Love – The Way of God

Scripture Text 1 John 4:9-18

Intro: God’s word has much to say about true love. In the King James Version of the bible, love is mentioned 310 times, 131 times in the Old Testament and 179 times in the New Testament.

I. God’s definition of love. 1 John 4:9-12 (NKJV) ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

 a. Real love is God sending His Son to be a sacrifice to take away our sins. God is love personified and you can only know the full expression of love by receiving God’s love through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ and sharing it with others. When a person believes in the love of God, that God loves them so much that He gave His Son to die for our sins, God is perfectly pleased, for God loves His Son with a perfect love. So when a person honors God's Son by believing in Him, God puts His Spirit into the person. God actually implants His divine love, through the Holy Spirit, into the life of the believer.  In verse 12, When we love each other it is proof that God lives in us and His love is then brought to full expression. (Poem entitled Love isn't Love..) A bell is not a bell until someone rings it, a song is not a song until someone sings it. Love wasn't put in the heart to stay, for love isn't love until you give it away. Oscar Hammerstein II

II. We Christians have put our trust in God’s love.  1 John 4:16-18 (NKJV) ¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. ¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

 a. As we trust in His love and live in it day by day, we come to understand that God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. It is one thing to know and believe in God’s love; it is quite another to actually appropriate God’s love into our lives so that we “live in love” by sharing it with others.  In verse 16, because God is love, his people ought to be experiencing his transcendent and glorious love on a daily basis because he “lives” in them.

 b. As we live in God our love grows more perfect or mature. (V:17)

     This perfect, mature love working in us will produce believers who will not be afraid on the Day of Judgment. On that day, God will require all people to account for their lives. Those who have lived in His love will live with Him forever. Then we don’t have to wait until that day to find out if we “made it.” We will have that confidence now because we share Jesus’ love in this world.

  III. Perfect mature love casts out all fear.  1 John 4:18 (NKJV)  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  a. Because we believers are becoming like God, we certainly need not fear his judgment. To be fearful is to lack confidence; to lack confidence is to show that God’s love has not been perfected in that person. As Believers we ought not to be afraid of the future, eternity, or God’s judgment, because of His love.  We know that God loves us perfectly (Romans 8:38-39). We can resolve any fears first by focusing on God’s immeasurable love and then by allowing Him to love others through us. The assurance of God’s love will quiet fears and give us confidence.

b. A Believers’ love, whether for God or for others, is always based on God’s love for them. God’s love is the source, the initiator. People cannot love this way on their own; it happens as a result of God’s loving people first. God’s love is far above all human love. Because we believers abide in God and thus abide in love, God’s love fills us and overflows from us. Living Water flows!

Conclusion: John concludes this passage on love in verses 20-21! God says you and I can’t say we love Him and hate our Christian brothers and sisters because we would be lying. God says if we love Him we must also love our Christian brothers and sisters.

   Invitation: If you have never experienced God’s full expression of love through His Son Jesus and the forgiveness and salvation He brings, now would be the perfect time. If you have experienced His full expression of love through Christ, then God says you are to share it with those around you wherever you go. We are to imitate His love by serving others.