The Active Love of God

Introduction

Several weeks ago we spoke about the Gnostics

a group that believed in Jesus, but that he was not “the” son of the true God

they believed that the God who created this world was not the ultimate God, how could he be and create a world with this much evil

that Jesus came to enlighten us to the ultimate God

that is how you are saved, by enlightenment

that a real god would not enter into his own creation

John warned us about these false teachers, though not by name, by belief in this letter

our passage today is a continuation of the teaching that flies into the face of their beliefs

An Active God

1 John 4:13-21 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

PRAY!

The Reaching Love of God

God has been reaching out to humanity since the beginning…

Abraham was not out looking for God

Moses was hiding from a murder charge

apostles were fishing

while we were sinners…

1 John 4:12-16 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

Before we ever knew that we needed a savior

Romans 5:8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

while - means present time, comes from a word that means found in or state of being

meaning when Christ died for you, you were found or in a state of sin

this is when God sent his son… one of the most amazing things in the entire story of God saving his people, he did not wait until we were worthy, but came when we least deserved it

Not only did he send his son, he left us the Holy Spirit

the Spirit reassures us of the love of the father

several weeks ago we talked about the evil spirits that in this world

those spirits will lie, do not want you to know the love of God

do not want you to know how much you are loved by God

this is why we must know the one true spirit of God

the Holy Spirit constantly points us to the father and tells us how great Jesus is

have you ever been around one of those parents that cannot help but tell you how great their kids are

we saw from the beginning that our kids already thought they were awesome, so we have worked to tell them how they are not that awesome

so Lillie tells us she is amazing

that is the Holy Spirit with Jesus, but Jesus really does deserve all the praise he receives and then some

God will not abandon you, He remains in us, and we in Him

the Holy Spirit is not on a loan program

when we confess Jesus, as the Spirit does, God remains in us, and we in him

the word remains = lives or abides

God does not just come and visit only to return to his home… leaving you to hope that he is visiting when things are hard

this frees us up to live for him

we can live in the confidence that it is ok to fail for him

he will not leave us

in fact, I believe that he is a happy in our failed attempts to love him and love others

he would much rather see us in that then have us sit on the sidelines to afraid to try

The Reassuring Love of God

Isn’t amazing what we put our trust in

look at the world around us… all of the failures that we see

why would we ever have confidence in anything of this world

yet God has been there all along, coming before we knew that we needed him

this should not only give us confidence today, but in the time to come

1 John 4:17-18 In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.

God allows us to have confidence now, in the middle of a lost and broken world, that we are His

this is a huge deal… with all of the uncertainty that we have around us, one thing is certain.

God! That he loves us and has not forgotten you

Just as he came to save you in the form of his son, he remains with you in the form of His Spirit in you, he will be there through the end

more than a confidence in today, that he is with us, we can have confidence in the judgment that is coming all people

just because we are in Christ, does not mean that we will not be standing in Judgment

I as your Pastor will have to stand and give an account as to how I have handled his word and proclaimed it, how I have shepherded this congregation as well as my family

believe me… this is not what gives me confidence in the end in standing in judgment

In Revelation 20, the great white throne judgment, we see people judged two different ways

the “dead” are judged according to their works

Revelation 20:12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.

notice how believers are judged… the book of life

Revelation 20:15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

The love of God drives out our fear of judgment

drive = cast = to throw as far as you can, not just toss, but to hurl

God does not want us to sit in fear and worry about our salvation

God does want us to work out our salvation… to examine our hearts to know that we know Him

to look at our lives and see if we are as he is… meaning that we love others the way that God loves us

the fear that John is talking about is not what the Bible uses in terms of fear of God

as in a reverence and awe of who God is, of his holiness

this is a fear in punishment

the one who fears is not complete in love

do not push past a conviction or fear of eternity in Hell

but do not allow Satan to lie to you that the blood of Jesus is not enough to cover your sins

The Replicating Love of God

I have lost count now of how many times Joh has written about loving others in this letter

there is a temptation to skip over it this time, thinking, I have talked to them enough about it in this series

why would I think that I know better than God about how many times you hear about loving others, especially your brothers and sisters in Christ

though Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount, what good does it do to love those who love you, even the lost do that. But you should love your enemies

do you see that it is the love you have for people that gives us the confidence that we are children of God

and as your kids will begin to act and sound like you

as children of God, we will begin to act and sound like him

1 John 4:19-21 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

Tell the parable of the sheep and the goats found in Matthew 25:31-46

This is a natural reaction for the lost… When did we see you

If I would have known it was you… If I would have known that this task would have saved me I would have done it...

what does that really mean… well I didn’t know, you didn’t tell me

they begin to blame their sin on Jesus

This is a natural reaction for the believer

they did not love because they were told to, or because they knew that it was Jesus, or even because they thought that he was watching

it was natural… when did we see you…

John is telling us, if you cannot love the people that are right here in front of you, how can you possibly love a God that is in spirit, that you cannot physically see

the truth is that you cannot because you do not truly know love

if you claim otherwise you are a liar

same word as the beginning of the letter…

not that we lied this one time, but that it is who we are

it is our character

Do you not see… God has reached out for you and wants you to live in the confidence of His love. When we do… that love naturally flows out of us