The Love of God

Knowing God The Love of God - 1 John 4:7-21 October 19, 2025 As we continue in our quick journey through the topic of knowing God in our sermon series, we will tackle the topic of "love" this morning from 1 John 4:7-21. First John is towards the back of your bibles, after 1-2 Peter and before Jude and Revelation. In this section, we are told that God is love. This is a bold - and controversial - statement that the Apostle John makes. Bold because it is a definitive attribute of God, and controversial because the culture seems to want to define love by their own standards. Here is a local example. Not too far from here, there is so-called "spiritual community" (they don't call themselves a church) who has a motto of "Love, Period." This community describes themselves as "a multi-generational, inclusive, & welcoming spiritual community for people of diverse journeys." And that "love" is the "highest value" for them, and that they, "explore a variety of spiritual traditions and wisdom teachings, [and they] interpret them through the lens of love, and not the other way around." In a quick survey of their website, the only two mentions of Jesus are paired with Buddha and "other spiritual teachers," and unless I missed it, there was no mention of God - or God's love - anywhere. They have created an entire religion and gospel around a single word, love. However, the absence of God should tell you everything you need to know about how they apply love. In our passage today, not only does the Apostle tell us that love is not a feeling, it is a Person, but he also reveals what true love actually is and what that means for you and me as followers of Jesus. Let's see what he says, as we read our text this morning. Follow along as I read 1 John 4:7-21: 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. 13 BY THIS WE KNOW THAT WE ABIDE IN HIM AND HE IN US, BECAUSE HE HAS GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT. 14 AND WE HAVE SEEN AND TESTIFY THAT THE FATHER HAS SENT HIS SON TO BE THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. 15 WHOEVER CONFESSES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD, GOD ABIDES IN HIM, AND HE IN GOD. 16 SO WE HAVE COME TO KNOW AND TO BELIEVE THE LOVE THAT GOD HAS FOR US. GOD IS LOVE, AND WHOEVER ABIDES IN LOVE ABIDES IN GOD, AND GOD ABIDES IN HIM. 17 BY THIS IS LOVE PERFECTED WITH US, SO THAT WE MAY HAVE CONFIDENCE FOR THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, BECAUSE AS HE IS SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD. 18 THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE, BUT PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR. FOR FEAR HAS TO DO WITH PUNISHMENT, AND WHOEVER FEARS HAS NOT BEEN PERFECTED IN LOVE. 19 WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US. 20 IF ANYONE SAYS, "I LOVE GOD," AND HATES HIS BROTHER, HE IS A LIAR; FOR HE WHO DOES NOT LOVE HIS BROTHER WHOM HE HAS SEEN CANNOT LOVE GOD WHOM HE HAS NOT SEEN. 21 AND THIS COMMANDMENT WE HAVE FROM HIM: WHOEVER LOVES GOD MUST ALSO LOVE HIS BROTHER. There's really a lot to unpack here, but I want to keep it simple this morning by asking and answering two questions. As Christians, when we think about love - the action, not the emotion - we must measure against the proper standard. That standard, as John here states, is the Person of God. Which is why, twice in this passage, John says "GOD IS LOVE." Naturally, we need to understand what this means. So, WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT GOD IS LOVE? In short, the idea of love, in its proper context, should be understood to be an action. So, when we look at the entire text, John reveals at least four actions that illustrate what he means by saying that GOD IS LOVE. God demonstrates His love by ... * Giving (v.9) o In this passage, it is clearly revealed that God showed His love by sending His Son. o Sending His Son, so we can have life. o Next, * Dying (v.10) o When Jesus died, He became the atoning sacrifice for our sins. o He satisfied God's appointed punishment for sin. o Then, * Forgiving (v.17) o We'll touch on this later, but we have confidence in Jesus' finished work because we've been forgiven of our sins. o Finally, * Blessing (vv. 12,13,18) o Here is where the blessing of loving others is seen. o We are also blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and o We are blessed with assurance. Maybe I can summarize this with our main idea of this great passage, which is: God's love reveals true love. Pretty simple, right? That's because it is that simple. But we can't just stop there, there must be a response. So, WHAT IS OUR RESPONSE? I'm going to provide four responses, or principles for the believer in response to "GOD IS LOVE." First, * If I am a child of God, I must love others. (vv.7-8,21) o Now is probably a good time to define this term translated as "love." o There are two words in the Greek New Testament for love. * The first word is "philia" - which is a love shared between friends, like what we see with Jesus and His disciples. Commonly referred to as "brotherly love." * The other word used in the New Testament is "agape" - this is an unconditional, sacrificial, and selfless type of love. Generally applied to a godly - or God-like - love. Throughout this chapter, and 1 Corinthians 13, it is "agape" love that is referred to. o John says that we are to love like Him, because as Christians, we are to emulate Jesus, who was the ultimate picture of God's love. o This isn't the first time John mentions love in his letter. * Back in chapter 2, verses 7-11, John speaks of the commandment to love one another. In chapter 3, verses 10-14, he repeats this same message. o So, here John is building on these prior messages, and by doing so, helps us to understand where love - as a concept - comes from. Which is God Himself. o We also learn three truths about love: * First, that LOVE IS FROM GOD. * Second, that ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LOVE DOES NOT KNOW GOD, * And third, GOD IS LOVE. o In other words, as Packer points out, God's love is a "revelation of His [God's] own inner being." * It's what we call an attribute of God. * Some attributes, like His eternal nature and his all-knowing nature, are exclusive to Himself, while others, like goodness and love are available for His Children. * This is why at the beginning of this section (verse 7) and the end of this section (verse 21) a command is given for His Children to love others. o As the originator and Creator of love, He then gives us the ability to love, as we will see shortly in more detail. o Simply understood, when we love like God loves, we are putting others before ourselves. o So, we are called to love, like He loves ... which is a tall order. o Next, to add to this ... * Because God demonstrated His love for us through His Son, I must demonstrate His love to others. (vv.9-11) o These verses really help the Christian to understand why we are capable of love. o We also see here that Jesus is the manifestation of God's love. * This means that God demonstrated His love for us, by sending His Son to die for us, as noted earlier. * One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 5:8, which tells us: BUT GOD SHOWS HIS LOVE FOR US IN THAT WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. * Of course, we're all familiar with John 3:16 which confirms this very point. * This is instructive. If God showed us His love by sending His Son, doesn't it stand to reason that we are also to show God's love through action. o You see, without Jesus coming to earth, living a sinless life, dying a death undeserved, resurrecting to show His power over death, and returning to the right hand of God - showing His proper position as Lord - we are unable to love because we are unable to have relationship with God. o Jesus made it possible for us to respond to His love, by demonstrating that same type of love towards others. o That's further understood in verses 12-16, where we see that ... * Because God dwells in me, I must live for Him. (vv.12-16) o Packer said it this way, "John wrote 'God is love' in order to make an ethical point." o So, when we see or read or hear the phrase, "GOD IS LOVE," it describes the action of love as a response to God's love. o In this section, we also see the word "ABIDE." o The idea of abide is "to dwell" or "to reside" o This is applied directly to the Holy Spirit, who has taken up residence in the believer once they first believe. o He says something very important in verse 13. He says that love is proof of the Holy Spirit living inside you. o In other words, proof that you have been saved. o Verse 15 reveals how that is done - by confessing that Jesus is the Son of God - which was a title of the Promised Redeemer, the Messiah, the Savior. o Not only are we expected to love like Him, but we are also able to love like Him - but, only through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside us. o So, what does it look like to live for Him? * There are probably too many examples to list * But here's what I'll tell you - if you are looking upright, focused on the Holy Spirit, listening to Him, attentive to Him, being obedient to Him, you will, as a result, be living for Him. * You will be putting others before yourself. * You will be sacrificing your time and your energy for someone else * You will be glorifying God in your thoughts and in your deeds. o If you want to live for Him, you must first listen to the Spirit that dwells in you. o Finally, * Because of God's love, I can have confidence. (vv.17-21) o One of John's purposes in writing this letter was to give the believers in the church confidence in their salvation. o Why? o Because we know that death is coming. * We know that we're accountable before God. o But, in Christ, we have been declared righteous. * In Christ, we are justified. * In Christ, our sins are forgiven. * In Christ, we are made new. * In Christ, we have nothing to fear. o In fact, John says that those who do fear has not wholly experienced God's love. o Because if we have His love, then we will not fear. o Which, as we come full circle, we will love others. Earlier I said in our main idea: God's love reveals true love. We determined that we could say this because God is love. Which means God's love is perfect. It means that God's love is the standard for you and me to strive for and to be obedient to. When we opened, we saw the example of the local spiritual community who decided to apply their understanding of love to a simple emotion. What we saw this morning is that God's love, is not emotional, but rather, it is intentional, and it is an action. Even though God has this attribute, in His grace, when we place our faith in Jesus, He gives us the ability through the power of the Holy Spirit to love as well. Not just in our words, but through our deeds. Love that puts others before self. Love that many times will go unseen. Love that causes others to want to love. Maybe instead of "love, period," we should proclaim "God, period." Because, when we have the Spirit of God within us, we can love like He does. Amen? Let's pray. 2