A Lesson In Love Series

A Lesson In Love

1 John 4:7-21

May 16, 2004

1 John 4:7-8 (NLT)

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. [8] But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love.

Love For Others

 Love is a choice and an action – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 Not a feeling

 Not an emotion

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud [5] or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. [6] It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. [7] Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

The Source of Love

 Love comes from God

 Our capacity to love increases as our relationship with God deepens

 Not just a head knowledge

 God’s love in us is evidence of our relationship with him

 Love is not a character quality of God

 God is love

1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)

God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. [10] This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

God’s Love on Display

 Demonstrated by God giving His only Son so that we might have eternal life – John 3:16

John 3:16 (NLT)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

God’s Love on Display

 Demonstrated by God giving His only Son so that we might have eternal life – John 3:16

 Was done without us loving God first

 Love is sacrificial in nature

 Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice

1 John 4:11-12 (NLT)

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. [12] No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.

To Whom Much is Given…

 Because God has sacrificially love us, we should give no less to each other

 The love we give allows others to clearly see God’s love on display

 Flows from within us

1 John 4:13-16 (NLT)

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. [14] Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. [15] All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. [16] We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

The Proof of God In Us

 The presence of the Holy Spirit

 Proofs the relationship between ourselves and God

 Testifies to the saving grace of Jesus

 Only true Christians will proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God

 Proclamation comes from the personal experience of God’s love

1 John 4:17 (NLT)

And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.

Confidence At Judgment

 Our love is perfected by our interaction with God

 It will be more and more God like

 Our confidence comes from our transformation to Christ-likeness

 We treat others as Christ would

 We love others with the love of Christ

1 John 4:18-19 (NLT)

Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. [19] We love each other as a result of his loving us first.

Fear Removal

 Perfect love drives away all fear

 Those who understand God’s love do not have to live in fear of God’s judgment

 God corrects those He loves

 God’s perfect love is the incentive for us to love others

1 John 4:20-21 (NLT)

If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? [21] And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.