Sermon Central
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Take A Good Look At The Love Of God Series
Contributed by Rick Crandall on Dec 24, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Behold the Father's love... 1. Because it helps us appreciate His affection (1a). 2. Because it helps us understand the world's rejection (vs. 1b). 3. Because it helps give us comfort in hard times (vs. 2a). 4. Because it promises our future perfection (vs. 2b).
Take a Good Look at the Love of God
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Series: The First Epistle of John
(Prepared December 24, 2023)
BACKGROUND:
*Before we begin our study today, let me remind you that the Apostle John was a very old man by the time he wrote this letter. Bible scholars estimate that it was written between 85 and 100 A.D. John Phillips explained that John was "feeling the weight of his years and aware that his days on earth were about done. A godly life lay behind him and a very long memory thrilled him. His native land of Israel was far away, for John now lived in Ephesus, a pagan city on the edge of the European world. Just as Jesus had prophesied, Israel had been crushed by the Roman army. Jerusalem had fallen, the Temple had been destroyed, and Jewish national life had basically ended.
*Also by this time, dangerous heresies were spreading spiritual poison in God's churches. For example, some false teachers denied the divinity of Christ. Others denied the humanity of Christ. And John denounced these false teachings in the strongest possible way, so one of the greatest themes in this letter is the truth of the Gospel. (1)
*Another great theme is God's kind of agape love. It's the kind of love that God has for us, and the kind of love God wants us to have for one another. We know that agape love is one of God's greatest priorities, because the original words show up 51 times this very short letter.
*Now, as we begin chapter three, a third great theme is the transforming power of Jesus Christ. God's Son can turn any sinner into a saint, if they will put their trust in our crucified and risen King, if they will receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. With this background in mind, lets' read 1 John 3:1-2 to behold the great love of the only true and living God.
MESSAGE:
*What’s the best thing you have seen today? There are many ways that we could answer that question. But, without a doubt, the best thing we Christians have seen today is the amazing love of our Father in Heaven. I say this because everything else good or beautiful, helpful, or encouraging we have seen today can ultimately be traced back to the love of God.
*And in vs. 1 John urged us to "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us." This is the amazing love that God has already poured out on us through the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And God wants us to see it. "Behold," John urged. And the original word for "behold" means to take a good, long look at God's love. Inspect it. Examine it. Study it.
*The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon pointed out that this word "behold" is here because this is such an important portion of God's Word, and the Holy Spirit wants us to pay special attention to it. It's as if the Holy Spirit says, 'Stop here! I have put up a big flashing sign to tell you that there is something exceedingly important here." John Gill said we are to look at the Father's love "by faith, with wonder and astonishment at His matchless blessing of grace." God wants all Christians to keep focused on His amazing love for us, and today's Scripture helps us see why. (2)
1. FIRST: BEHOLD THE FATHER'S LOVE, BECAUSE IT HELPS US APPRECIATE HIS AFFECTION.
*As John wrote in vs. 1, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!" William MacDonald pointed out that God's "love for us could have saved us without making us His children. But how very much more God the Father show's His love by bringing believers into His family as children!" (3)
*Back in John 3:16 Jesus told us that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." But here the Apostle John talks about the special love that God the Father has given to everyone who has received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!"
*It's important for us to understand that God the Father was seldom revealed or referred to in the Old Testament. John Phillips said that "Father" was practically a new name for God, in the way that Jesus used it and taught us to use it. Let me also tell you that Dr. Ralph Wilson found only ten verses in the Old Testament that referred to God as "Father."
