The Effects of God's Love

Introduction

I John

1 John 3:1 KJV 1900

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1 John 3:1–3 KJV 1900

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

1 John 3:2 KJV 1900

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.

1 John 3:3 KJV 1900

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Last week we examined chapter 2 of this book and discussed how our love for God is reflected by our Obedience to His Word, Our Love for Others, Our Love (or lack of love) for the World, and Our Love for Truth.

In Chapter 3 John pivots to looking at God’s Love for us. As John is about to be very blunt in regard to a life of sin John begins by reminding people that were already saved about God’s love for them and what effect one should expect to see in a Christian’s life as a result of his love.

Remember, that there were false teachers that were preaching that what you did in the flesh did not effect your relationship or your fellowship with God because you had a mystical, spiritual relationship that was completely disconnected from any action that you performed in the flesh. In other words they taught that you can do whatever you want in this life and it will have no effect of your current relationship with God or your future standing with God in the next life.

John writes this epistle to refute this total deviation from the teachings of Christ and seeks to warn the brethren and edify them to live for Christ and continue to strive to be like him.

John begins this chapter with the word, “Behold”. It is an exclamatory word used to bring special attention to the subject that was about to be introduced. He says, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.” You will notice that a question mark never appears in the text because John was not asking what manner of love that was bestowed. Instead he was proclaiming the manner of love that God had for us. “Behold, what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us”. He was wanting to talk about the manner of God’s love. He was wanting to express what the love of God did for us. In other words, he about to describe for us the effects of God’s Love.

In three short verses the Apostle John is going to give us some wonderful truths about the effects of God’s Love on our lives. The great thing about this is that the manner of God’s love for us is revealed to us how it effects us personally. This is not something that only happens to some Christians; it is something that effects every person that comes to the cross and is forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ.

So, let us look at the effects of God’s love.

I. God’s Love Provides Adoption

“Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:”

Wow, the first effect of God’s love that John reveals here is that of adoption. When we embrace the love of the Father through the finished work of Christ upon the cross and our sins are cleansed by his blood then we are able to be called the sons of God. Of course, sons does not just mean male, but it includes all members of the human race that trusts Christ. The effect of God’s love upon us is that we are adopted into the family of God.

As the chapter moves forward in verses 4-10 it will become evident that this is a big thing because one is either a member of the family of God or they are a member of the family of Satan for this same apostle wrote, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do.” So it paints a clear picture that when one comes to Christ the effects of God’s love for them allows them to be taken from their lineage in Satan and adopted into the family of God, thus making them a child of God.

I am so glad that God loved me enough to allow me to be adopted into his family.

John goes on to say, “…therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

II. God’s Love Provides Transformation

John goes on to say, “…therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. This speaks to the transformation that God’s love does in our hearts and in our lives. Why doesn’t the world know us? because it knew him not. What does this mean?

Let me quote from The New American Commentary that helps us understand this better. “Because Christians are partakers in the divine love and have been designated the children of God, the world does not understand them.”

Why is this? Why doesn’t the world understand us? Because when we accepted Christ God’s love completely transformed us into a new person. - “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new.” So, our desires change, our hobbies may change, our lifestyles will change, some of the place we go will change, some of our habits will change, our language may change, and we could go on and on. What happened? We are transformed by his love. When this happens people wonder who we are, what happened to the old us, and why is this change so drastic. Unless they partake of the forgiveness the cross offers and the new life it brings they may never understand the transformation and therefore will not be able to understand us. The great thing is that lack of understanding can lead to curiosity which gives us an open door to give them the gospel.

Look at verse two:

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.”

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.”

…therefore the world knoweth us not, becaus it knew us notBeloved, 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.”

This verse moves us from the transformation within us that lead to the outward changes in our lives to that of our ultimate transformation when we shall meet Christ in the rapture. When this occurs our bodies will be transformed into a perfect body that feels no pain and does not have the presence of the natural man. So, we will not sin and we will not have the desire to sin. It will be a perfect body free of sin and free of the pain of this world. Praise the Lord that God’s love not only provides us adoption into his family but a transformation both in this life and in the life to come.

III. God’s Love Provides Hope

“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

This hope…what hope is he speaking of? Of course he can only be speaking of the only one that offers hope, the man Christ Jesus. Understand that the foundation for this hope that John references is Christ. Daniel Akin writes, “There is nothing within the believer that creates hope and security for the future.” He is right. Christ provides that hope. That hope was provided to us through God’s love for us.

Christian, as you look around our world today and you wonder what God is doing, remember that in Christ there is hope and God’s love has provided us with this hope and Christ is the foundation of that hope. So many times we get to looking around us and we get to focusing on the negative things and the concerning things and the evil things that are occurring that we forget about the hope that we have in Christ.

It is wonderful that in this life that is so full of uncertainty that God’s love provides us with hope through his Son, Jesus Christ.

This morning, if you are not saved, if you have never had a time in your life where you realized your are a sinner, that you needed a Saviour and that Jesus died on the cross to be that Saviour from your sins that you needed then friend you do not have the hope of which I speak. If you want to have hope in Christ, if you want to have hope for the future, and if you want to have hope that one day Christ will take you to heaven and God the Father will accept you into that glorious place then you must come to know Jesus by believing upon him.

IV. God’s Love Produces Purity

IV. God’s Love Produces Purity

IV. God’s Love Produces Purity

“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

Remember, we are talking about the effects of God’s love. Well, if the love of God is in you then it produces purity in your life. Some would use this to say that works are required for salvation and we will address some of that tonight in our message, but the truth of the matter is that God’s love produces inside of us the purity that Jesus possesses. It does not mean that we ourselves become pure, but the desire to be pure and the ability to be pure is produced in us through God’s love.

We may not always do right. There may be times in our lives that we sin. However, our desire will be purity. Our focus will be purity. Our desire to live pure will be evident to you on the inwardly and to others outwardly. Christ is pure and his purity is our example. We strive to be like him. We have the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us to help us along the way.

Ultimately, when the love of God is inside of us it will manifest a pure heart, a pure spirit, and pure living.

Understand that Jesus Christ is completely pure and he is our example. We must be always looking to him for answers and for guidance and for direction. When we do our purity will become more and more evident to us and to others.

Conclusion:

As we have seen this morning the effects of God’s love are adoption, transformation, hope, and purity. The only way I can describe this love for us is Astonishing Love. In this passage of Scripture we have been exposed to the Astonishing love of God.

The reason it is astonishing is because I do not deserve it. I am full of sin. I am guilty of transgressing God’s law. There is no reason why God should love me. Yet, God does love me. He loved me so much that he sent his son to die for me. That is astonishing love.

This morning if you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your savior then the Bible says that you don’t really understand how someone could love you like this. You may not understand God’s love. You may not believe you deserve God’s love. Friend, may I tell you that God’s love is beyond your understanding, and if you will reach out to him in faith and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ the astonishing love of God will have a life changing effect.

Christian, you have been saved. You know what you have been saved from and you know that love that went in to saving you. Are you allowing the astonishing love of God to have its full effect? Do you live like you are part of his family, having been adopted by him? Do you allow his love to transform your life on a daily basis? Do you live in the hope that God’s love provides for you through Christ? Do you allow the Love of God to produce the purity of Christ that God wants you to possess?

Let me ask this question to the Christian and to the one that may be here that is not saved. What will you do with the Astonishing Love of God?