYOND INITIAL STEP of PERSONAL TRUST in CHRIST…

LOVE of GOD DEMANDS a RESPONSE of the BELIEVER...

LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 11

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Thought 4: Repeated Exhortation (v11)

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

THE CHRISTIAN’S LOVE for OTHERS HINGES on GOD’S LOVE for US…

GREEK CONSTRUCTION: “IF THIS is TRUE… & IT IS...”

“IF GOD HAS LOVED US LIKE THIS, & HE HAS… WE OUGHT to LOVE ONE ANOTHER “

Challenge: IF GOD HAS BEEN SO KIND & GOOD to YOU…HOW COULD YOU WITHHOLD THAT FROM OTHERS?👣

Ref: PARABLE of UNFORGIVING SERVANT 📜

MASTER’S KINDNESS = BASIS for OUR KINDNESS to OTHERS

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🗝️Key Truth: OUR LOVE for OTHERS DOESN’T DEPEND on THEIR DESERVING of IT… 🗝️

CONSIDER HOW UNDESERVING WE WERE/ARE of GOD’S LOVE!!

=> YET GOD LOVED US.

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Transition: W/ REALITY of BELIEVER’S LOVE— APOSTLE HAS 1 FINAL COMMENT…

LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 12

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Thought 5: Conclusion—Seeing God (v12)

12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

SCRIPTURE = CONSISTENT,, GOD is SPIRIT—YOU CANNOT SEE.

2 Wks Ago: SPIRITUAL REALM,, FRIENDS & FOES

THEY CAN REVEAL,, IF THEY SO PLEASE.

✨YET NO ONE has SEEN GOD in HIS GLORY.

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Ref: MOSES HIDDEN in CLEFT of ROCK,, SAW GOD’S BACK

Exhort: YOU CAN’T LOOK @ SUN WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR EYES…

HOW COULD WE EXPECT to LOOK UPON ITS CREATOR W/ NATURAL EYES? 🤯

HE is TOO GLORIOUS!

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YET SCRIPTURE SHOWS US WE CAN SEE EVIDENCE of GOD

ROMANS 1— CREATION TESTIFIES to CREATOR

JOHN 1:18… JESUS CAME to REVEAL the FATHER

Today’s Passage: JOHN PUTS FORTH,, BELIEVERS LOVING EACH OTHER in COMMUNITY = PICTURE of the INVISIBLE GOD. 💡

=> GOD is LOVE

=> TRUE GODLY LOVE = REFLECTION of HIM!

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(V12C) GOAL/MISSION of GOD’S LOVE = ACCOMPLISHED

GOD’S LOVE = PERFECTED

REACHES ITS ZENITH

…WHEN CHRISTIANS LOVE EACH OTHER!

GOD’S MISSION in US = TRANSFORM US to BE LIKE HIS SON—💡

— THIS REQUIRES WE SHOWCASE LOVE,, WHEN IT’S UNDESERVED!

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Transition: All in All—I believe John is saying…

Passage Idea:

Godliness looks like self-giving love.

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V. App: Loving Others, For God is Love

LIVING a GODLY LIFE,, to BE LIKE HIM

PARAMOUNT CHRISTIAN VIRTUE = LOVE.

🗝️Key Truth: OUR LOVE = RESPONSE to GOD’S LOVE for US… 🗝️

Gospel: SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

WE CAN’T LOVE ENOUGH to BE LOVED BY HIM…

👉👉 HE LOVED US WHEN WE WERE WHOLLY UNLOVABLE!

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FREQUENTLY ASK: “WHY DOES a GOOD GOD ALLOW BAD THINGS to HAPPEN to GOOD PEOPLE?”

NO ONE ASKS: “WHY DOES a HOLY GOD EVER DO GOOD THINGS for SINFUL PEOPLE?”

YET HE DOES BECAUSE HE is LOVE.

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PROVEN @ CALVARY 💡

HE SENT HIS SON—THAT WE MIGHT LIVE…

HE SENT HIS SON—PROPITIATION for OUR SINS…

LOVE = SELF-GIVING ATTRIBUTE

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🏁🏁THE GOAL of GOD’S LOVE = THAT WE’D SHOWCASE THAT LOVE to OTHERS—🏁🏁

— SPECIFICALLY OUR FELLOW BELIEVER

🗝️Key Truth: REMEMBER, LOVE is a VERB…🗝️

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Conclusion:

AS WE SHOW UNDESERVED LOVE to OTHERS—WE ARE a PICTURE of the INVISIBLE GOD…

WE SHOWCASE THAT WE’VE BEEN BORN of HIM & KNOW HIM…

WE SHOW OTHERS WHAT TRUE CHRISTIANITY IS

IF HE HAS SO LOVED US… LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER. AMEN?

Close in Prayer!