20220626 The Love of God in John's Gospel

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Dr. R.C. Sproul writes: “The person of Christ is still a perfect union of a divine nature and a human nature. The human nature is in heaven. The divine nature is not limited to the physical confines of the body of Jesus. . . . The divine nature retains its property of omnipresence. The person of Christ can be everywhere, but that ability is through the power of the divine nature, not the human nature”
The Gospel of John displays fully both the divine nature and the human nature of Jesus. Jesus is fully God and fully man. 100% divine and 100% human.
Written in Ephesus around 80-90 AD, after Peter’s death in 68 AD.
Purpose:
John 20:31 ESV
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The verb “to believe” is used nearly 100 times, more than twice as much as Matthew, Mark and Luke
John wants his readers to know that those who “savingly believe” in Jesus will receive eternal life.
And John wants to convince his readers of Jesus’ true identity - as the Son of God, he is God Incarnate, God in the flesh, He is the Messiah, He is the Savior of the world. As God in the flesh he is able to do miracles, he is all powerful, He can read minds and know hearts, He is omniscient, and He is able to rise from the dead, and is therefore, as the glorified and divine Son of God, Omnipresent.
Who wrote the Gospel of John? The author does not identify himself.
The writer of this Gospel was a Jew
He was a Palestinian Jew
He was an eyewitness
He was an apostle
He was present at the Last Supper
He was present at the crucifixion
He was part of the inner circle of Peter, James, and John - Peter is mentioned and James was martyred early in Acts 12:2
The writer was John
John, the disciple whom Jesus loved
John 13:23 ESV
23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side,
John 19:26 ESV
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
John 20:2 ESV
2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
John 21:7 ESV
7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
John 21:20 ESV
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”
The word love in the writings of John the apostle
116 times in the Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and Revelation, the word “love” is used.
According to the Book Study Concordance of the Greek NT,
44 times in John he uses agapao , to love or agape, love
13 times philew
1 John:
36 apape agapao
2 John: 4 agape agapao
3 John: 2 agape agapao
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains (25.43 ἀγαπάω; ἀγάπη, ης)
ἀγαπάωa; ἀγάπηa, ης f: to have love for someone or something, based on sincere appreciation and high regard—‘to love, to regard with affection, loving concern, love.
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains (25.33 φιλέω; φιλία, ας)
25.33 φιλέωa; φιλία, ας f: to have love or affection for someone or something based on association—‘to love, to have affection for.’ See the discussion of the meaning of φιλέωa and φιλία in 25.43.φιλέωa: ὁ φιλῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος ‘the person who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me’ Mt 10:37.φιλία: ἡ φιλία τοῦ κόσμου ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ‘affection for the world is hostility toward God’ Jas 4:4. In a number of languages it may be difficult if not impossible to speak of ‘affection … is hostility.’ Frequently it is necessary to relate such emotional attitudes to individuals, so that this expression in Jas 4:4 may be rendered in some languages as ‘people who love the things in the world are against God.’
25.34 φιλαδελφία, ας f: affection for one’s fellow believer in Christ—‘love for one’s fellow believer, affection for a fellow believer.’ περὶ δὲ τῆς φιλαδελφίας οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε γράφειν ὑμῖν ‘there is no need to write you about affection for your fellow believers’ 1 Th 4:9; ἡ φιλαδελφία μενέτω ‘keep on loving one another as fellow believers’ He 13:1.In the NT the terms φιλαδελφία and φιλάδελφος (25.35) have acquired highly specialized meanings which restrict the range of reference to fellow believers. In nonbiblical contexts these terms would refer to affection or love for persons belonging to a so-called ‘in-group,’ but in the NT this in-group is defined in terms of Christian faith.
25.35 φιλάδελφος, ον: pertaining to love or affection for fellow believers—‘one who loves fellow believers, loving one another as brothers.’ τὸ δὲ τέλος πάντες ὁμόφρονες, συμπαθεῖς, φιλάδελφοι ‘in conclusion, you must all have the same attitude and the same feelings, loving one another as Christian brothers’ or ‘… as fellow believers’ 1 Pe 3:8. See discussion at 25.34.
25.36 φιλανθρωπίαa, ας f: affection for people in general—‘love of mankind, affection for people.’ ὅτε δὲ ἡ χρηστότης καὶ ἡ φιλανθρωπία ἐπεφάνη τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεοῦ ‘when God our Savior showed his kindness and affection for mankind’ Tt 3:4.
25.37 φίλανδρος: pertaining to having affection for a husband—‘having love for one’s husband, having affection for one’s husband.’ ἵνα σωφρονίζωσιν τὰς νέας φιλάνδρους εἶναι ‘in order to train the young women to have affection for their husbands’ Tt 2:4.
25.38 φιλότεκνος, ον: pertaining to having affection for one’s own offspring—‘loving one’s own children, one who loves children.’ ἵνα σωφρονίζωσιν τὰς νέας φιλάνδρους εἶναι, φιλοτέκνους ‘in order to train the young women to love their husbands and children’ Tt 2:4.
25.39 φίλαυτος, ον: pertaining to self-centered love or concern for one’s own self—‘selfish love, self-centered love.’ ἔσονται γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι φίλαυτοι ‘for people will be lovers of themselves’ 2 Tm 3:2.
25.40 φιλόθεος, ον: pertaining to love for God—‘loving God, having affection for God.’ φιλήδονοι μᾶλλον ἢ φιλόθεοι ‘they are persons who love pleasure rather than loving God’ 2 Tm 3:4.
25.41 φιλόστοργος, ον: pertaining to love or affection for those closely related to one, particularly members of one’s immediate family or in-group—‘very loving, warmly devoted to, very affectionate.’ τῇ φιλαδελφίᾳ εἰς ἀλλήλους φιλόστοργοι ‘love one another affectionately as fellow believers’ Ro 12:10.
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains (25.43 ἀγαπάω; ἀγάπη, ης)
Though some persons have tried to assign certain significant differences of meaning between ἀγαπάωa, ἀγάπηa and φιλέωa, φιλία (25.33), it does not seem possible to insist upon a contrast of meaning in any and all contexts.
There is, however, one significant clue to possible meaningful differences in at least some contexts, namely, the fact that people are never commanded to love one another with φιλέω or φιλία, but only with ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη.
Though the meanings of these terms overlap considerably in many contexts, there are probably some significant differences in certain contexts; that is to say, φιλέω and φιλία are likely to focus upon love or affection based upon interpersonal association, while ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη focus upon love and affection based on deep appreciation and high regard.
On the basis of this type of distinction, one can understand some of the reasons for the use of ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη in commands to Christians to love one another.
It would, however, be quite wrong to assume that φιλέω and φιλία refer only to human love, while ἀγαπάω and ἀγάπη refer to divine love. Both sets of terms are used for the total range of loving relations between people, between people and God, and between God and Jesus Christ.
John uses agape and philia in his gospel
This morning I want to focus on God’s love for us. Not our love for God, not our love for others. But God’s love for the lost, God’s love for the believer, God’s love for the struggling believer.
And I want to point out 4 ways in which God loves you from the Gospel of John:
God’s love for me is a Sacrificial, a Saving, a Serving, and a Seeking love.
Say it with me
(1) The Sacrificial and Saving Love of God
John 3:16 ESV
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.
Sacrificial - For God - the Father gave His Son. Notice the link to Abraham and Isaac, his only Son, God will provide a lamb (Genesis 22)
Saving - that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life
(2) The Serving Love of God
John 13:1 ESV
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The washing of the disciples feet
John 13:34 ESV
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
(3) The Seeking Love of God
John 21:15-21 - Jesus restores Peter.
John 21:3 ESV
3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Peter had denied the Lord, Peter had gone back to fishing. Jesus comes to shore and speaks to Peter. Just as Peter had denied Jesus three times, Jesus asks him to declare his love three times.
Then Jesus says, Follow Me!
The sacrificial, saving, serving, and seeking love of God for the child of God.
gods love is sovereign
We are commanded to love. But we can’t love like God. We need to sit back and bask in the glory of the greatness of God’s love. We need to create as great a gulf as possible between the failed love and imperfect love of the people in our lives and see God’s love for what it is: always patient, always kind, never irritable or resentful. When you think of how much God loves you always realize that in our imperfections, in our sinfulness we are unable to love like God. And rather than filling our hearts and minds with what we can’t do, these passages force us to look at the Lord in his beautiful perfection and worship him and rejoice in what He is able to do.
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