Based on an outline by Dan Borchert
What’s the first thing most of us want to know when we meet someone new? It may seem trivial, but the two things that always seem to come up in the first two minutes of a first-time conversation: Who are you? What do you do?
How many of you know God? I’m sure there are more than a few of you who have not been properly introduced. I’m going to take this opportunity, today, to introduce you to God.
As we walk through our passage today step by step we’re going to get to know God a little better. Through John’s words, we’re going to discover what God is, what God has done, and what God does.
What is God?
1 John 4:7-8 - "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"
1) John starts by saying, “Dear Friends.” Six times in 1 John, John uses the phrase, “Dear Friends.” He uses the phrase, “Dear Children” nine times. The first thing John does in his letter is let it be known that he is writing it in friendship… in love.
2) The next thing he says is, “let us love one another.” By simple sentence exposition we know that “love” is a verb. It’s something we do; it’s an action. Love is not something that can exist without action. It’s just like “run.” Run, is something we do (some of us). And without the action of putting one foot in front of the other by springing steps so that both feet leave the ground for an instant, “run” does not exist.
The next thing John lets us know is where this love begins. “For love comes from God.” God initiates love. All the ideas we are familiar with today began somewhere. Without Mark Twain there is no Huck Finn. Without Isaac Newton there is no law of gravity. Without James Earl Jones, there is no Darth Vader as we know him. Without God, there is no real love.
God initiates loves, showers it upon his people, and expects that we, in turn, express that same love to one another.
3) Now John says something that pretty confusing: “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
It appears that one of the reasons John says this is to counteract the Gnostic heretics of his day who claimed to have knowledge of God yet felt that love was beneath them.
John says, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” If you claim to know God, yet fail to love, you invalidate your own claim. You cannot know God if you do not love.
4) The last thing John says in this part of the passage is this: God is love! It cannot be mentioned enough. John uses the word love 27 times in today’s 15 verse passage.
That God is love is not an exhaustive description of God. God is much more than love. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, almighty, the everlasting father, Prince of Peace, and Risen Lord. God is indeed love… but he is also much more.
Just as we understand gravity because of Isaac Newton, we understand what love is because of God.
So we know what God is… love! Now how can we apply this?
Everything we have been taught about love needs to reflect God… or chances are it’s not love. Our love needs to flow from God. There will be times in your life when you absolutely can’t stand someone but you’re still called to love them. You can’t claim to know God if you do not love. As we’ll discuss later, love means sacrifice, and it’s not a feeling… it’s an action!
We know, now, what God is… now, what has God done?
1 John 4:9-10 - God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only 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 atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1) We’ve all heard the message of James, “Faith without works is dead.” But, you know what? So it is with love. Love – an action – without works… is dead. And if God is love, then he must obviously show his love, just as he requires us to do. And he has… in so many ways… but one stands out among the rest.
2) John wrote in verse 9, “God sent his only Son into the world.” God could have done the exact opposite. He could have given the world to Jesus to do with as he wished. A gift. But he didn’t. He gave his son to the world. Why? “So that we might live through him.” So that we can have eternal life.
3) Again you might ask… why? Our passage says, “Not that we loved God but that he loved us.” It wasn’t because we are such a sweet loving people and we loved God so much that he was just returning the favor. No, He did it out of his love. Thank him that our salvation does not reflect and is not dependant on our love for him.
4) Jesus, God’s son, was sent by God, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. What a special, priceless gift! What other gifts have you received that compare? I’ll bet you can’t even think of one!
How does this apply to us personally, on a daily basis?
Verse 11 answers that question.
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
1) We ought to love each other. It’s so simple, yet so incredibly hard. God is our example and we should strive to be like him. Gen 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him…” Our love must not be a mere sentiment. God asks us to give of ourselves for the good of others… just as He gives.
Have any of you ever met that one special person? That person who just gets on your nerves without doing a thing? That person who can drive you to do things you’ve never imagined doing? I have. Unfortunately it was my father. After years and years of seemingly endless fighting and hurtful words, God convicted me that I should love him… period.
Now, I’m not going to stand here and tell you it was easy, or that I did it without hesitation or reluctance, but you know what? When I finally was able to simply love him, the fights, the evil words, the hurt feelings… it all ended.
God calls us to love one another. As the Nike ads once said, “Just do it.”
We know what God is and what he’s done. Now... what is He doing?
1 John 4:12-16 - "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
1) If we love one another as we are commanded, it means that God lives in us and his love is made complete in us! And how do we know this? Because God has given us his Spirit.
In the book of John, chapter 20, verses 21 & 22 - “Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.”
2) Part of this love is acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God. By this passage we know that anyone who acknowledges Jesus as the Son of God, God lives in him.
3) A new aspect of God’s love that is presented here is this: God’s love can be relied on. When you need it, it’s there. Because God’s love is perfect love.
What can you take home from this today?
We know that if we choose, God will live in us. We can dwell in God’s presence daily. There are many religions in the world, but no other offers the opportunity to dwell with God. It’s a privilege that Christians often take for granted.
The taking of God’s love and grace for granted is expressed perfectly in Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, See the Glory.
When it comes to the Grace of God
Sometimes it’s like
I’m playing GameBoy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon
I’m eating candy sitting at a gourmet feast
I’m wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean
Tell me what’s the deal with me
Wake up and see the Glory
Don’t take this privilege for granted! Think about it, as Christians we get to hang out with the wisest, most loving, thoughtful, exceptional person… ever… forever!
I’d like you to think about something. Think for a moment about who, if given a choice, you would spend an entire day with. You could ask this person any question about anything and they’d be totally honest with you. Would it be Albert Einstein? Henry Ford? Johnny Appleseed?
I think I would choose to spend a day with James Dobson. I’d like to know what makes him so gifted in family relations, what makes him so blessed. I’d ask him so many questions and give him my undivided attention.
The things I could learn from him… it boggles the mind. But you know what? I – we – you already get to spend everyday with someone far more blessed, far more insightful, far more forgiving than James Dobson… every day!
Our God… the God… God… is absolutely amazing. There are those who wonder why we worship him. That question should not be too hard to answer. Once you understand God, you will know why you worship him. And after all he’s done for us, we owe him far more that we could ever give.
I’d like for all of you do something this week. Find a full sheet of blank paper. And make a list of all the things God has done for you. Write small, because if you are totally honest with yourself, that page will fill up pretty quickly. Continue to update it throughout the week as he blesses you.
And if you don’t know for sure, right now, why you worship God, you will by the end of the week.
As you do this keep in mind that:
God is love,
God sent His Son to die for you… because he loves you,
And, if you acknowledge Jesus Christ as the son of God, God lives in you.
