Believe It | Live It - Week 5 LOVE

Anglican Church of Noos May 9, 202 1 John 4:1-21 - LOV Rev’d Lynda Johnso Today our key focal point is LOVE in chapter 4 of this great little letter. Quite an appropriate topic for Mother’s Day, but it’s not in that context that we look at this passage today We’re looking at this topic in the context of #truth and lies, in the #context of the cross, and in the context of how we #live the life of love today #Firstly, in the context of truth and lies, looking at vv.1-6 Not going to spend a lot of time on this one, because there have been two other sermons in this series that have touched on the false teaching that was about, and especially in the terminology of ‘antichrist’ that we’ve looked at previously. But what I do want to add today is this… We need to always be discerning of what is coming from the spirit of truth, and what is coming from the spirit of falsehood What John is particular about here is this - do we apply the test? And the test is always and only based on Jesus who he is and what he has done, and that he is God come in esh. If a teaching or thought or idea is af rming of who Jesus is and what he has done, then it comes from God. But if a teaching or thought or idea detracts from who Jesus is and what he has done, then it is the spirit of antichrist, the spirit of falsehood John is encouraging his readers to be discerning. To realise that there is truth, and there are lies And he wants them to continue in the faith once taught about Jesus, because that ensures that we are in God and He is in us. And if that is the case, then as he says in v.4 - ‘the one who is in us, is greater than the one who is in the world. And that is how we recognise truth from falsehood. truth from lies. Have we applied the test? And the attitude to Jesus - is the test Next we come to the rest of this chapter about God’s love and our love.Look at this in the context of the #cross, and then how we live Theological concepts - as we look at the cross. John uses words in this passage that are theologically profound and probably need some explaining Have another listen to vv. 7-12. 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacri ce for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us . . . fl . . . . . fi . . a fi n E ’ 1 Page 1 of 4 What John is doing here is that he is de ning love in the context of the cross He says in v.10 - this is love. Then he goes on to say that God sent Jesus. The Gospel of John 3:16 says the same thing. For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son But that’s not all he says, because v.10 continues… This is love: that God sent Jesus …. to be an atoning sacri ce for our sins Similarly in his gospel John says that God sent his one and only son into the world to save the world. [v.17 This is the de ning thing about love. At the centre of God’s kind of love, you nd the cross The Gk word used here, when we have the translation in the NIV of ‘atoning sacri ce’ the Gk word is hilasmon This is a powerful word - it covers some profound concepts There are a couple of big theological words that are worth diving into and those words are #expiation and propitiation Both these English words can be found in the idea of atoning sacri ce. Hilasmon And we need both words to even begin to understand what atoning sacri ce means. What the death of Jesus on the cross means, what has been done for us in that act Expiation means that something is removed. Hence the pre x ‘ex’. What this word conveys is that when Jesus died on the cross our sin was covered. Its impact was removed. That’s important Propitiation, is a little different. It’s pre x is ‘pro’ which implies that it does something for somebody. Propitiation focusses on God. That God’s wrath is appeased. That his judgement is averted, that his wrath is satis ed. This is controversial, because a lot of people these days can’t bear to think of God as angry. They can’t bear to think of God having wrath or being wrathful And yet, the Bible is full of the truth that God is opposed to sin. As he should be. A holy God cannot bear to see sin in his world A just God, cannot ignore sin. Otherwise he would not be just The understanding of propitiation, is that there is a right and good judgment that God directs toward sin. And that judgement of sin needs to happen Jesus’ death on the cross is the sacri ce that makes God propitious towards us. That is, it makes him favourable towards us, because his wrath has been averted or appeased. The object of his wrath has changed Many of you may be surprised to nd out that I quite like action icks. I don’t mind a good war movie, with plenty of strategy, and plenty of action. I was watching a movie the other day, called “Hunter Killer” [interesting title - and apologies if my movie genres disappoint you, although I have a very broad range of genres that I like]. In this movie, there was a Russian missile coming towards an american sub, and the captain released the decoys, and the missiles averted their course and locked on to the decoys and missed the sub . fi . . . fi fi fl . fi . fi . . . fi fi fi . fi . . . fi . fi ] . fi . Page 2 of 4 Another way of understanding what atonement means, is to pronounce it in a sightly different way. Atonement can be understood to be at-one-ment. To be at one, when you were previously at odds. When a relationship is reconciled after signi cant problems. That is atonement, at-one-ment John describes it as the central feature of God’s love Another way of understanding it perhaps could be by thinking of the sacri cial system in the old testament. This is the basis of understanding Jesus as the sacri cial lamb. The OT system though was temporary in its effectiveness. Because the sacri ces needed to be repeated year in and year out The sacri ce was placed on the altar and burned. And the sacri ce was consumed by the re. The re is symbolic of God’s judgement, you see, of God’s wrath if you like. But of course, what happened with Jesus has done away with all future sacri ces. Because when Jesus was on the altar, it wasn’t God’s judgement that consumed him, it was him that consumed God’s judgement. He took it all. He consumed it on the cross, and He died But then, three days later, victory v.10 - This is love: not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacri ce for our sins And how does this chapter then end Well, it ends with the incredibly powerful call to live out that same love in community together In these verses 7-21, we nd the word love 26 times If we live in God, we need to #live in love. This is our calling. Believe it. Live it John makes it clear here that love is expected of God’s people. Even commanded. and it becomes a test of authentic discipleship It’s easy to look at the history of the church and we see it lled with petty divisions, entrenched illfeeling. All so sad, and de es the work of the Gospel. What is missing Perhaps it is a lack of appreciation of the vastness of God’s love Perhaps it is a lack of understanding the magnitude of our need, the greatness of our sin, and has minimised the cost of the cross Or perhaps we are so focussed on ourselves, our ego, and we rest in narcissism Let’s return to this incredible text, to challenge us about our response v.19 - We love because he rst loved us We don’t need to imagine what love is; we don’t need to make it up . . fi . . . fi fi . . fi . fi . fi fi . . fi . fi ? . . . fi fi fi . ? fi fi Page 3 of 4 . fi My point in this illustration, is that it is a small way of understanding what Jesus has done. His death on the cross, diverted God’s wrath from us, onto him And the result, is that the atoning sacri ce of Jesus, means that the previously broken relationship between God and humanity, between God and me, between God and you, that broken relationship has been remedied. Nor does John want to shame us into loving each other. But what he gives us here, is an invitation. It’s an invitation into the depths of God who is love, and who lives us so much that he initiated love for the world by sending his Son as an atoning sacri ce for our sins Can I leave you with some outworking of this for you to do, not over the coming week, but probably for the rest of your life. One of the great ways to re ect on our spiritual growth is to ask ourselves whether we are becoming more genuinely loving as each week or month goes by Is that happening in your life Why not talk about it in your connect group this week? Or can I suggest that you get especially brave, and ask someone close to you, or a great friend who knows you well, ask them whether you are growing in love. Request them to be brutally honest, and listen carefully to their response And the good news is that we don’t do it alone. We have a gift of God within us - enabling, equipping and helping. Look at v.13 This is how we know we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us We have the Holy Spirit, with God the Father, working through Christ the Son All praise to Him. Amen . . . . fi . . ? fl . Page 4 of 4