God is Love

INTRO

-Open to 1 John 3 as hear from God’s word today.

-Thanks to TJ

We have a simple text today and yet it is going to be hard for us to understand without God’s help. So let’s pray.

Pray

THE WORD

English Standard Version Chapter 4

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.

-Beloved. John uses this six times in his letter. Remember John’s background, a fisherman that had a nickname as “sons of thunder.” He was changed by God’s love.

Beloved Definition: Esteemed, dear, favorite, worthy of love.

-Remember the context of this letter, writing to people that Gnosticism was influencing to be individualistic.

-God is love. God is patience. God is kindness. God does not boast, is not proud,is not self seeking. God does not hold any record of wrongs. He is selfless.

-Do you see God this way? Let’s make you squirm. Do you know that God looks on you with love. You are a beloved child of God.\

-If you don’t love, you don’t know God. WHAT!

-We need to see this because we are made in His image and we are called to live in His likeness. WE are not called to just be christian robots. We are not just called to have information about God but called to be loved so we can be love.

-Look at Colossians 3 with me to see what this looks like:

English Standard Version Chapter 3

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

-So you and are are being transformed, renewed, born again, however you want to use the term to become more like our father. We are getting into the word not just to know about God, but to become more like Him.

-1 Thessalonians and Ben Stuart example.

-Satan knows the Bible, but he can’t become it. WE CAN. If there is no love in your life for the brothers and sisters, you don’t know God. That is a strong statement, but John loves us so much to not let us off the hook.

-But what is love John? Is it still what you said back in chapter 3?

English Standard Version Chapter 4

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.

-Yup, it is still the same definition, just fleshed out more. God revealed his love through sending his son, so that we may be condemned by him? Pray a prayer to him? Learn some information about him? Live through Him.

-In this is is love, that God loved us. Here is your plum line. Your flag in the ground. Your clear sign of love is not out there, it is found in God. If you try to find it elsewhere you don’t know love.

-Propitiation definition. We looked at this in chapter 2 where John first used it but it is good to remind ourselves of it here.

Lexham Theological Wordbook Atonement

The term atonement expresses the notion of divine forgiveness as

-God sent his son to be the removal or covering over our guilt and turning away God’s wrath. He was the perfect sacrifice, substitute, covering etc. Our sins our removed through Jesus. This is love. Not that we came to God with a sacrifice, but that he gave us the perfect sacrifice that we could live in fellowship with God, confidence with God, intimacy with God.

-This is how we have to view the love of God. We need to stay here, abide in this love, and when we do we will truly love others in giving ourselves in a way that blesses them.

-This is how we practice righteousness. Believing we are loved. Be loved today by God and see your relationships change. Josh, this is the same sermon as a couple weeks ago. Yup, and we need to hear it next week and again and again because we keep making christianity a list of do and don’t rather than about knowing Him. Abiding in Him. Being loved by God by believing what he has done is enough.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

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.

John’s simple equation on love

If you know God loves you = You will love others. If people do not know God = They will see God through you loving them.

-John is bringing us back to the basics of Christianity. We need to take a hard look and see if we are matching up with this,

-If you want to be honest about this, I have some questions that might help. If you don’t that is fine, I am not in control of your heart.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1.How will you receive God’s love today?

2.How will you love others this week?

Play child of God.