The Joy of Loving Others

Introduction

1 John 5:1-5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him. 2 This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, 4 because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Loving People is Possible Because we Know God

We must understand how we come to faith in Jesus

1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him

You have been born of God

Rebirth comes before belief in God

nobody decides to be born

we do not have any knowledge of who He is, how beautiful he is until we have been born again

Belief is not a factual knowledge

even the demons believe

it is a Romans 10:9-10 kind of belief a belief that leads to action

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 10

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Rebirth leads us to faith

not just any faith, but faith in Jesus Christ

that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one who came to take away the sins of the world

believing, calling anyone Christ at this time is a very dangerous thing

nobody is “cristos” the divine anointed one but Caesar.

This faith leads to a love of God

as our faith grows, our love of God grows

only when we see Jesus for who he truly is can we love him

As born again believers, we love as God loves, especially our brothers and sisters

Loving People Without Burden

Loving others sounds like a lot of work

I have said that loving others means messy hands

it means getting involved in the muck and mire of their life

it is not clean and easy, because life is not clean and easy

we live in a fallen broken world

1 John 5:2-3 This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,

v2 explains the last half of v1

how we know that we are doing what He is calling us to do

Loving Him and obeying his commands constitutes loving other believers

His commands are the measure of how we love people

are we failing, are we succeeding, look at if we are obeying his commands

John is not talking about the law

Matthew 23:4

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 23

They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them

pharisees only want to pile more and more rules and laws on people

it props them up like they are some great group of people

it pushes people down and does not lift them to God

this is what we are like when we give people a list of rules to obey when we talk about Christ

when we push on them a religion that is hard and guilt ridden

you better act like this, do this or God will not be happy with you, God will not bless you anymore

as if your behavior, or the behavior of another saved you, or caused God to bless you in the first place

yet at the same time, we better know the commands that John is talking about

not difficult to figure out, he tells us in this letter 1 John 4:20-21

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

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.

this is the command… Love God and love people

This love is not burdensome, but JOY filled

our rebirth understanding of who Jesus is, gives us a desire to serve him

if you feel guilt, heaviness, or a burden to follow Jesus and obey his commands then you might be attempting to gain favor

if this is where we are, we do not understand the grace and love of God

there is no condition

we cannot clean ourselves up, keep ourselves clean

not by any work of our own

instead, our regenerated heart, born again heart desires to please God, finds joy in pleasing God

that is why the Psalmists over and over cry out about the joy of obedience

Christian Standard Bible Psalm 40

I delight to do your will, my God,

and your instruction is deep within me.”

the joy of serving the Lord, overflows to serving others

they can see our love for God in us

the feel the love of God in our service to them

Loving People More than the World

v4 explains obedience to the commands of God are not burdensome because we have overcome the world

1 John 5:4 because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

reminder of what the world is 1 John 2:15-16

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

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 everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17

loving the world

lust of the flesh - luxury

lust of the eyes - satisfaction

pride of life - praise of yourself

Piper - lust of flesh and eyes are things that the world withholds from us, if we had them we would be happy. Pride of life, is look at the stuff I got from the world.

the world is anything that makes the commands of God burdensome

victory, overcoming the world, reveals the world as unsatisfying

We know we have been made one with Christ because there is nothing else we could have want

My Pastor when I felt called to the ministry… is there anything else in the world that you could do and be happy…

Seeing God like this… we cannot help but love others