The Love of the Father
1 John • Sermon • Submitted
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· 156 viewsWhat it means to have the love of the Father and not the world
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The Love of the Father
The Love of the Father
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
1john2.15-
A group of First graders were getting a tour of a hospital when one had noticed something unusual. After a while he couldn’t resist but had to ask the nurse who guided the tour, “Why does everybody here wash their hands every time they go in and out of a room?”
The Nurse replied, “For 2 reasons, they love health and hate germs.”
In more than one area of life love and hate go together. There is the right kind of love for Christians to have and a wrong kind of love - a Love that God hates.
This love that God hates is a love of this worlds system and it is SIN...
What is Sin??? I like How John Piper said it...
“The Glory of God not Honored, The Holiness of God not reverenced, the greatness of God no admired, the power of God not praised, the truth of God not sought, the wisdom of God not esteemed, the beauty of God not treasured, the goodness of God not savored, the faithfulness of God not trusted, the commandments of God not obeyed, the justice of God not respected, the wrath of God not feared, the grace of God not cherished, the presence of God not prized, the person of God not loved… That is sin!!!”
John is warning Christians here to not have the wrong kind of love, and if you do, it will become clear who you belong to. He gives us an imperative… “Do not love the world or the things in this world...”
These are explicit instructions, not implied advice for those who want a little more Jesus in their life. There is a true test for believers here and litmus test for the church to see who amongst them is In Christ and who isn’t.
John is helping the early church reject false teaching coming from the Gnostics, who were confusing people with mixing Christs teachings with other spiritual teachings. They were not marked by the Fathers love because of their rejection of Christ. We, however, are to be marked by the Love of the Father. So we need to know what the love of the Father is. Let’s look to our text.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Now the only way we can really understand what John is saying here is to know what is meant by the words LOVE and WORLD.
If we have the wrong understand here, it would be easy to convince people that the Bible says we can Hate our planet, because we do not love the world or the things in the world… Yet john is not saying that. He is also not saying Christians should abandon this world or live in seclusion. John doesn’t stress that a Christians should separate himself from the world, rather that a believer would keep himself from a greater love for this world and the things in it.
So what is Love? The world likes to say things like Love Wins… And what they mean by that is this… the emotion we feel for others is greater than any moral compass that religion would impose on us. Therefore the rules of Love are not as we have been told in ages past, they have changed to being of higher value in making life decision, so do what you love, because Love wins and we can’t deny what someone desire on the inside… The world says LOVE is GOD, and so with it ordered that way, however you define Love, that is God in your life.
This stands diametrically opposed to God and his word. And that is what is meant by the “world”, which is a system that stands diametrically opposed to God, his word and his people.
But What God’s Word declare about love?
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.
GOD is LOVE!!! God’s word is the exact inverse of what the world would say about love.
How can we expect to have the right understanding of Love if we have only just come to know the Gospel? How can we have the right perspective if we are only newly removed from this world and brought into God’s family? What will guide our understanding? The same thing that has guided God’s people for thousands of years… His word.
So what do we need to know about Love according to the Bible? If God is Love, then how does he show that to us so we can understand Love?
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
So Love is God’s sacrifice for us before we were right. Love goes first.
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.
1john4.
So love is personified in Jesus who lived among us in the physical world, and now we live in him, who is Love!
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Love sacrifices for those around them, by putting others before themselves.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
ps86
So Love being in the nature of God is steadfast and faithful, meaning it does not diminish over time.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
We could go on and on about the nature of love but one more thing I would point you to. One of the attributes of God is his self sufficiency. Which means that God is not dependent on some other source, but rather he is the source of all things himself. Think of the story of the burning bush that Moses saw… The bush was burning and yet the bush itself was not consumed, because it was not a fire that required a fuel source, rather it was a pure fire that was its own source.
Now think about the fact that God IS Love. He being self sufficient and being Love means that he is the source of Love and needs no other fuel source for Love. So now that we have been reoriented to what Love is, how does it inform our view of it.
Well, simply put, before knowing God we did not know Love. We did not know a sacrifice that went first and considered others, a love that was personified in Christ, a love that could not be exhausted. We only knew what emotions we feel when we take pleasure in something that feels good to us. So the problem is we need to first experience the Love of God to know Love and understand love. And so again scripture tells us this...
19 We love because he first loved us.
This is where we get love from. Love is different than liking something or having strong emotions about someone.
Love is true affections, loyal devotion and intimate fellowship.
Love is true affections, loyal devotion and intimate fellowship.
So our true affections and loyal devotion and our intimate fellowship is not awakened until we first receive it from God who is the source himself. And John tells us to not aim our true affections, our loyal devotion and our intimate fellowship at the world. Because it belongs to God first and foremost.
Yet what does he mean by World?
John is not saying “world” in reference to the physical place or material world around us. Rather he is referring to the spiritual system… An ideology opposed to God. Here is what the scriptures say about this concept.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So we are talking about a spiritual system that Satan dominates.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
Satan blinds people who belong to that system in an effort to keep them from knowing the Gospel. So the world is a system referred to as the sphere in which people are standing against God’s Gospel.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
The world is diametrically opposed to God and is at odds with God as his enemy.
4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Rather he is referring to the spiritual system that Satan dominates, and holds opposition to God, his word and his people.
So when John is talking about the WORLD he is referring to the spiritual system that Satan dominates, and holds opposition to God, his word and his people. Satan wants to blind people and replace God.
Rather he is referring to the spiritual system that Satan dominates, and holds opposition to God, his word and his people.
The “World” is a system of rebellion that seeks to replace God
The “World” is a system of rebellion that seeks to replace God
As rightly put by the blind bard of Scotland, the gifted preacher George Matheson -
“Lord, let me not think the world is a PLACE! That would lead me to under-rate my difficulties. If the world were any particular place, I could easily get rid of it. The world is within me. I can carry it about to any place, and the place to which I carry it immediately becomes worldly.”
George Matheson
So when John says we are not to Love this world or the things in this world he is saying that we are not to have true affection, loyal devotion and intimate fellowship with the system of rebellion that seeks to replace God.
John is not talking about a single incident but about a lifestyle. Not loving the World is a lifestyle that shows we have the Love of the Father in us.
John is not talking about a single incident but about a lifestyle. Not loving the World is a lifestyle that shows we have the Love of the Father in us.
We could go more and more into the depth of what the implications of this is, but at the end of the day if we are better tacticians of the language than we are experts in experiencing this Love in the midst of this world, then it will be nothing more than cold orthodoxy that lacks any true Doxology, which is a theology in philosophy rather than practice...
What did I just say?
It is one thing to study this but it is another thing to live this. If our study doesn’t bring us to a place where we live this, then it is dead religion and passionless principles about a God you know OF rather than the God you KNOW!
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
BAck to the text he finished this verse by saying that if we love this world
To round it our look at what he says to anyone who does love the world...
The Love of the Father is NOT IN HIM! These things cannot co-exist in a true believer...
Some things just don’t go together; they are not compatible. You can’t take a shower and play baseball at the same time. You cannot whistle and keep your lips closed at the same time. These things are simply incompatible. You can’t Love God and the World at the same time.
As Augustine said- “To love the world and not God would be like a maiden who loved the ring her lover had given her and cared nothing for him who gave it.”
In fact Jesus warned us of this...
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Here, Jesus specifically calls out a love for money, which is the foundation for this “world” system. He rightly points out that we will either love one or the other. And John seems to be referencing what Jesus said here while he is encouraging these early christians who were in a church that was being invaded by false teachers.
1john2.
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
So in this system there are things that can take hold, and these things are not from God but they are from this broken spiritual system that Satan dominates in an effort to replace God in our lives.
What are these things?
1) The desires of the flesh, 2) The desires of the eyes, and 3) The pride of life
Let’s break them down a little more.
1) The Desires of the Flesh describe what it means to live a life dominated by our senses. The things we can taste, smell, touch and feel. The desires of the flesh include all desires centered on your nature without regard for the will of God. It is all about what you want when you don’t want God.
When talking about the Desires of the Flesh, William Barclay said this, “In its most extreme meanings it is being Gluttonous in Food, Slavish in Pleasure, lustful and lax in morals, selfish in use of possessions; regardless of all spiritual values: extravagant in the gratification of material desires.”
It is all about you...
2) The desires of the eyes means we desire what we see. In scripture the eyes are the primary organ of perception and often the principal avenue of temptation. We see that in David when we saw Bathsheba and committed adultery. This is why pornography is so popular and prevalent in this culture.
The desires of the eyes describes someone who is captivated by an outward show of materialism. See a new car, you must have it. See a dress, you must have it. See a position at work, you must have it.
Now to be clear, Cars, dresses, and positions are not in themselves sinful. But the inordinate desire to have what we see is sinful. An inordinate desire to have anything contrary to God’s will is sinful.
Jesus was clear in “ the eyes are the lamp of the body” ha adds, “If your eyes are bad then your whole body is full of darkness”.
This also is all about you...
3) The Pride of Life describes the arrogant spirit of self-sufficiency. It expresses a desire for recognition, applause, status and advantage in life. That greek word for Pride is best described as a pretentious braggart. This is seen is someone who always wants to “one up” you. Whatever you have done, he has done bigger and better things. He is the ME Monster...
Everything that we desire to have, enjoy or pride ourselves upon is the “Pride of life.” All false views of pleasure, false views of possession, false views or superiority… this is the Pride of life.
The pride of life is all about you saying, Look what I have done, Look what I have accomplished, Look what I made of myself, Look how I picked myself up by my bootstraps and kept going until I got to where I am… look at me.
This also is all about you...
Yet within these three things we can find the Gospel. How? Because they echo of a test long ago in a garden where our federal headship Adam and Eve fell to temptation… remember what happened there? when the serpent came to to the woman and tempted her...
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Notice the three parts of this temptation...
The tree was, “good for food” = Desires of the Flesh
that is was, “a delight to the eyes” = Desires of the Eyes
And the tree was to be “desired to make one wise” = Pride of Life
See these things come not from God but from the world, which is Satans system of rebelling against God.
And even though our first parents fell in that garden temptation… Jesus came and faced the exact same temptation and yet passed where none of us could...
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
matt4.1-
Did you see it… The desires of the flesh… Eve saw it was good for food, and fell but Jesus declared that man shall not live on bread alone… and he passed that test.
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
matt4.5-
Notice that the temptation is to SEE if the angels will come = desires of the eyes. Yet he passes this test too.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
And finally there it is… The Pride of Life… Worship me and I will give it all to you… Jesus passed once again and proves that what comes from God is diametrically opposed to what comes from this world!
In his life Jesus did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves and he reversed the curse that our original parents brought on us all by falling in the garden.
And yet in this text John is saying that these things do not come from the Father but from the world. And we are not to love the world, we are not to chase after these things.
17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
This final part of this thought holds some intriguing ideas that would not be seen if we did not know the language. In the greek here, the WORD for “passing away” is PARAGETAI - Which holds a unique meaning.
This word had more to do with theaters of the day. At the conclusion of a scene the curtain would come down, and the props would be picked up and moved offstage. In preparation for the next scene new props would be brought back on stage.
John’s point is that the world system that is opposed to God is like a scene in a play. When the scene comes to an end, the curtain falls and the props are removed. the focus is on impermanence. The world system is passing away. All its desires directed to, stimulated by, and fed or starved on the fleeting things of the outward life are passing away.
And in stark contrast to the closing scene before us there is a scene ahead of us that is permanent! The obedient followers of God’s will are being established forever in his kingdom. One scene is ending and another is being prepared to make an entrance and that scene will be permanent and far more glorious than the one in front of us that is passing away with its evil desires!
John encouragement is one that does not place more value on the gifts we have in this life but the giver… Not loving a system that is opposed to the Father who saved you and seeing that the things that come from that system are the same things that plagued us in the beginning.
In light of this immediate context we see the persons who love the world and its pursuits have placed themselves in opposition to Christ and are therefore called Anti-Christs...
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
Speaking like he did in the previous verse, where the scene being set to pass away and unfold into new one, he now points out that this is the last part of that passing scene. He calls it the last hour. It is clear that john is referring to the time between the first and second coming of Christ as the Last hour.
And how do we know that it is the last hour?
One is coming who will oppose Christ and try to put himself in the place of Christ… he is a false christ. But this term antichrist is more than just representing the ONE who will try to set himself up in God’s temple, the man of lawlessness that is spoken of in … This antichrist is being preceded by many antichrists.
And so the term antichrist here refers to people in this world system that oppose Christ, because they are like what John just described as lovers of this world. They are the ones who are walking in darkness hating the brethren. They are the ones who refuse to confess sin and bring it into the light to receive forgiveness from God who is just, because they deny Christ in their hearts.
But John is not saying this to scare them about the times, rather he goes on to explain how the gatherings in churches help encourage true believers to the end. And ultimately we can know who is a true believer and who is not.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Please notice that John says the word “us” 5 times here. He is repeating “us” to bring prominence to the gatherings of churches. And he wants to make sure that the readers of his letter understand that those whom he calls antichrists have left the churches because they really did not belong to the church.
So how do we know who belongs in the church and who does not?
Believers Belong; Deniers Depart
Believers Belong; Deniers Depart
it is really a simple test to know. If some leaves and denies truth, then they were never really part of the church. it doesn’t matter what they said and how good they talked the talk and walked the walk… If they were of US they would’ve continued with US...
If they are not with us, they are loving the world and the love of the father is not in them, they were never really part of us.
By them going it has become plain who they really are. They attended worship services for some time but they were never IN Christ.
For these early believers who were being infiltrated with false teachers of gnostic spiritualism, it was easy to see who those were, because they had no love for the brothers and sisters, they walked in darkness, they didn ‘t confess their sins, they loved the world more than the Father and finally they left and departed from the church.
Johns teaching here is one of opposition to the worlds system. The world is always opposed to the things of Christ. That means by default, that if you belong to Christ, they will be opposed to you as well. The world loves it own yet hates those who belong to the true light. and this should not surprise us as Jesus told us this would happen.
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
I will leave you with this story from D.L.Moody
D.L.Moody was a preacher known for his down home style and simple theology. When a man approached him and said, “Mr. Moody, now that I am converted do I have to give up the world?” Moody responded, “No, sir, you don’t have to give up the world. If you give a good ringing testimony for the Son of God, the world will give you up pretty quick. They won’t want you.”
Brothers and sisters please hear the appeal of scripture here today… Do not love the World and the things of this world… If you love these things more than God then the Love of the Father is not in you… and ultimately you will deny and depart. Yet if you continue to do the will fo God, as the scene is set for the next act, you will persevere until the end and for all eternity with the father. Love the Giver more than the gifts in this life!
3 questions
Question 1 - Do you understand what the Bible means by World?
Question 1 - Do you understand what the Bible means by World?
The world is not just a place where we live. It is not just people who act a certain way but something much deeper. Do you see how it can creep into your hearts if you are not mindful of the wiles of the Satan. Are you convinced that you can remove yourself from worldly people but fail to see how your own heart defaults to the old system you have been saved from?
Question 2 - What is the difference between things that come from the world and things that comes from the father?
Question 2 - What is the difference between things that come from the world and things that comes from the father?
We have 3 examples of desires and lusts of this world, how are they opposed to the things God offers us in the Gospel? Think about how Jesus overcame the temptation in the wilderness in . Can you truly be satisfied in this life by the things God offers you in Christ or is there still something you lack that the world offers? What about the temporal nature of what the world offers in contrast to the eternal nature of what God offers?
Some things just don’t go together; they are not compatible. You can’t take a shower and play baseball at the same time. You cannot whistle and keep your lips closed at the same time. These things are simply incompatible. You can’t Love God and the World at the same time.
Question 3 - How can we abide forever and persevere till the end?
Question 3 - How can we abide forever and persevere till the end?
As Augustine said- “To love the world and not God would be like a maiden who loved the ring her lover had given her and cared nothing for him who gave it.”
John gives us some very practical commands, do we really practice these things? What does it mean to do the will of God?. And how can we know if we belong to church as a true believer?
Being marked by God in Christ is an assurance of knowing him and partaking in his body and blood in communion is part of reminding ourselves that we are IN Christ and his sacrifice counted for us. Today as we approach the Lord table can we take a moment and reflect on how we might being loving the world and the things in this world more than God. Can we repent if necessary and confess our sins so that we may partake of Christ in manner worthy of the Gospel that we have received.