Love We Remember the SACRIFICE on Good Friday. We Celebrate the VICTORY on Easter
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Tis the Season…Love We remember the SACRIFICE on Good Friday. We celebrate the VICTORY on Easter. We celebrate the SENDING on Christmas Why did the Lord do these things? LOVE. Have you ever been disappointed? Someone you love made a bad choice? Ever met someone who was unlovable? What made them that way? Their actions! What made someone loveable? Their actions! The last three words of verse 8 form one of the most profound statements of the whole Bible and perhaps for many people today one of the hardest to believe. God is love. When we think of this ‘grubby tennis ball’ of a planet, set in the vast infinity of space, our own lives as just moments in the onward surge of time, and our individuality among countless millions, can we really talk meaningfully about God loving us? And when we look at the world with all its evil and suffering, so many damaged and broken lives, how can there be a God who really loves? Yet, John insists, this is the very nature of God. And if we are not to empty the word ‘God’ of all its meaning, we must realize that such an infinite yet personal Creator is not too great to be bothered with my tiny life. He is so great that he can be bothered with each of us individually. (Scott) Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 1 John 4:7-11 Why was the first century church so special? So, effective? AGAPE. Godly/Sacrificial Love. When it comes to our Faith…. You must live a life of love. What kind of love? Sacrificial love. AGAPE love. Hesed is not an emotional response to beauty, merit, or kindness but rather a moral attitude dedicated to another’s good, whether or not that other is lovable, worthy, or responsive (see Dt 7:7–9). Agape specifically means to love the undeserving, despite disappointment and rejection. Love is… Love is TOUGH - Sometimes we have to say NO because we KNOW that is best. Love is HARD - It isn’t easy to love someone who isn’t reciprocating that love. Marriage, for example, isn’t easy! It’s hard sometimes… Love is Sacrificial – As parents we sacrifice for our kids. We invest time, energy, finances, prayers, & tears… We put up with their teenager stuff & pray like crazy they grow out of it; assuming we don’t kill them first. Love is Intentional – Despite the pain, we love someone anyways. o It’s easier to do with family; kids in particular. But what about that terrible Boss? Jerk Neighbor? Stranger who cuts us off in the Dillon’s parking lot or leaves a big door ding on our new car? . But it is that intentionality that made us aware of the sacrificial love that Christ has for us. If the Lord had waited on us to be worthy, to make the first step….well it never would have happened! But Christ came to us! . Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. V. 10 Love is the Foundation of why God did what He did through Christ. God is Love (8b), but love is not God. Meaning, not all types of love is divine love. Can there be a wrong kind of love? ABSOLUTELY In my High school growing up we had several Seniors who ended up falling in “love” with their teachers & vice-versa… That is a wrong kind of “love.” o Not talking about a lust filled kind of love fueled by emotion & hormones. Not all love is Holy. Thus, not all love is ordained by God. o Calling immorality “love” does not make it holy or right in God’s eyes. o Church, God’s word is our standard that we live by & stand upon; not human emotion. God modeled the kind of love that He is please by & we need to exhibit. A holy & Sacrificial love. Christian love is different… V. 10 You must live a life of love for God & for Others…. You must live a life of love Example’s Christ gives for Love… Loving God. o Keeping commandments o Laying down life in sacrifice of the Lord Loving Others o Helping those in need o Sharing the world’s goods Application: Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. V. 11 Are you striving to love people the same way Christ loved you? Serving with BHI? Seeking out those who need love this season? Shut-ins. Someone who’s loved one has passed away. Invite a friend to a worship service. Most people become part of a church family because they’re invited by a friend. Are you striving to love people the same way Christ loved you? Closing question. Why does the church exist? “It is true, as has been said, that the church exists for those who are not yet members, but it is also true that the love among her members should be one of her most powerful magnets.” (Jackman) You must live a life of love Invitation: Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. V. 10 Propitiation: “Jesus perfect obedience and sacrificial death satisfied God’s just demand for sin to be punished.” (HCSB Study Bible) But that punishment was meant for others, who sinned, not for Himself. What God Is: “God Is Love” (1 John 4:7–8) This is the third of three expressions in John’s writings that help us understand the nature of God: “God is spirit” (John 4:24, NASB); “God is light” (1 John 1:5); and “God is love.” None of these is a complete revelation of God, of course, and it is wrong to separate them. God is spirit as to His essence; He is not flesh and blood. To be sure, Jesus Christ now has a glorified body in heaven, and one day we shall have bodies like His body. But being by nature spirit, God is not limited by time and space the way His creatures are. God is light. This refers to His holy nature. In the Bible, light is a symbol of holiness and darkness is a symbol of sin (John 3:18–21; 1 John 1:5–10). God cannot sin because He is holy. Because we have been born into His family, we have received His holy nature (1 Peter 1:14–16; 2 Peter 1:4). God is love. This does not mean that “love is God.” And the fact that two people “love each other” does not mean that their love is necessarily holy. It has accurately been said that “love does not define God, but God defines love.” God is love and God is light; therefore, His love is a holy love, and His holiness is expressed in love. All that God does expresses all that God is. Even His judgments are measured out in love and mercy (Lam. 3:22–23). Much that is called “love” in modern society bears no resemblance or relationship to the holy, spiritual love of God. Yet we see banners saying “God is love!” displayed at many festivals, particularly where young people are “doing their own thing”—as if one could dignify immorality by calling it “love.” Christian love is a special kind of love. First John 4:10 may be translated: “In this way is seen the true love.” There is a false love, and this kind of love God must reject. Love that is born out of the very essence of God must be spiritual and holy, because “God is spirit” and “God is light.” This true love is “poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5, NASB). Love, therefore, is a valid test of true Christian faith. Since God is love, and we have claimed a personal relationship with God, we must of necessity reveal His love in how we live. A child of God has been “born of God,” and therefore he shares God’s divine nature. Since “God is love,” Christians ought to love one another. The logic is unanswerable! Not only have we been “born of God,” but we also “know God.” In the Bible, the word know has a much deeper meaning than simply intellectual acquaintance or understanding. For example, the verb know is used to describe the intimate union of husband and wife (Gen. 4:1). To know God means to be in a deep relationship to Him—to share His life and enjoy His love. This knowing is not simply a matter of understanding facts; it is a matter of perceiving truth (cf. 1 John 2:3–5). We must understand “he that loveth not knoweth not God” (1 John 4:8) in this light.