1 John 4:7-11 This is Love

Scripture: Greg Eisen

Intro:

There at 1187 songs with the word love in the title

The Beatles use the word 613 times in their songs

“All you need is love”

And of course Haddaway asked in his famous dance song: “What is love, baby don’t hurt me.”

Nothing is more talked about yet more misunderstood than love

To most people love is a sign of another persons affirmation and acceptance

If you don’t affirm and accept me then you are filled with hate

As is always the case, Jesus takes the world’s view, turns it rightside up, and shows us what it really is

John starts with Beloved, let us love one another

The ancient Greek sentence begins in a striking way - “those who are loved, let us love.”

We are not commanded to love one another to earn or become worthy of God’s love.

We love one another because we are loved by God, and have received that love, and live in light of it.

John’s emphasis on love among the people of God (shown in passages like 1 John 2:9-11 and 3:10-18) is powerful.

Here, he shows why it is so important. If love is of God, then those who claim to be born of God, and claim to know God, must be able to love one another in the body of Christ

Where Does Love Come From? vs. 7-8

If this is love, where does love come from

Love is from God

Love is part of his essence

The love John speaks of comes from the ancient Greek word agape;

Agape Love:

it is the concept of a self-giving love that gives without demanding or expecting re-payment - it is the God-kind of love

This type of love isn’t a feeling

It isn’t instilled because we are family

This is the pure love that God gives us when we follow Jesus

Everyone is capable of love because we are created in God’s image, but we can’t have Agape love without Jesus

This love is from God and is only available to those who know God

You want to know what the world is so angry and full of hate

They don’t know the peace that comes from knowing Jesus

For God is love: This is a glorious truth. Love describes the character and heart of God.

He is so rich in love and compassion, that it can be used to describe His very being

When we say God is love, we are not saying everything about God.

Love is an essential aspect of His character, and colors every aspect of His nature.

But it does not eliminate His holiness, His righteousness, or His perfect justice.

Instead, we know the holiness of God is loving, and the righteousness of God is loving, and the justice of God is loving.

Everything God does, in one way or another, expresses His love.

Prop 8

Great problems come when we try to say love is God.

This is because love does not define everything in the character of God, and because when most people use the term love, they are not thinking of true love, the God-kind of love.

Instead, they are thinking of a squishy, namby-pamby, have-a-nice-day kind of love that values being “nice” more than wanting what is really best for the other person.

How Did God Demonstrate Love? vs. 9-10

If this is love, how did God demonstate love?

God manifested his love, which means to make evident, by sending his only begotten son into the world

This shows us what love is and what it means.

Love is not only defined by the sacrifice of Jesus (as stated in 1 John 3:16); it is also defined by the giving of the Father.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It was a sacrifice for the Father to send the Second Person of the Trinity, and a sacrifice to pour out the judgment we deserved upon God the Son.

John is careful to call Jesus the only begotten Son.

This special term means Jesus has a Sonship that is unique (only) and begotten indicates that Jesus and the Father are of the same substance, the same essential Being.

We use the term create to describe something that may come from someone, but isn’t of the same essential nature or being.

A man can create a statue that looks just like him, but it will never be human.

However, we use the term beget to describe something that is exactly the same as us in essential nature and being.

We are adopted sons and daughters of God, but we are not of the same essential nature and being as God – we are human beings.

But Jesus is the only begotten Son, meaning His Sonship is different than ours; He was and is of the same essential nature and being as God the Father.

We are human beings; He is a “God-being” – who added humanity to His deity.

This manifestation brings us life

And we can now live through Christ

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We live through Christ by our faith in Him

It brings life to all who trust in Jesus and His work on their behalf, because He is the propitiation for our sins

Propitiation has the idea of a sacrifice that turns away the wrath of God.

God rightly regarded us, apart from Him, as worthy targets of His judgment.

We were rebels and enemies of Him, even if we didn’t know it.

But on the cross, Jesus took the punishment our sin deserved – His sacrifice turned away the judgment we would have received

This shows the love of God, because love gives its best.

There was nothing better God the Father could give to lost humanity than the gift of the Son of God Himself.

Real love, agape love, is not defined by our love for God, but by His love for us.

His love for us initiates our relationship of love with Him, our love only responds to His love for us.

We can’t love God the way we should unless we are receiving and living in His love.

What Should We Do w/ This Love? vs. 11

If this is love, what should I do with this love?