Scripture Text
1 John 4:7-11
Intro:
There are many definitions for the word love. It is used in so many various
ways it has lost its real meaning. The scriptures for today tell us what true
love is, where it comes from and what imitation love is and where it comes from
in God’s point of view.
I. True love is from
God. 1 John 4:7-8 (NKJV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
a. Christians are to love one another. God
is the source of all love; therefore, love comes from God. The phrase anyone
who truly loves is born of God.” Only those who have experienced the new
birth are able to have the love described here. Those who have received this
gift are endowed with the nature of God and thereby become partakers of the
divine love. Love for fellow Christians provides proof of spiritual birth and
relationship with God. In addition, John says, anyone who truly loves knows
God. This speaks of an ongoing knowledge—“getting to know” God—a continual,
growing, spiritual knowledge based on actual experience of God in a believers’
life. It follows, then, that a person who does not love other Christians
has never known God. The Greek verb for “know” is in the aorist tense, thereby
indicating that this person not only doesn’t know God now but has never known
him. The statement God is love ought not be turned around to say “Love
is God” or watered down to “God is loving,” as if this were just one of God’s
attributes. Rather, love is God’s very
essence. It is not one of God’s many activities; instead, all of His
activities are done with love. When He disciplines or teaches, for example, He
does so with love. And conversely, because God loves, he disciplines and
teaches.
Because He is love, He can do nothing without love.
II. God’s love demonstrated through
Jesus. 1 John
4:9-10 (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. Jesus Christ, sent from God, embodied the
Father’s love and demonstrated that love in His life on earth. Of all the
different kinds of love, God’s love—agape love—is the truest. Greek has four words to depict
four different kinds of love: (1) eros for sexual passion, (2) storge
for family devotion, (3) philos for friendship, and (4) agape for
loving-kindness. Agape was used exclusively by John to characterize
God’s love. It speaks of compassion,
regard, kindness, and unselfishness without expecting anything in return. Agape
love does not come naturally for humans. We are not born with it, neither can
we learn it. Believers receive agape love only through the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5 “Because the
love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given
to us.” Verse 10 says Not that
we loved God, but that he loved us. The love relationship was initiated by
God; people had nothing to do with it. How could we? All people were totally
dead to God—dead in trespasses and sins ( Ephesians 2:1). He loved us even though we were
totally unworthy of his love. He loved us so much that he sent his Son as a
sacrifice to take away our sins. God in His love sent his Son to the world
to die for undeserving sinners—that kind of love is real agape love. By
removing sin, God removed the barrier between Him and his people so that He
could live within His people and they could live within Him.
III. Because of God’s love for us we
are to love each other. 1 John 4:11 (NKJV) Beloved, if God so
loved us, we also ought to love one another.
God’s supreme love for us is the motivation
of our love for each other. Because we are born of God, we should
resemble our Father, who is love. As we grow in appreciation of God’s love for
us, our love for him and for other Christians will grow as well. The way God
loves people—sacrificially, unselfishly, completely—provides the example for
how we should love each other.
Conclusion:
As we grow in appreciation of God’s love for us, we will also grow in our love
for each other. We need more of God’s love in this world today and it’s up to
us to share His love with others to make this world a better place to live.
Invitation:
Jesus extends His love to you right now. If you have never stopped and
confessed your sins to Christ, do it now and ask Him to forgive those sins and
then invite Him into your life to live in and through you. Be baptized and
begin to grow in that love that God has for you. You will so glad you did.
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