Message
1 John 4:1-21
“No Fear In Love”
Let’s open our Bibles to 1 John and read the next section … 1 John 4:1-21
Read
Does reading through the book of 1 John kind of feel like going in a spiral to you? We seem to keep coming back to the same themes, concepts and teachings
The antichrists in 1 John 4:3 are seeking to distract us from the truth that Jesus is the Christ, who has come from God.
1 John 2:22 - Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist – denying the Father and the Son
Those of the world in 1 John 4:4-7 live their lives in complete contrast to those who are of the faith. As a result those of the world have no clue about our spiritual truths.
1 John 3:1 - The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
We read about the love of God in 1 John 4:7-12
Love which is the source of our relationship with God.
1 John 3:16 - Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
Love which is fully based on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
1 John 3:1 - See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
Love which causes us to love one another.
1 John 3:11 - This is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another.
The call to love our brother and sister in 1 John 4:19-21 is a call that has rung out before.
1 John 2:9 - Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
It feels like a spiral. Going round and round.
But it a special kind of spiral. I want us to think here of a spiral staircase. You start at the bottom and go around. Technically as you go around you end up in the same GPS position … but you are higher and you have a greater perspective.
That is what John is doing. The apostle takes us into a theme, or teaches us about an area of the kingdom. We digest it for a while … then later we come back and move with a greater perspective.
As we come around … we grow … we learn more … we are given further insight … we reflect again … and we move forward.
John’s teaching method gives us a very important insight:- you never stop growing in your relationship with Jesus. No matter how long you are in the faith you will never get to a point where you can say, “I know it all.” There is always a new aspect that you will see. Or, more likely, you will again be reminded about aspects of your faith journey that you have forgotten. That is why, at the end of the day, walking with Jesus keeps coming back to a few simple key spiritual disciplines.
Read your Bible and meditate on it regularly.
Pray regularly.
Fellowship with other believers regularly.
That’s what the church has been doing basically since day 1.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
What was the result?
The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47).
John keeps encouraging the spiritual growth and understanding of the readers. Earlier teaching truths, then reminding the readers of those truths with an addition. The addition that we are going to focus in today is in verse 18.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18
In Scripture there is two types of “fear” … both types of fear are related.
One type of fear is what can be called “reverential fear”.
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Acts 9:31
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:21
This “reverential fear” … also what we call “awe” … is a response to the majestic, powerful, amazing, beyond all that we can imagine, works of God in Christ. The transformation of Judea, Galilee and Samaria – and they way that the Gospel was spreading – caused people to be in awe of what God was doing. The way that Christ worked for us – being a servant who humbly washed the feet of his disciples – is cause for reverence and it impacts the way we treat one another.
That is “reverential fear”.
Then there is another “fear”. I’m reading Luke 12:4-5 where Jesus is speaking:-
4 ‘I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
When we first read this passage we could find ourselves thinking that it is talking about Satan. After all Scripture describes the devil as the one who is able to take away the seed on the path so that people may not believe and be saved. (Luke 8:12). The devil holds the power of death (Hebrews 2:14) and leads the whole world astray (Revelation 12:9).
When we stand in the spiritual battle we are in a struggle against
… against rulers.
… against the authorities.
… against the powers of this dark world.
… against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The focussed agenda of this evil spiritual conglomeration is to do all they can to achieve the goal of destroying both soul and body in hell.
BUT … they don’t get the final say.
Indeed not one of the evil spiritual forces have the authority to throw you into hell. Only God writes, or doesn’t write, your name in the book of life.
Let’s read the Luke verses again and then see the bigger context.
4 ‘I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Fear him who has authority to throw you into hell …
We fear God … we tremble, we sit in terror, we dread … we do this when we fear punishment.
Think about Adam and Eve. God has created all things “good” … even “very good”. God gave them one fairly simple instruction – “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:18).
Some time later Eva and Adam are standing near the tree, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6)
Out of shame because they realise they are naked Adam and Eve are trying to make clothes out of fig leaves. They are hiding from God.
You know how children try to hide by putting their hands in front of their face? God says, “Where are you” … but he can see them both.
“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” says Adam (Genesis 3:10)”
Fear him who has authority to throw you into hell … don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows
It isn’t a contradiction. It is a reminder of the way God works.
Fear doesn’t bring us to God. Fear keeps us away from God.
The only way to come to God without fear is to know love.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
1 John 4:18
God does not want our relationship with Him to be driven by fear; God wants you to know that you are worth more than many sparrows. That’s because of the relationship God has with us.
God is Mighty, and Powerful. God is the Creator and the Judge. God is all this and so much more. This God, when we were being created, said
Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness …
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27)
This “image-bearing” means that God is a relational God.
God wants a relationship with us.
Not a relationship based on fear. But a relationship driven by love.
God shows us this love by giving us a comprehensive answer in Jesus.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10).
God puts us in the loop by taking the initiative. We won’t naturally come to Him … by nature we hate God and our neighbour. This means if we are to have any hope God has to come to us. Which is exactly who Jesus is. Immanuel. “God with us”. Love not fear.
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14)
Jesus as Saviour takes away the punishment. On the cross the debt is paid and our sin is taken care of. Forgiveness is being offered and grace is the order of the day. Fear has to do with punishment – in Christ there is no punishment – so there is … “no fear”.
This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. (1 John 4:17).
Even as we go from church today, having worshipped and prayed and listened to Scripture we know that, by the end of the day, we will have sinned again. Yet … in this world we are like Jesus.
His perfection becomes our perfection.
His righteousness becomes our righteousness.
His holiness becomes our holiness.
There is no need to fear.
As John takes on this spiral of learning we come around again to the love of God and we are given cause to stop and reflect.
These are the questions that we reflect on today.
Are we following Jesus because we are afraid of the punishment of being sent to hell?
Or are we following Jesus because we have been loved out of hell?
There is no fear in love.
That is how you know you have eternal life.
Prayer
