New Year's Resolution: Live in Love

Good Morning and welcome to the 364th day of 2018….one day left and then we’ll ring in 2019. Where does the time go? It seems like yesterday we were planning our official public launch as LifeSpring Church…. it’s like you blink and the days, and weeks, and months, and the whole year just fly by. And now we have reached our 42nd Sunday together since our official launch! Isn’t that amazing?! Just look at all the things God’s done through us the past year. We’ve had the launch of the church, the launch of our life groups, the launch of our Surge youth group, launched our children’s ministry, had several new folks bless us and join our fellowship. We started serving the community through the Food Outreach in Fairborn and Huber Heights, blessed Beavercreek Schools through the Creek Safe school locks initiative, blessed the Target Dayton ministry in downtown Dayton, blessed the Bridges of Hope ministry in Xenia, blessed the children in various parts of the world through Operation Christmas Child, and recently blessed the Beavercreek community with our Christmas Eve service! And now were moving on from our Mangan home over the last year and a half to a new home and dedicated space at the shopping center on Seejay. God’s loving hands have been on us and guiding this church every step of the way! Amen!

Have you ever sat back and reflected on everything that has happened over the last year in your life? We just went through an exercise of reflecting on some of the things we experienced this year as a church. Seems like a normal thing to do at the end of a year, doesn’t it? Equally as normal for some is looking forward to the new year. We anticipate new opportunities…. meeting new people, visiting new places. Or making changes in our lifestyle or quitting bad habits or eating healthier or going to the gym….. you know…. making a New Year Resolution.

Millions of people across this country make a new year’s resolution. Preachingtoday.com stated 45% of Americans set a New Year’s resolution… That’s around 147 million people. For 2018, Statista.com reported that 53% of Americans said they wanted to save money and 45% said they wanted to lose weight. Businessinsider.com reported that 80% of all new year’s resolutions fail by February….and Forbes reported 8% of the people that make a new year’s resolution actually achieve their goals. That means another 12% of new year’s resolutions fail sometime between March and December. New Year’s resolutions have a 92% failure rate….. 92% is a good passing grade if it were a math test but bad for a failure rate…… since so many resolutions fail, why do so many people make them? Why do so many people make resolutions?

Let me see a show of hands for the following questions. You ready? So…. How many of you make resolutions? Do you make a resolution every year? Do you make a new year’s resolution every few years? Have you ever fully completed or had a successful resolution? Do your resolutions always seem fail?

I personally do not make New Years resolutions. I cannot remember the last time I even attempted one. Any changes I seek to make, attempts to do something different, or improve upon something – generally happens at differing points throughout a given year. But this year will be different because its worthwhile….. I going to make a New Years Resolution and I invite each of you to join me. It’s a resolution that can be carried beyond a year, or 2 years, or even 20 years. The resolution is to Live in Love.

The principles and concepts for living in love comes from the Apostle John’s first epistle or letter. From the letter of first John, we’ll explore parts of chapters 4 and the beginning of chapter 5… and see that because God loves us we love others, because God lives in us as followers we love others, and because God loves us we obey Him.

So let’s jump right in and talk about the first point of our resolution which is entitled “God loves you so love others” and we’ll do so from first John chapter 4 verses 7 through 10. You can follow along in your Bible, phone app, or up here on the screen.

Starting in verse 7, we read: “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.”

At the end of verse 8 we see that “God is love”….. in the Greek its “ho theos agape estin” which can only mean God is Love because it denotes God’s spiritual sacrificial love… This is not the same kind of love we see the world talking about in social media, or in TV commercials, in movies, in social protests, or between non-Christians. God’s love is different …. It is contrary to the world’s love. The difference is God… and God’s character… who God is ….. God is spirit, perfect and holy and just … God loves out of His perfection making His love perfect ….. God is holy making His love holy ….. God is just making His love just …. God’s love is a pure, without fault, good, right and fair love. It’s love the world is incapable of giving, showing or doing ….. the world’s love lacks God.

At the end of this passage in verses 9 and 10, we clearly see that God loves us. He loves us so much that He came here and died on a Cross – taking our place – receiving the punishment we deserve for our sins. God the Father sent God the Son, Christ Jesus, to die for us so we could be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life with Him. That is the kind of love God loves you with …. The kind of love the Apostle John had heard Jesus speak of before …. And John wrote them down for us in the Gospel of John chapter 15 verses 13 and 14….. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

There is no greater love than the love God has for you.

The first part of this passage in verse 7, we heard the words “love one another.” The one another in verse 7 is clearly a reference to other Christians…. And How do we know this means other Christians? ….. we know this because John had written about it previously - he heard Jesus give the command, he heard Jesus say these very words and wrote them down and shared them with us and he did so in the Gospel of John in Chapter 13 verses 34 and 35…. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” …. We are clearly persuaded, encouraged, urged by John to follow the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, because when others see the love we have for one another – they will know that we belong to Jesus. When people see us unified, being in agreement, serving one another, taking care of one another, giving of our time and our treasures for one another, speaking with one another affectionately ….. and genuinely acting and behaving like loving family members…they will know we belong to Jesus. And people of the world – the non-believer - generally wants to belong to something like that – they want that type of community…. that type of fellowship and will seek to become part of it…. That is part of our witness to the world…. To love one another.

This gives us the first part of the resolution: God loves you so love others.

Let’s move on and talk about the second point of our resolution which is entitled “God lives in you so love others” and we’ll do so from first John chapter 4 verses 11 through 21. Please follow along in your Bible, Bible app, or on the screen. Starting in verse 11 we read, “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.”

The Apostle John ends Chapter 4 in verse 21 by reminding us and referring back to the command Jesus gave us in the Gospel of John chapter 13 verses 34 and 35, which we discussed previously. If we truly love God, we are to love one another. John says at the beginning of verse 12 and in verse 20 that we have never seen God…. and yet we say we love Him though we have never seen Him….. and if we say we love we should love the people we have seen and can see – like those sitting around you right now…. And those in the baptist church down the street, or those at the Lutheran church down the road, or the Methodist church in Huber Heights where we helped feed people, or at our former churches…. John tells us if we can’t love those people then there is no way we can truly love God and thus become liars when we say we love God. Those are not my words…its God’s word as seen in verse 20….. God’s love compels us to love other Christians…. To love one another.

Now going back to the last part of verse 12 in first John chapter 4, we see that God abides in us and His love is perfected in us…. if we love one another…… The word “abides” here means to “live in” ….. God lives in the follower…. Followers as seen in verse 15 are those that confess Jesus is the Son of God – has God’s Spirit in them – and does what God says… God the Holy Spirit lives in you if you are His follower… God has given us His Spirit. His love being perfected in us, as seen in verse 12, means what God did through Christ Jesus on the Cross… the love God demonstrated for us on the Cross…. His sacrificial love. In verse 14 John states he, the other apostles and disciples have laid eyes on Jesus and testify that God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus, into the world as Savior. From verse 16 we understand that God’s love…. God’s works at the Cross provided the means of salvation, the indwelling of His Spirit, and true mutual love. And learn further in verses 17 and 18 that God the Holy Spirit guides and directs the actions of His people…people that are continuously and consciously aware of Him. Knowing God the Holy Spirit lives in the follower of Jesus provides an assurance that we belong to Him…. that we are part of His family, if we love one another. We have no reason to fear being separated from Him for eternity. We have no reason to fear if we love one another because we have the assurance that we are in God’s love because His Spirit indwells or lives in us. And like what was said previously…. God’s love is perfect and Holy and just – because God is perfect and holy and just….

If you truly love one another, there is no reason to fear because you have God’s perfect love - God’s Holy Spirit living in you!! Amen!!

This gives us the second part of the resolution: God lives in you so love others.

Let’s move on and talk about the third and last point of our resolution which is entitled “God loves you so obey Him” and we’ll do so from first John chapter 5 verses 1 through 5. Please follow along in your Bible, Bible app, or on the screen. Starting in verse 1 of chapter 5, we read “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

In verse 1 we see that anyone who claims to love God must believe in Jesus as Savior. The people that believe in Jesus have recognized the need of a Savior because their unforgiven sin kept them from knowing, being with, and loving God. They recognized that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ().” They recognized the “wages of sin is death but gift of God is eternal life with Christ Jesus our Lord ().” They recognized that “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us ().” They recognized “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ().” These are the people that John says have been born of God.

These are the people John says in verses 4 and 5 have overcome the world, that have victory over sin and death and fear because of their faith in Jesus as Savior, and became disciples of Jesus. These are the people that obey God’s commands, because disciples obey God’s commands.

In verses 2 and 3, John tells us that we know we love God’s children… that we love one another – when we love God, which is to obey and do what he commands. If you recall, John and the disciples were there when the religious leaders tried to stump and test Jesus in regards to the great commandment of the law…. Jesus told them in Gospel of Matthew chapter 22 verses 37 to 40, which reads “37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Likewise, Jesus commanded that we love one another, as we mentioned here, twice before (). Jesus also commanded that we make disciples, baptize new disciples, and teach disciples all that He commanded (). The words identifying His commands in these two verses are make, baptizing, and teaching. The Great Commission is a command of Jesus.

All of these commands require action. We love God by the action of obedience and doing what He says. Disciples obey Jesus and do what He says to do. Putting into practice what is learned.

We love one another by action…by being unified, being in agreement, serving one another, taking care of one another according to their needs, giving of our time and our treasures for one another, speaking with one another affectionately ….. and genuinely acting and behaving like loving family members…. Teaching one another…. Meeting with one another…. Sharing our lives with one another.

We love others, being those that do not know Jesus, by action… by sharing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with them, inviting them to confess Jesus and believe in His resurrection, serving them, spending time with them, showing them what it looks like to be a Jesus follower…. Inviting them into our fellowship. By loving them… sharing Jesus’ love…. Hopefully resulting in making disciples of them.

Disciples love God by obeying His commands.

This gives us the last part of the resolution: “God loves you so obey Him”

So Now we have all three parts of the resolution:

“God loves you so love others”

“God lives in you so love others”

“God loves you so obey Him”

No one is forcing you to make this your New Years Resolution…. It’s your choice. Just like no one can make you disciple others or do some self learning…. No one can make you obey God’s commands…. No one can make you act on your faith… it’s your personal choice to do so. No one is suggesting this be the New Years Resolution for the church. But you have to admit using God’s Word – His commands - as the basis for a New Years Resolution might be the way to go…. Things of God do not fail…. We might fail on our own, but not when God is involved…. Not when He is with you…. I am going to make it my resolution…. I will do all I can to love you, to love other Christians, to love those far from God, and to love our Savior by obeying His commands. I pray you will do the same. Love compels you…compels me, compels all of us to action.

Above all….as we see in first John chapter 4 verse 19, know that we love because God loved us first… He proved it in action by dying on the Cross for you.

Let’s pray