God is Love

Introduction

 Throughout the letter, John provides tests for Christians to affirm their faith. Two weeks ago, we studied how biblical doctrine is a spiritual test for a Christian. Today, we study how love is a test for a Christian. Next, we will study how faith and love work together in the life of a Christian.

 The Passage

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:7–12

Explanation of Passage

God tells us who to love, how to love, and what our love does. First, who do we love? John begins in verse 7 telling us that Loving other Christians is a foundational Christian trait because God loves Christians. One way to misunderstand this verse is that any who love is a child of God regardless of their faith in Christ. John already described the necessity of love and faith in the Christian life (1 John 3:23). Love is necessary for being a Christian like jumping is necessary for playing basketball. Love reveals Christian authenticity like righteousness does (1 John 2:29). 

When you refuse to love other Christians, it proves you do not know God (v.8). Sometimes in scripture the word “know” doesn’t mean rational knowledge but relational knowledge. For example, a mother can know all the details about her teenage daughter. But if the daughter refuses to speak to her mom, the mom can say, “I don’t know who you are anymore.” The same is true when Christians refuses to love the same Christians God loves.

Second, God shows us how to love by loving us. God shows His love for Christians by sending Jesus to be our Lord (v. 9) Two traits of love defined by God is self-sacrifice and benefiting others. The Loving relationship we have with God began with Him and lasts because of Jesus’ propitiation (v.10).  Jesus shows love by benefitting sinners by taking the punishment of sin on Himself. Jesus sacrificed His life to benefit us; we should love the same way. 

Third, God tells us what our love for other Christians does. God’s love is seen in how His people love one another (v.12). God’s love begins with Himself, is manifested in His son, and perfected in His people. Love among Christians is the full understanding of God’s work of love. God stakes His loving reputation on our ability to love one another.

What Love is Not

Love is not God. Love is an action that sounds noble by itself, but its goodness is seen in its object. “I love eating cabbage” and “I love kicking cats” aren’t the same thing. One of the greatest hinderances I see in Christians growing in their knowledge and application of God’s word comes from two misunderstandings of God is love.

First, Christians make love God’s cardinal attribute. Remember, God is all of His attributes. God is love. He is also righteous. His righteousness and love aren’t at odds, but consistent with His divine nature. So, if your thinking of God’s love excuses His justice, holiness, and truth, you’re doing it wrong. Second, Christians use the world’s definition of love, which is usually synonymous with tolerance, acceptance, or being nice. God wasn’t nice on the cross. God didn’t tolerate Sodom. But in every page of Scripture, God was still love.

 What Love is

All of God’s actions are loving actions. God is equally loving, holy, righteous, good, and true. Christians should accept that when God orders the destruction of the Canaanites, He is just as loving as when He heals lepers. God shows His love universally over all He’s made (Psalm 145:9). He loves all human beings whether they’re righteous or unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). But most of all, He loves His people with a special, eternal love (Romans 8:29-30).

 In order to fully understand the love of God for the church, we need to understand God’s hatred. He hates sin and sinners.

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. Psalm 5:4–5

Notice, Psalm 5 says God doesn’t just hate the iniquity, He hates the doers of iniquity.

How does this work? How can God love and hate with such divine intensity? Because of Sin. God loves all that is good. Sin is not good; therefore, He hates sin. We inherit a nature of sin and applaud that nature each time we sin. We demonstrate the power of our sinful pride each time we put God on trial. Who do we think we are to ever say, “I can’t imagine a loving God ever do ___.”

God loves people who don’t deserve it (v.10). God loved us before we loved Him. Some believe God searches for people who will love Him, then He makes sure to save them. That’s not what this verse says. It says the only reason anyone gets saved is because God first loved them. He loved people dead in their sin (Ephesians 2:1; Ezekiel 16:8). But how does God solve the problem of sin? He loves us but He also hates us for our sin.

God loves through self-sacrifice (Romans 8:32). In order to love us, God sent Jesus to bear the weight of hatred for us. The only beloved son of God became despised for you (Isaiah 53:3). He who knew no sin became sin so that you would become righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). Propitiation means Jesus took the blow of God’s hatred for you so all that could be left was love.

God loves benefits those who don’t deserve it. Human sin destroys our relationship with God and our relationship with others. God, in the gospel, restores our relationship with others by restoring our relationship to Himself. God’s love does not exist for you to justify your sin, but it does exist to justify sinners.

A Brief Scattershot on Christian love

Although Christians are commanded to love our neighbor as ourself, we are called to love our Christian brother as we die to ourself. Christian love isn’t seen in how we love the nameless person as much as how we love our fellow church member whose sins we could name.

Now, the nameless love of evangelicalism sells. Nothing rallies the troops like marketing for a love the community campaign. Also, nothing shows how ignorant the evangelical church is of Christian love like reminding them to love other Christians. It's one thing to say you love everyone. You’ve never met everyone. Everyone is just an idea. It’s another thing to love the person sitting in the pew next to you. Love defined by God requires self-sacrifice for people you know don’t deserve it. It’s not wrong to love our lost neighbors. However, we must not love them on their own terms. If they get to define love, we aren’t really loving them. When we love like God, no matter what they say, we love them.

So, if you want to love your neighbor, first love your church.

Christian love shares food (Romans 12:13). One reason the love in America has grown cold is that our plates are served cold. Christian hospitality is a lost art. Let’s recover it so we can love like Jesus who shared meals with people.

Christian loves worships God (Hebrews 10:24-25). Whatever we place as a higher priority over our weekly gathering for worship is what we really worship. What you worship commands what you love. If you worship God, you love God’s people. 

Christian love sings (Colossians 3:16). The purpose of congregational singing isn’t to hear professional musicians, attract guests, or even to sing the sentimental songs you grew up singing. The purpose is to sing God’s word to God’s people.

Christian love encourages (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We live in a time where men and women go to bed scared or ignorant of this evil world. We need men and women courageous to face the battles ahead. So, remind one another of Christ’s power and might. We fight not for the hatred of the evil in front of us but for the love of the people behind us.

Christian love forgives (Ephesians 4:32). Every sin ever committed was against God. And He forgives sinners. Some sins we commit are also against other people. So, if you sin against someone, confess that sin and ask for forgiveness. If someone sinned against you, then you must crucify their sin on the cross so their sin doesn’t cause you to sin.

Christian love loves Christians first (Galatians 6:10). Remember, God wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves, but He also wants us to love our Christian neighbors especially.

If you love in this way, if you love the way Jesus wants you to, expect the world to respond like they did with Jesus.

Conclusion

 FBC is a friendly church. We love seeing guests visit us and I know many of you take note and pray for those visitors to return. But let’s not be the kind of church where people are most loved only when they’re our guests. Let’s invite them into a community where the love grows stronger the longer and deeper you get connected to it. Let’s invite them to a family where the love never runs out—cause that’s how our father loves.