The Primacy of Love
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Christianity is a faith that involves the affections; it’s a religion of the heart. It’s not dry devotion or stale orthodoxy.
In the 1700’s Jonathan Edwards wrote a book—a response addressing some revivals and awakening—title Religious Affections.
Based on
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
**Love is so central to our faith—which is why ours is a faith of the affections.
Disciples are people of affections—people of love
1 Cor 13 has the reputation for being the Love Chapter—but I would argue the 1 John 4 is either a close runner
Love is certainly predominant—the world is some form occurs 32 times from 4:7-5:3.
What’s ahead:
—L/w, the next 3 weeks we will spend in this chapter.
—Look at the Primacy of Love
—Look the Price of Love
—Look at Perfection of Love
Main Idea: Love needs to be our main, spiritual priority
**This permeates the Bible
Let all that you do be done in love.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
The passage before us is built on two commands to love
v7—let us love one another
v11—we also ought to love one another
Woven around these commands are the reasons.
**In other words, why make the love the priority? Why is there a primacy of love?
—This is geared to Christian audience; if you are a non-Christian listening I still hope you benefit by seeing what authentic faith looks like
Love because you are born into God’s family (7-8)
Love because you are born into God’s family (7-8)
First ,it’s helpful for us to see this text as motivation—moving our affections to love.
We are reminded that without the right motivation, even things that on the surface look good and spiritual, amount to nothing before God
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
The first—reason/motivation is not to show the outward display of love—it’s because it’s in the nature of born again believers
You are born for this
Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God
Those are not two separate things—the speak fo the same thing: the new birth
One of the most well know stories in the Gospel is Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus. It’s where we get John 3:16.
In that conversation, Jesus shifts the focus to the Kingdom of God
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
*Essentially Jesus tells Nicodemus that it’s not enough to be born into a religious family. You need to be “born again” —New Birth
Flesh gives birth to flesh; Spirit gives birth to spirit
The ground if this is v8: God is love.
**Note it does not say God loves—God is love. It’s his nature, his being.
Implies that if we are born again—our nature will be transformed to be like him
The foundation of this is the Holy Trinity. For all eternity, the Father, Son, and Spirit have always been bound together in a perfect, loving harmony.
—Never was love a chore, or static
The trinity delighted in loving
Love is not a chore. It’s not drudgery. It’s delight—because is should be part of our nature.
Christians love because we are born into God’s Family.
When we are living a life of loving our fellow believers, there should be a sense in us:
“This is what we were born for”
Love is like the Royal Garments we wear, reflecting the nature of our triune God
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Unbelievers and Love?
So the question some may have—can only Christians love? What about non-Christians. ** I once heard a teaching based on this that argued it’s impossible for a non-Christian to love—I don’t think that is what this is teaching; depravity is true, but it has not destroyed the capacity of any image-bearer to love
SO what makes Christian love unique? What makes conversion necessary in order to love the way describe.
It’s the drive to love other Christians....to love the church. That’s one thing that changes in conversion
Before I was a believer, I loved people. My parents. my close friends. But I did not love people who where Christians.
I remember once working at a job where one coworker criticized another for always seeing his car parked at the church parking lot—he said, “Don’t you have anything better to do.”
Unbelievers don’t have a category for loving the church.
**The “love-one another” (7&12) is distinct call to love other Christians—an action that only be possible for those born of God, and who know God.
The love that comes from the Spirit of Christ will be Christlike love—directed to the church
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Apply: In others words, those who love will make sacrifices for others who are in Christ…for the glory of Christ.
A non-Christian love will lack the following
—Not “good works” motived by God’s commands
—Not enabled by the Spirit
—No real categories of loving an enemy
—Not aimed at the Glory of God in Christ
Not Holy Love
**The opposite marks Christian love
—Christlike, for the church
—Good Work, motivated by God’s command
—Fruit of the Spirit
—Call to love even enemies
—Aim’s at God’s glory in Christ
Apply: Is that what our love looks like? If our love has those marks, it’s “from God” -from those who are born of him and Know Him
Love because you are objects of mercy ( 9-10)
Love because you are objects of mercy ( 9-10)
We saw last week the importance of defending a true view of Jesus. That’s not just for apologetics or to keep the cults in check—a wrong view of Jesus will distort everything in our lives.
The wrong view of Jesus will hinder our ability to love--
The false-teaching that circulated in this church denied Jesus was a real person; the implication is that the cross gets distorted
When the cross is distorted, we lose the
God’s love is manifest (v9)—it’s revealed, not hidden
As we unpack what love is—the first thing is clear: Love is an action that benefits and blesses another.
**That’s clear from these verses.
It also helps clarify the fuzzy ideas of love out there that on more feeling based.
Love is an action that benefits and blesses another—that’s the love God manifested by sending Jesus.
In other words, love is defined by looking at the cross—the most glorious act of blessing and benefiting others.
Now the purpose of God sending Jesus is “so that we might live through him”
This is most likely a reference to eternal life.
Since it’s a purpose statement—it probably parallels the truth in John 3:16
Jesus Christ was sent to this earth to give people eternal life!!
That’s a mission of love!
We’ve been looking at the eternal nature of love. God, from all eternity has been loving, and for all eternity will be a God of love.
The purpose of Jesus Christ coming was to give people eternal life==which equals sharing in eternal love with God and his people.
I’ve already mentioned Jonathan Edwards earlier.
Edwards is unfortunately most know for a sermon “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God.” Which sounds like he had a fixation on hell....
But Edwards actually cherished the thought of heaven more than the threats of hell.
He preached numerous sermons on heaven…one with the Title/Theme: Heaven is a World of Love
The purpose of God sending his love, sending his Son it so fit us for eternity; and eternity where love rules.
Living through Jesus secures that eternal hope
2. God’s love is undeserving (v10)
We will spend more time on this verse next week when we look at the price of love—
The point is simply that God’s love is extended to unlovely people—people who are not seeking him, or interested in him at all
**Mankind in his natural state does not love God
Left to ourselves, we would never have even the slightest love for God…not the slightest
Apply: I sometimes talk to lost people who just don’t care about God—part of the increasing secularism-- They may be polite about it. but they are just not interested in God…and they are happy getting by in life. Then I have to remember—it’s in their nature....it’s in all our nature—that’s just their nature, that’s v10.
**SO God’s love comes to the unlovely, unloveable, unattractive.
***God’s love does not meet us halfway—it comes to us the whole way, reaching down the Pit; lifting from the grave…seeking the lost…
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This type of thinking—human unworthiness-- runs so countercultural We live a world of a high, high opinion of self.
High demand for entitlement
There is a massive amount of narcissism in our day
The air we breathe has self-esteem
Many would say—Yeah, God loves me…why wouldn’t he?
According to research done by anthropologist
“Eighty four percent of American believe that “enjoying yourself is the highest goal in life” ....Eighty-six percent believe that to enjoy yourself you must “pursue the things you desire most.” ....Ninety-one percent affirm “To find yourself, look within yourself.”
Quoted in Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth (p 31)
But Scripture makes it clear we unlovely, unworthy…self is not our friend, but a greatest enemy
Apply: God loves the unlovely. SO the implication is this—our love will look the same if it’s from God.
There is a reason Jesus says its easy to love those who love you
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
**Love is truly love when it’s directed at objects of mercy, and pity—and such are we!
The reality is that God loves people who hate him; who. God does not wait for us to become sinless to love us.
How will that shape our love?
Love because it marks sincere faith (11-12)
Love because it marks sincere faith (11-12)
We circle back again and get the same call to the primacy of love we heard in v7
But there is ain interesting statement throw in the middle of this—No one has ever seen God;
God’s invisibility is something that the Apostle John’s writings emphasize (Jn 1:18; 6:46)
I wonder if John had a Moses-like desire that cried out: “Show me your glory” Ex 33:18
The point is that no one has ever seen God’s unveiled glory—similar to John 1:18
Why is that there? Why is it here, and how it help me love better?
It’s likely the the false teachers promised some superior way to experience God—study major cults and that often there.
How do people see God? How can we have insight into the God who dwells in unapproachable light?
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
Thought none can see God right now, he has chosen a concrete way for people to see the reality of who he is—through his people being a people of love.
The late Francis Shaeffer said that love is the ultimate apologetic. The main way the world will see that we are the people who indeed know God…is through love.
As our world becomes even more unloving, divided, cynical, and judgmental....the call to the primacy of love is all the more urgent.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Conclusion:
Spirit-prompted responses
Conviction—Love has just not been for you; it’s absent—gone AWOL; certainly not in the affections. Your heart has been mostly a loveless empty tank. Ask God to put you back on the path of love, make it primary.
Conversion —Some may not know a God of love at all. Trust Jesus—give your life to him today. Ask God to put you right with him through his Son
Confidence (cf.v12b)—Love has been primary. Take care. Keep on. Thank God for the grace and Spirit that transforms, enables.
....And stay humble
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
Those who are most humble will learn will be lead in the way of love
May the Lord leads us, guide us in paths of love and humility for his name sake.