Foundational Love Series

Turn your Bibles to 1 John 4:7-12

Title: Foundational Love

Theme: Truths to Grasping God’s Love

Series: The One Anothers in Scripture

Introduction: The Word of God gives us at least 34 passages of Scriptures to govern ourselves by as we live out the Christian life in practical ways. The church God can use has a Body of Christ who examines herself to God’s Word, trusts in Jesus and walks in step with the Holy Spirit of Christ. The beloved John, being led by the Holy Spirit of Christ gives us a powerful truth to guide ourselves by as we look to the Word of God for instructions on living out “Foundational Love.”

Listen as I read 1 John 4:7-12, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” Pray !

The beloved John has just laid the foundation for us that indicates whether or not we are responding to God’s Holy Spirit with a right heart. The truth found in this text is a powerful conclusion, God’s love originates in Himself, (1 John 4:7-8) is manifested in Jesus Christ as God in the flesh and through God giving His one and only Son to pay the ultimate sacrifice. (1 John 4:9-10; John 3:16)

God’s love is also expressed through Christians (1 John 4:12) as they have Biblical fellowship. Westcott wrote, “It is through man that the love of God finds it fulfillment on earth.” God has chosen in this dispensation to show His love through His children as they walk in obedience to Him.

As Christians take time to grasp and respond to this truth they begin to understand John’s concern for the fellowship of believers. Christians who grasp the truths of today’s message come to understand that Christian fellowship is above fruit bearing and blessings, which are in themselves great. It is God’s presence and manifestation in a person’s life as observed by those in the world. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13: 34-35)

Proposition: I would propose to you the Christian’s goal is to live in such a way that people know they are disciples of Christ.

Interrogative Sentence: Just how is that goal achieved?

Transitional Sentence: The Christian that is able to achieve the high goal of expressing Biblical love understands where true love comes from. The beloved John in writing about God’s love and the love that is to be expressed by a Christian writes, “God is love…” (1 John 4:8,16) John also writes, “For love comes from God.” (1 John 4:7) Never was a more important declaration made than this; never was more meaning crowded into a few words than this short sentence, “God is love” (Theos agape estin).

It would be inadequate to think of salvation as mere deliverance from the punishment of hell. It is best enoyed in this lifetime as enjoying Christ’s salvation as freedom from the love of the flesh, freedom from love of this world and freedom from the lies of the devil who led Adam and Eve to love his lie over loving God’s perfect will for them.

Everything in life and creation reflects God’s revealed truth and the truth worth grasping in this first division is that God is the only source for true love. “Source” means that spring or fountain, the beginning of a stream from which it gets the flow that feeds life to all who would drink from it. “Source” is that from which anything rises or originates. Nothing finds its beginning or existence on its own.

All babies born since the creation of Adam and Even exist because there was a source. No baby or person came about or exists by his or her own efforts. You and I exist not by our own efforts but because we had a source, our parents. All who ever existed before us and all who will exist after us had or will have a source, parents. Biblically all parents can trace their source of existence to the first two earthly parents, Adam and Eve. They did not come into existence of themselves, they had a source, God. Genesis 2:7 says, “…the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7) The Bible says, “But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:20-22)