The Joy Of Brotherly Love Series

Series: 1 John

Week: 14

Passage: 1 John 3:16-19

Title: The Joy of Brotherly Love

Focus: Brotherly Love

STORY: We live in a love-obsessed world.

• “All we need is love.” (Beatles) was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries.

• “Where is the love” (Black Eye Peas) peaked at number eight in the United States, and peaked at number one in Australia and the United Kingdom. The song received two nominations, Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

• “What’s love got to do with it?” (Tina Turner) The song ranked #309 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It also ranked #38 on Songs of the Century. It was the 17th best-selling single of 1984 in the UK and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012.

o The list goes on and on…

While we are obsessed with love and the concept, we know very little about what love means and its implications. As Christians love means something entirely different that what the world would suggest. As Christians love takes on a different form because we have chosen Jesus. We must not let the world and media tell us what love is but rather let the Bible continue to educate us on it’s true meaning and connotations.

As we begin let us ask a few opening questions:

Which love have you chosen (God’s love or the love offered by the world)?

Who do you let define love for you (the Bible or the media)?

INTRODUCTION: John’s letter goes back and forth on chooses we have to make. John is extremely black and white in his thinking. He has already given us many chooses we make as Christians (choose darkness or light, concealment or confession, sin or obedience, lies or truth, unrighteousness or forgiveness, death or life, antichrist or Jesus Christ, Satan or God, love or hate, etc.).

With the gift of free will we must choose. While we may think that we can pull a little from column “A” and a little from column “B”, we do not get to choose one or the other though one by one. This is a package deal. We either pick one side or the other side. When we choose one side we pick everything that goes with that side. Choose God (the light) and we choose everything that goes with it. Choose Satan (the dark) and we choose everything that comes along with it. There is no halfway, there is no middle ground.

SCRIPTURE: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him.” 1 John 3:16-19

PRAYER

TITLE: (1 John 3:16-19)

Point #1: True Love is shown in Christ Alone (1 John 3:16a)

• Explanation: John starts by answering the burning question that many ask, “Do you want to know how to love?” According to John, if you want to know how to love then we must look at Jesus Christ example in His death on the cross. We know love because we know Christ sacrifice (choosing death for us to have life) through the death and resurrection.

o John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

o John 10:18 “I lay it (my life) down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

• The Gospel shows us of Christ laying down His life to buy us back to God in an ultimate one-time sacrifice. What we are because of Christ’s death directly reflects the fact that we are all about Jesus Christ. We are not a religion, not a set of rules, but more a means to ultimately know the heart of God in Christ’s brutal massacre and share Him openly with the world.

• He LAID His LIFE down for us! That is how we know what love is. Someone died for us.

• Illustration: We are familiar with celebrate those who have laid their life down for us. Military (past wars), firefighters (911), etc.

o We build memorials for the service and sacrifice but we know that this sacrifice does not cover the sin that we have.

• Application: Jesus alone allows us to stay alive. Christ is more than a beloved war hero or rescuer of soles in burning buildings. He is warrior that freely choose to die and fight for his enemies.