Love on Display
Advent 2019 • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsIf we are going to love others, we must first understand how God loves us. He is our perfect example. We know His love, because He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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For the past few months, leading up to December and the advent season, we had been working our way through the apostle John’s first epistle. The past three weeks we have looked at three different themes surrounding the Advent of Christ. Hope, Peace and Joy
Today we will be looking at the topic of love , we will be doing this through John’s first epistle. We will be lookin at .
Today we will be looking at the topic of love in .
Love is often an overused term, that is also misunderstood and incorrectly defined. You might remember, as we looked at the topic of Christ’s love earlier in this sermon series, that I shared a definition or comment about love, which was shared in Vine’s Expository Dictionary. In attempting to help us to understand love, Vine says,
“Love can only be known by the action it prompts.”
“Love can only be known by the action it prompts.”
Listen to the way some children described love.
“When you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy-age 6
Love is: “When you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy-age 6
Love is: “What makes you smile when you’re tired,” Terri- age 4
Love is: “When mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” Danny- age 7
Love is: “What’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby- age 5
Love is:“When you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.” Noelle- age 7
Love is: “When your puppy licks your face even aster you left him alone all day.” May Ann- age 4
“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” Karen- age 7
“You really shouldn’t say, ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” Jessica- age 7
“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when is hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” Rebecca- age 8
These are all touching examples of how love can be understood. Some of them quite accurately describe certain ways that love might be displayed or evidenced, but we can do better. We can find a better example of love on display. The Bible speaks about love frequently.
, the love chapter, is like a condensed clinic on the topic of love.
Paul informs us of the importance of it. We can have all kinds of spiritual gifts, but without love they are nothing.
Paul continues on in the chapter to list a number of characteristics of love.
LOVE IS: It is patient, it is kind, it rejoices in truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
LOVE IS NOT: It is not envious, boastful, arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, it isn’t irritable or resentful. It doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing.
Now let’s take a look at what John says.
John’s intent in writing the letter is to encourage believers to continue in their obedience to God the Father, as exemplified by Jesus Christ, to abide in Christ and to rejoice in the fellowship of believers with the Triune God. At the beginning of December we took a break from 1 John and began our celebration of the Advent Season. The time of the year, when we celebrate the coming of Christ. Each of the past few weeks, we have focused on Hope, Peace and Joy. This morning we are going to be focusing on the topic of LOVE, and we are at the same time, going to jump right back into the book of 1 Jn. You may recall that we have already touched on the topic of love (specifically: love for one another and the love of Christ, our wonderful Savior, Lord and Perfect example) in the first three chapters of John’s first epistle. Today we will be looking at the topic of love in 1 Jn 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1 John
We see in verse 7 & 8 that John is seeking to make it very clear, that there is both a positive identifier for those who are in Christ, as well as a negative identifier to those who are not in Christ. He removes any question about the existence of Love, which is a fruit of the Spirit, in the life of a believer.
So John is telling us that the children of God, will love one another. He goes back and forth, telling them to love, because love is from God, love not and you’re not of God. God is love, He has proven it, so as we love, which we will do if we are His, glorifies Him.
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.
1 John 4:7
GOD IS LOVE:
GOD IS LOVE:
He doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing, even when it is done against another wrongdoer.
The Lord gives us:
HOPE PEACE JOY
PEACE
JOY
AND
All of these are a result of the presence of God in our lives.
God is love- His love was manifested, shown, displayed, revealed to us in that He sent His Son
Love on Display to us
Love on Display to us
Earlier in the book we are told that we know love, because of what Christ has done for us, in laying down His life for us ()
Here in we are told that GOD the Father is Love and His love was shown to us by Him sending His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Propitiation- Appeasement, Atonement, Ransom, Reparation, Restitution, Placate. The means of forgiveness. Satisfaction and Substitution.
Propitiation- Appeasement, Atonement, Ransom, Reparation, Restitution, Placate. The means of forgiveness. Satisfaction and Substitution.
3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.
PS 78:38
38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
What we see and understand is a remarkable thing about God. The Triune God, completely and perfectly loves. The Father perfectly loves the Son, the Son perfectly loves the Father and they each perfectly love the Holy Spirit and He loves them. And they love us. God loves His Son’s bride. He loves His church.
1 John 4:
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
God, the immense, majestic, immutable, creator, sustainer of the all that is, is love. He displayed His love toward us, even while we were sinners.
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.
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.
1 Jn 4:9-10
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.
Now we top it off with another piece of “loving one another” bread .
I John 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.
Love on Display through us.
Love on Display through us.
We are privileged to share in the work of glorifying God. We have a role to play in displaying His love, His character, His glory. To manifest His presence. To Magnify the Lord!
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!
The past few weeks, we have remembered various times in history and various people who’s lives were transformed in amazing ways, as a result of the first advent of Jesus Christ.
Zechariah and Elizabeth, experienced great hope as they were told that their child would be the forerunner of the promised Messiah
Simeon, though older in years, was granted peace and assurance in facing death, as he saw the infant Son of God, as He was presented at the temple of God.
We who have placed our faith and trust in Christ as our Savior, as the one who came as the propitiation for our sins, also experience these same qualities in our lives.
We also saw the joy of the presence of God as it was demonstrated in the unborn child, John the Baptist, as he leapt for joy in Elizabeth’s womb, when Mary and the unborn Jesus came to visit Elizabeth in her home.
Today, we have read and seen the incredible truth, that GOD is Love. He displayed this to us by sending His beloved Son, to be our Redeemer, Savior and friend.
Therefore, as we take time to consider the fact that God is Love, we are also compelled to evaluate whether or not Love is on display in our lives, toward God and toward one another.
The Quality of the Love on Display
The Quality of the Love on Display
God’s example for us.
A love that gives extravagantly. Extravagantly Sacrificial Love
A love that gives un-expectantly Unconditional Love
A love that gives unceasingly Unstoppable love
A love that saves eternally Everlasting Love
1 John 4:
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
John began this letter, stating that he had seen and is testifying that the Eternal Son of God has come and he has written so that we may have fellowship with Him.
Now, in chapter 4 John testifies yet again. We have seen the Messiah, Whom the Father sent to be the Savior of the World. The Father who is Love, has displayed His love.
Believe it, live it . . . display it . . . LOVE ONE ANOTHER!