Herein Is Love
1John 4:7-12
Intro.
John never gets far from this basic truth in his teachings. I think sometimes we make far too little of this teaching on love, and we feel like John may have made too much of it. It is found in every dostrine, in every action and in every thought concerning God and his people.
John teaches many great truths in his epistles but he always tempers the intolerance of God with this great truth, he loves his children.
I. God Is Love:
What a tremendous statement, he can actual sum up God in this one word. You and I would have probably said God is grace, or mercy or some other descriptive word. But, love, that just seems too simple to encompass the almighty God of the universe with such a simple word. And yet we have to realize even though that John penned the words they are in reality God’s words.
The word used here is agape; the other word for love in the scriptures is phileo. The word agape indicates a love without any strings attached. Phileo is brotherly love, the city of Philadelphia is so called because it was said to be the city of brotherly love. The other word for love is not found in the scriptures although it is certainly alluded to in both the Old and the New Testament. It is sexual love.
We live in a world where love is something that we receive and then return it is hard for us to imagine this type of love. It is a love that a man should have for his wife, in other words he loves her even if she burns the toast.
Friends love one another because they enjoy each other’s company. This is the phileo love or brotherly love. They probably enjoy one another’s company; they have things in common, sports, fishing and hunting or the like.
Jesus said we are to love one another just as he loves us. In Jn.13:34-35, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Paul said in, Eph 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”
Putting these two verses together we are faced with a truth almost too large to handle. If I am to love my wife just as Christ loved the church, and I am to love my Christian brothers as Christ loved us, this is certainly a high calling for the child of God, and I don’t think God was kidding about it.
Let me quickly say that for me to love you as I love my wife is not possible. But the point of this is that we are to love each other without any strings attached, and brothers without the power of God in our lives that is absolutely impossible.
For clarification at least in some degree we have to go to 1Cor. 13, here the agape is translated charity. For many years I pondered over the reason that the word charity was used. Here is the conclusion that I came to. Love is an action word it is not what we feel but how we act towards the person. We are to treat them in love.
In Matt we are instructed by Jesus to love our enemies, and friend that is not possible without the strength of God and knowing that it is an action word we are to treat our enemies with love. Feed him if he is hungry and give him to drink if he thirsts.
Christians are to love one another in spite of differences; with some it is harder to fellowship than it is with others. It’s hard to carry on a conversation with some, I find that many of them want to talk about sports I don’t mind listening. We are to have Christ Jesus as our common denominator.
1. Born Of God:
Only those born of God can know this love one for another. Jesus said, “By this shall they know you are my disciples.”
Being born again does not make you love, but it gives you the strength you need to love one another. We can be as contankerous as we want to be or we can be as loving as we should be. We generally choose the wrong one.
But God continues to mold us and to santify us until we truly love one another. However we must realize without this love being manifest there is no fellowship with him.
2. Our Love For One Another Shows Our Love For Him:
We cannot do anything to or for Jesus that will show how much we love him, the only way that we can show it is by loving one another.
Matt 25:37-40, “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
This is really the only way we can show forth our love for God, when we come to church do we show our love for him? We really come to show our love to God by loving each other.
Heb 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
I have to conclude if we really love our Lord we have to show it by loving one another. And if we show no love one to another then we can conclude that we have no love for our Lord.
II. God’s Love Is Manifested: (v. 9,10)
“Herein is love”, John is saying if you are unfamiliar with love look here, here is what it is, or if you think you understand love, let me show you what it is so you can compare.
We can journey to Calvary over and over and we will return with our cups full and over flowing. When we are down and so discouraged that we feel no one cares what happens to us, then we journey out to Calvary, for, “herein is love.”
I believe that there is no other place where we can go and see displayed man’s total depravity, and certainly proof that, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” But also we find here, “where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound.”
Herein is love, look Isaiah said, speaking for God, “Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 45:22, Look unto Calvary, for, “herein is love.”
Come in closer, look there upon the center cross, One who has no sin, that even guile was not found in his mouth, why does he that knew no sin hang yonder upon that tree? “Herein is love.”
See displayed his love even for the one malfactor hanging upon the cross beside of him. We cannot comprehend a love so great as he shows us here, without any strings attached.
All true love must look to the example for the ideal, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.”
“Herein is love,” that Jesus Christ our Lord was our propitiation, dying to appease the Father and reconcile his people to him. With this as our example, V. 11 says, “If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
(v. 12) “His love is perfected in us.” We are the targets, but also this love is manifested in our hearts toward one another is the true goal, that Jesus can love others through us. This does not mean that he is limited in any way. But his goal for our life is that we are to be vessels of love for one another and to show the world that “our redeemer liveth.”
Oh how we should desire to show Jesus how much we love him, and we can do it by loving one another.
