True community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love by loving God and others...

Today, I would like to picking up where we left off last week, when we were looking at a section of this letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. Last week we discovered a timeless truth when it comes to connecting in true community in that true community and connection with Jesus is revealed by our response to God’s love. And in 1 John 4:15-21, we will see John reveal three different ways that true community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love.

First, in 1 John 4:15-16, we see John reveal for us the reality that true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by remaining connected with God in love. Then, in 1 John 4:17-18 we discovered that true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by rejecting the fear of final judgment.

We discovered that the person who remains in true community and connection with Jesus will respond to the love of God by becoming like Jesus and loving like Jesus. And as a result of becoming like Jesus and loving like Jesus as a result of remaining in community and connection with Jesus, that love will expel and cast out the slavish fear of punishment that can enslave humanity when  it comes to standing before God to give an account for how they lived their lives.

True community and connection with Jesus rejects the fear of final punishment because true community and connection with Jesus produces a true understanding of the love of God. True community and connection with Jesus rejects the fear of final punishment because true community and connection with Jesus produces a life that looks like Jesus and that loves like Jesus. True community and connection with Jesus rejects the fear of final punishment because true community and connection with Jesus produces a life of spiritual maturity where the love of God drives out and expels the fear of punishment by God.

Today we will see John conclude this section of his letter by revealing a third way that true community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love. So let’s discover that third way together, in 1 John 4:19-21:

We love, because He first loved us. ²⁰ If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

In verse 19, we see John remind the readers of his letter throughout history of a powerful and sobering truth: We love, because He first loved us. John is reminding the reader of his letter that they did not take the initiative to enter into a loving relationship with God. Instead it was God who took the initiative to pursue and rescue rebellious humanity so that they could have an opportunity to enter into a loving relationship with God.

John is revealing the reality that our love for God is a response to the love of God that He initiated toward us. The only reason we love God is because God took the initiative to love us. If God had not taken the initiative to lovingly pursue and rescue us, we would still be in hostility and opposition to God.

John reinforced this reality by making a powerful statement in the first part of verse 20: “If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar;”.  John’s statement, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today would have sounded something like this: If anyone claims to have a warm regard and interest in God that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with God but hates and detests other people, that person is a flat out liar.

John then provides the reason behind his sharp accusation in the rest of verse 20: “for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” In other words, John is basically saying if you are unwilling to demonstrate a warm regard and interest in those who are right in front of you so as to place them before yourself, who you see and have the opportunity to do so on a daily basis, then you cannot demonstrate that warm regard and interest in God, who you have not seen.

John here is hammering home the reality that we demonstrate our love for God by how we love and treat others. The timeless reality is that every human being is created in the image of God and bears the very thumbprint of God on their lives. And because of that reality, we reveal and reflect our love for God by how we love those around us. If we have a strong hatred to those around us who bear the image of God, we demonstrate that we have a strong hatred to God. The person who does not love his brother, who was created in the image of God and who he has seen, cannot possibly love God whom he has never seen.

John’s point is that followers of Jesus demonstrate the depth of their connection with the invisible God by how they treat the visible around them. John’s point is that the result of a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with Jesus is that God’s transforming love will produce love for those around them. John reinforces this reality in verse 21 by reminding them of the reality that “And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

John is reminding the readers of this letter that the commands and demands of Jesus find its true expression through the life of Jesus and through the life of followers of Jesus as they remain connected to God as they are mystically and spiritually united with Jesus. In other words, what it looks like to live a life of obedience to the commands and demands of Jesus is revealed by the life of Jesus and the life of followers of Jesus as they faithfully live in obedience to the commands in a close connection with Jesus. And one of the most powerful of these commands by Jesus is that followers of Jesus are to love God supremely and love others sacrificially.

And it is here that John reveals for us the reality that true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by loving God and others. The person who remains in true community and connection with Jesus will respond to the love of God by demonstrating that love in how they love and treat others. The person who remains in true community and connection with Jesus will respond to the love of God by loving God supremely and loving others sacrificially, because we show our love for God by how we love others. The timeless reality is that a person who is living in a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with Jesus cannot hate those who Jesus died for.

And because of that reality, here is a question to consider: What does the way you love and treat others reveal about your relationship and connection with Jesus? Does the way you treat others reflect a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with Jesus? Do you show your love for God by how you love others? Or do you reveal the reality of your lack of relationship and connection with Jesus by your lack of love for others?

Is your life characterized by a fear of what will happen to you at the end of your life? If the answer to that question is yes, then why are you afraid? Is it possible that the fear you are experiencing is the result of the things that you have done to hurt God and hurt others, which the Bible calls sin? Is it possible that you are experiencing fear because you do not have a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with God through believing, trusting, and following Jesus as your Lord and our leader?

Because, as we discovered, true community and connection with Jesus is revealed by our response to God’s love. True community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by remaining connected with God in love. True community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by rejecting the fear of final judgment. And true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by loving God and others…

True community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by rejecting the fear of final judgment...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. Yesterday we looked on as John revealed for us the timeless truth that true community and connection with Jesus is revealed by our response to God’s love. In 1 John 4:15-21, we will see John reveal three different ways that true community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love.

First, in 1 John 4:15-16, we see John reveal for us the reality that true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by remaining connected with God in love. The timeless reality is that, because God is love, the person who remains in true community and connection with Jesus will respond to the love of God by remaining in close community and connection with God. And because they remain in close community and connection with God, God ' close community and connection with them will produce a life of love towards God.

But not only does true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by remaining connected with God in love. As John continues this section of his letter, we see John reveal a second way that true community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love. So let’s discover that second way together, beginning in verse 17-18:

 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

Here we see John reveal the result that occurs in the life of a follower of Jesus who responds to God’s love by remaining connected with God in love.  John explains that by this, in other words by responding to God’s love by remaining connected to God in love, love is perfected with us.

As we discovered last week, the word perfected, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to overcome or replace an imperfect state by one that is perfect and free from objection. This word conveys the sense of something that happens to us that has an ongoing result in our lives. With this phrase, John is revealing for us the reality that responding to God’s love by remaining connected to God in love results in love growing to perfection in the life of a follower of Jesus.

John then explained that as a result of love growing to perfection by remaining connected to God in love, we may have confidence in the day of judgment. When John uses the word judgment here, he is referring to the end of God’s story on earth when humanity will stand before God to be judged by God. John’s point is that as a result of their love growing to perfection by remaining connected to God in love, followers of Jesus can have confidence when they stand before God at the end of God’s story here on earth, when they will be judged for how they lived their life here on earth.  

John then provided the reason why followers of Jesus would be able to stand before God with such confidence: because as He is, so also are we in this world. John’s point is that as followers of Jesus respond to God’s love by remaining connected to God in love, they increasingly become like Jesus and increasingly love like Jesus. And it is a life that loves and looks like Jesus that provides followers of Jesus confidence when they stand before God to give an account of how they lived their lives here on earth.

John reinforced this reality in verse 18 by proclaiming that there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. Now the word fear here conveys the sense of a fear that enslaves us to something, in this case punishment. John’s point here is that as a follower of Jesus responds to God’s love by remaining connected to God in love, as they increasingly become like Jesus and increasingly love like Jesus, that growing love will drive out the fear of punishment that can enslave humanity.

However, for the person who is still enslaved by fear when it comes to standing before God to give an account of their life, John explains that such a person is not perfected in love. In other words, the person who is enslaved by fear of punishment when it comes to standing before God has not grown in love to the point that that love replaces and overcomes such fear.

The person who fears judgment by God truly has not come to the place to truly understand the love of God. The person who fears judgment by God truly has not come to the place where they are living a life that looks like Jesus and that loves like Jesus. The person who fears judgment by God truly has not come to the place of maturity where the love of God drives out and expels the fear of punishment by God.

And it is here that John reveals for us the reality that true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by rejecting the fear of final judgment. The person who remains in true community and connection with Jesus will respond to the love of God by becoming like Jesus and loving like Jesus. And as a result of becoming like Jesus and loving like Jesus as a result of remaining in community and connection with Jesus, that love will expel and cast out the slavish fear of punishment that can enslave humanity when  it comes to standing before God to give an account for how they lived their lives.

True community and connection with Jesus rejects the fear of final punishment because true community and connection with Jesus produces a true understanding of the love of God. True community and connection with Jesus rejects the fear of final punishment because true community and connection with Jesus produces a life that looks like Jesus and that loves like Jesus. True community and connection with Jesus rejects the fear of final punishment because true community and connection with Jesus produces a life of spiritual maturity where the love of God drives out and expels the fear of punishment by God.

Friday, we will see John reveal a third way that true community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love…

True community and connection with Jesus is revealed by our response to God’s love...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Connect. During this series, we are looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. During this series, we are going to discover the components that make for true connection and community. During this series, we are going to discover the landmines and roadblocks that keep us from true connection and community. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our heads, hearts, and hands, in a way that moves us to the place where we can experience the connection and community with God and one another that we were created and designed to experience. 

This week I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of John, we will see John reveal for us another timeless truth when it comes to how we can experience the connection and community with God and one another that we were created and designed to experience. So let’s jump into the next section of this letter together, beginning in 1 John 4:15-16:

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Now to fully understand what John is communicating here, we first need to understand the context in which these verses appear in John’s letter. Last week, we looked on as John explained that followers of Jesus will arrive at the knowledge that they have a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with God as followers of Jesus as a result of the very presence of the Spirit of God in their lives.

As we have discovered in the past, it is the Holy Spirit who unites us and connects us in Jesus and who empowers us to live a life that looks like Jesus. And because of the very presence of the Spirit of God in their lives who connects followers of Jesus with Jesus and empowers followers of Jesus to live lives that look like Jesus, John proclaimed that “we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."

John’s point here is that he and other leaders in God’s new movement in history called the church had seen Jesus and had heard His message and teaching and wanted to declare publicly the truth of what they had witnessed. And what they had seen and heard firsthand was that Jesus was sent on a rescue mission by God to provide all humanity the opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God so that they could experience forgiveness and the relationship and connection with God that they were created for.

And it is in this context that John begins this section of his letter by making a statement designed to demonstrate how one may experience the relationship and connection in the relationship with God that they were created for. “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” Now, as we have talked about throughout this series, the word abide refers to someone who does not leave a certain realm or sphere of existence. This is the idea of remaining in community and connection with God as we are mystically and spiritually united in Jesus as followers of Jesus.

John’s point is that that the person who professes allegiance to the fact that Jesus is God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal Himself to humanity remains in close community and connection with God and God remains in close community and connection with them. John then reinforced his statement by reminding the readers of this letter throughout history that he and other leaders in God’s new movement in history called the church have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.

As we have talked about earlier in this series, the word know means to arrive at a knowledge of someone or something. This idea of knowing God is the idea of a past experience that has ongoing and continuing results. John is talking about someone who has entered into an understanding of God’s selfless, sacrificial, other-centered love that is an ongoing reality in their lives.

In addition, when John uses the word believed here, this word is the same word that is translated trust in our English Bibles. This word means to entrust oneself with complete confidence to someone or something, in this case the love which God has for us. And just like the word know, this conveys the sense of a past experience that has ongoing and continuing results. John is talking about someone who has placed their confident trust in God’s selfless, sacrificial, other-centered love in a way that is an ongoing reality in their lives.

John’s point here is that he, and other followers of Jesus who were leaders in God’s new movement in history called the church, lived lives that were driven by a knowledge and a confident trust in God’s selfless, sacrificial, other-centered love that was an ongoing reality in their lives. And because of such knowledge and trust in the love of God that was such an ongoing reality in their lives, John could proclaim that God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

John is reminding the readers of this letter of something that he had mentioned earlier in the letter, which is that God is the source of love. And because God is the source of love, therefore, God in His very nature and character is love. He is not loving, He is love. John’s point is that because God is love, the person who remains in close community and connection with a life of love reveals their close community and connection with God and God’s close community and connection with them.

And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to connecting in true community. And that timeless truth is this: True community and connection with Jesus is revealed by our response to God’s love.  Just as it was for followers of Jesus in John’s day; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, true community and connection with Jesus is revealed by our response to God’s love.

And in 1 John 4:15-21, we will see John reveal three different ways that true community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love. First, in 1 John 4:15-16, we see John reveal for us the reality that true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by remaining connected with God in love. The timeless reality is that, because God is love, the person who remains in true community and connection with Jesus will respond to the love of God by remaining in close community and connection with God. And because they remain in close community and connection with God, God ' close community and connection with them will produce a life of love towards God.

But not only does true community and connection with Jesus responds to God’s love by remaining connected with God in love. And tomorrow we will see John reveal a second way that true community and connection with Jesus will respond to God’s love…

Our love for one another in true community reveals our connection with God and God's love for humanity...

This week we have been looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. So far this week we have  looked on as John urged followers of Jesus throughout history to demonstrate a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others. John then provided two reasons behind his call for followers of Jesus throughout history to love one another. First, John explained that God is the source of love. And because God is the source of love, therefore, God in His very nature and character is love.

Second, John explained that the natural result of coming to a knowledge of God as a result Jesus making Himself known to us so that we become a part of the family of God is that we would love one another. John’s point is that those who have a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with Jesus will reflect that reality by a life that looks and loves like Jesus and that results in them being identified as being in relationship with God as part of the family of God.

By contrast, John explained that the one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In other words, the person who does not demonstrate a lifestyle that demonstrates a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others reveals the reality that they have not come to know and experience a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with God, because love is not simply something God does, love is something that God is.

John then revealed that God’s love and interest in us was made known and shown in the most powerful way when He sent His unique, one and only Son to earth on a mission. The mission that God gave His Son was a rescue mission so that humanity might have the opportunity to experience the forgiveness of sin and eternal relationship and connection with God through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

John revealed the reality that God did not send His Son Jesus because we loved God but just did not know how to love and live in relationship with God. No humanity selfishly wanted nothing to do with God. Humanity did not take the initiative to seek to love God. Instead, God took the initiative to demonstrate a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others by selflessly sending His Son Jesus to live the life we refused to live and to die on the cross, in our place, for our selfishness and rebellion, so that all humanity could have the opportunity to be forgiven of their selfishness and rebellion and experience the relationship and connection with God that they were created for.

And because of that example of selfless love that God provided by sending His Son Jesus on a rescue mission for humanity, John called the members of the church at Ephesus, who were very near and dear to his heart, to respond to God’s demonstration of His selfless and sacrificial love for humanity by fulfilling the obligation that they were under as a result of their relationship and connection with Jesus to demonstrate that same selfless love in their relationship with one another. John revealed the reality that when followers of Jesus live in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by a selfless and sacrificial love for one another, we reveal and reflect the very nature and character of God to the word around us. We see John reinforce this reality as he concluded this section of his letter in 1 John 4:12-14:

 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

Now what is so interesting is that when John states that no one has seen God at any time, this phrase conveys the sense of taking something in with one’s eyes is a way that results in one being impressed by what they see. John’s point is that no one has truly seen who God truly is. However, as John points out, when followers of Jesus demonstrate a warm regard and interest in God and others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others, two things occur.

First, when followers of Jesus love one another with such a selfless love, God abides in us. As we have talked about throughout this series, the word abide refers to someone who does not leave a certain realm or sphere of existence. This is the idea of remaining in connection and communion with God as we are mystically and spiritually united in Jesus as followers of Jesus. John’s point is that that the person who loves others as Jesus loved, would remain in close connection and communion with Jesus.

Second, when followers of Jesus love one another with such a selfless love, His love is perfected in us. The word perfected literally means to overcome or replace an imperfect state by one that is perfect and free from objection. This word conveys the sense of something that happens to us that has an ongoing result in our lives. With this phrase, John is revealing for us the reality that when followers of Jesus love one another with such a selfless love, the result is that their love for Jesus grows to perfection. John’s point is that that the person who loves others as Jesus loved will grow and mature in their love for Jesus.

John then explained to the members of the church at Ephesus, and followers of Jesus throughout history, that we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. In other words, followers of Jesus will arrive at the knowledge that they remain in connection and communion with God as followers of Jesus as a result of the very presence of the Spirit of God in their lives. As we have talked about in the past, it is the Holy Spirit who unites us and connects us in Jesus and who empowers us to live a life that looks like Jesus.

And because of the very presence of the Spirit of God in their lives who connects followers of Jesus with Jesus and empowers followers of Jesus to live lives that look like Jesus, John proclaimed that “we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." John’s point here is that he and other leaders in God’s new movement in history called the church had seen Jesus and had heard His message and teaching and wanted to declare publicly the truth of what they had witnessed. And what they had seen and heard firsthand was that Jesus was sent on a rescue mission by God to provide all humanity the opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God so that they could experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

And it is here that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to connecting in true community. And that timeless truth is this: Our love for one another in true community reveals our connection with God and God's love for humanity.  Just as it was for followers of Jesus in John’s day; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, our love for one another in true community reveals our connection with God and God's love for humanity.

The timeless reality is that, as followers of Jesus, we are to love one another because love is from God. As followers of Jesus we are to love one another because the natural result of coming to a knowledge of God as a result Jesus making Himself known to us so that we become a part of the family of God is that we would love one another.

The timeless reality is that a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with Jesus will reflect that reality by a life that looks and loves like Jesus and that results in being identified as being in relationship with God as part of the family of God. As followers of Jesus we are to love one another because when followers of Jesus love one another with such a selfless love, the result is that their love for Jesus will grow and mature. As followers of Jesus we are to love one another because when followers of Jesus love one another with such a selfless love, we reveal the reality that God is not loving, God is love. We reveal the reality that love is not something that God does. Instead love is something that God is.

And as followers of Jesus we are to love one another because God’s love and interest in us was made known and shown in the most powerful way when He sent His unique, one and only Son to earth on a mission. The mission that God gave His Son was a rescue mission so that humanity might have the opportunity to experience the forgiveness of sin and eternal relationship and connection with God through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. As followers of Jesus we are to love one another because when followers of Jesus live in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by a selfless and sacrificial love for one another, we reveal and reflect the very nature and character of God to the word around us.

So here is a question to consider: What does your love, or lack of love, for others reveal about your connection with God? What does your love, or lack of love, for others reveal about God’s love to others?

Because our love for one another in true community reveals our connection with God and God's love for humanity…

Does God love, or is God love?

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Connect. During this series, we are looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. During this series, we are going to discover the components that make for true connection and community. During this series, we are going to discover the landmines and roadblocks that keep us from true connection and community. And as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our heads, hearts, and hands, in a way that moves us to the place where we can experience the connection and community with God and one another that we were created and designed to experience. 

This week I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of John, we will see John reveal for us another timeless truth when it comes to connecting in community. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in 1 John 4:7-8:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

John begins this section of his letter by renewing his call for the members of the church at Ephesus, and followers of Jesus throughout history, to love one another. As we have talked about throughout this series, when John uses the word love here, this word refers to a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others. John here is urging followers of Jesus throughout history to demonstrate a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others.

John then provides two reasons behind his call for followers of Jesus throughout history to love one another. First, John explains that followers of Jesus are to love one another because love is from God. With this phrase, John is revealing the reality that that God is the source of love. And because God is the source of love, therefore, God in His very nature and character is love. You see, God is not loving, God is love. Love is not something that God does. Instead love is something that God is.

Second, John explains that followers of Jesus are to love one another because everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. As we discovered earlier in this series, when John uses the phrase born of God, here is revealing for us the reality that when we respond to Jesus making Himself known to us by placing our confident trust in Him and recognizing and acknowledging who He is by accepting Him as being large and in charge of our lives, we become a part of the family of God.

Becoming a part of the family of God as a child of God is solely the result of God’s transformational activity in our lives. It is only through God’s transformational activity in our lives that flows from His desire to bring us into an eternal relationship with Him that results in us becoming a child of God as a part of the family of God.

John’s point is that the natural result of coming to a knowledge of God as a result Jesus making Himself known to us so that we become a part of the family of God is that we would love one another. John’s point is that those who have a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with Jesus will reflect that reality by a life that looks and loves like Jesus and that results in them being identified as being in relationship with God as part of the family of God.

By contrast, John explains that the one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In other words, the person who does not demonstrate a lifestyle that demonstrates a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others reveals the reality that they have not come to know and experience a genuine and authentic relationship and connection with God, because love is not simply something God does, love is something that God is. And, as we discovered earlier in this series, just as a child takes on the characteristics of their parent, a child of God will naturally take on that characteristics of God. And one of those defining characteristics, if not the defining characteristic of God, is love.

And as John continued this section of his letter, we see John transition to provide an example for followers of Jesus to follow when it come so how they were to demonstrate a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others. So let’s look at that example together, beginning in verse 9-11:

 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Now to fully understand what John is communicating here, we first need to understand a few things. The first things that we need to understand is what John means when he uses the word manifested. This word literally means to cause something to become known. John is explaining that the love of God was manifested, or made known in us, in that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

Now that leads us to the next thing that we need to understand, which is what John means when he uses the word sent. What is so interesting is that the word sent, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to dispatch someone for the achievement of some objective.

And then there is this church mumbo jumbo talk word begotten. You see, we often hear people use the word begotten in church when they refer to Jesus, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself what the word begotten really means? This word begotten literally refers to something that is the only one of its kind or its class. So when John uses the word begotten, he is revealing for us the reality that Jesus is unique; there is no other. There is only one son of God and His name is Jesus.

John’s point here is that God’s love and interest in us was made known and shown in the most powerful way when He sent His unique, one and only Son to earth on a mission. The mission that God gave His Son was a rescue mission so that humanity might have the opportunity to experience the forgiveness of sin and eternal relationship and connection with God through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

John here is reminding the readers of this letter throughout history of the reality that love is a verb and that God’s love is demonstrated and made known through His activity in history through His Son Jesus Christ. You see, unlike our culture, which views and talks about love as though it were a noun, the letters that make up the Bible talks about love as a verb. Here is a clear and simple definition of love that the John is talking about here: Love is giving someone what they need most when they deserve it the least. Biblical, selfless, sacrificial, other centered love actively gives someone what they need the most when they deserve it the least. And it is that love that was made known to us by God through the sending of His Son Jesus on a rescue mission for us.

John reinforces this reality is verse 10 by stating that in this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Now when John uses the word propitiation here, this is a church mumbo jumbo talk words that refers to satisfying God’s right response to selfishness and rebellion in a way that removes the selfishness and rebellion. The word propitiation simply means that God’s right and just response to our selfish rebellion and sin was satisfied through Jesus death on the cross.

In addition, Jesus death on the cross, in our place, for our selfishness and rebellion removes the guilt that comes as a result of our selfishness and rebellion. You see, Jesus death on the cross provides us salvation because Jesus death alone satisfies God’s justice and removes humanities guilt that results from selfishness, sin, and rebellion.

John here is revealing the reality that God did not send His Son Jesus because we loved God but just did not know how to love and live in relationship with God. No humanity selfishly wanted nothing to do with God. Humanity at best only wanted to use God to satisfy what they truly loved, which was to satisfy their own selfish desires. But to use someone to get something is not to truly love someone, is it?

No humanity did not take the initiative to seek to love God. Instead, God took the initiative to demonstrate a warm regard and interest in others that is marked by a selflessness in their relationship with others by selflessly sending His Son Jesus to live the life we refused to live and to die on the cross, in our place, for our selfishness and rebellion, so that all humanity could have the opportunity to be forgiven of their selfishness and rebellion and experience the relationship and connection with God that they were created for.

And because of that example of selfless love that God provided by sending His Son Jesus on a rescue mission for humanity, in verse 11 we see John urge followers of Jesus throughout history by stating “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." As we have seen throughout this series, when John uses the word beloved, this word is a term of endearment of how John felt about the members of the church at Ephesus. In addition, when John uses the word ought, this word means to be under obligation to meet certain moral or social expectations.

John here is calling the members of the church at Ephesus, who were very near and dear to his heart, to respond to God’s demonstration of His selfless and sacrificial love for humanity by fulfilling the obligation that they were under as a result of their relationship and connection with Jesus to demonstrate that same selfless love in their relationship with one another. John is revealing for us the reality that when followers of Jesus live in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by a selfless and sacrificial love for one another, we reveal and reflect the very nature and character of God to the word around us.

Friday, we will see John reinforce this reality…

A second test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God...

This week we have been looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 John. We looked on as John revealed for us a timeless truth when it comes to connecting in true community in true community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test what we are taught by others.

As followers of Jesus, we are not just to gullibly trust everyone who claims to be speaking for God. Instead of gullibly trusting that everyone who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God, as followers of Jesus, we are to critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they are genuinely speaking on behalf of God.

We looked on as John provided the first of two different tests that the readers of his letter throughout history were to employ to critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they were genuinely speaking on behalf of God. John explained that a person can arrive at the knowledge, that someone who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is actually speaking on behalf of God by the content of their message.

As followers of Jesus, we are to ask "Does the content of the message being taught proclaim and pledge allegiance to Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?"  Or "Does content of the message being taught deny and reject Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?"

 But not only does the content of the message being taught provide a timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. We see John provide a second test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. So let’s discover that test together, beginning in 1 John 4:4-6:

 ⁴ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Now to fully understand what John is communicating in these verses, we first need to define some terms. First, when John uses the word overcome, this word conveys the sense of an action that has ongoing results. John was pointing the members of the church at Ephesus to the reality that, as followers of Jesus, their identity is that of one who has the victory over the spirit of those who oppose Jesus and that influence the words of the false prophets and their attempt to keep them from the relationship that they were created for with Jesus Christ.

In addition, when John uses the phrase “because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” this phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would sound something like this: greater is the Holy Spirit who is in you than the spirit of rebellion and opposition to God and His kingdom that influence and empower the false prophets who place themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God". John’s point is that the victory over the spirit of those who oppose Jesus and that influence the words of the false prophets that they have achieved is the direct result of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. John’s point is that it is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that enabled the members of the church at Ephesus to overcome the influence of the false teachers and their attempts to influence them to abandon the message and teaching of Jesus to instead embrace their false teaching.

John then continued to expose the false teachers in verse 5 by explaining that they are from the world. As we discovered earlier in this series, when John refers to the word world here, he is referring to those things in the world system around us that are hostile to God and that place themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God. And because they are a part of the world system around us that is hostile to God and places themselves in opposition to God, John explained that they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. John’s point is that as these false teachers, who claimed to be speaking on behalf of God, spoke a message that was in opposition to God, those in the world who were also in opposition to God would pay attention to their message and would embrace their message.

By contrast, John explained in verse 6 that he and other leaders of the early church who were communicating the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel were from God. And as John and other early followers of Jesus communicated the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, those who were influenced by the Spirit of God would pay attention to their message and embrace the message. However, those who were in opposition to God would not pay attention or embrace the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

By this, John explained, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. In other words, the truth of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that was being communicated by John and early followers of Jesus who were influenced by the Holy Spirit would be received and embraced by those who were also influenced by the Holy Spirit. However, the false teaching that was being communicated by the false teachers who claimed to be speaking for God but were in fact influenced by spiritual beings who were opposed to God would be received and embraced by those who embraced the same spirit of rebellion and opposition to God and the kingdom of God.

And here we see John reveal a second timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. And that test is this: What is the response that the message that we are being taught requires?

Is the response to the message being taught a response that proclaims and pledges allegiance to Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?  Or is the response to the message being taught a response that denies and rejects Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?

Because the timeless reality is that true community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test what we are taught by others. True community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test the content of the message that we are being are taught by others. And true community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test the response the message that we are being are taught by others requires.

True community and connection with God is not a passive endeavor that is driven by a desire to be entertained. True community and connection with God is an active endeavor that is driven by a desire to become like Jesus as we actively engage in the kingdom mission we have been given by Jesus.

So here is a question to consider: Are you gullibly trusting everything that you are being taught by others?  Or are you putting to the test what you are being taught by others?  Because that is what true community and connection with God requires of you...

A timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of John. Yesterday we looked on as John commanded the members of the church at Ephesus to not just gullibly trust everyone who claimed to be speaking for God.

Instead of gullibly trusting that everyone who claimed to be speaking on behalf of God was genuinely speaking on behalf of God, John commanded the members of the church to critically examine the claims of those who were claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they were genuinely speaking on behalf of God. We discovered a timeless truth when it comes to connecting in true community in that true community and connection with God and others requires that we put to the test what we are taught by others.

The timeless reality is that there are many people who claim to speak on behalf of God. There are many people who claim to have a message from God when it comes to how one can experience true community and connection with God. And because of that reality, as followers of Jesus, we are not just to gullibly trust everyone who claims to be speaking for God.

Instead of gullibly trusting that everyone who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God, as followers of Jesus, we are to critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they are genuinely speaking on behalf of God. Now a natural question that could arise at this point is “Well Dave that sounds great, but how exactly are we supposed to do that?  How are we to critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they are genuinely speaking on behalf of God?

If that question is running through your mind, I just want to let you know that you are asking a great question. And fortunately for us we see John answer that question in what he says next. So let’s look at what John says next, in 1 John 4:2-3:

² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Here we see John provide the first of two different tests that the readers of his letter throughout history were to employ to critically examine the claims of those who are claiming to speak on behalf of God in order to determine whether or not they were genuinely speaking on behalf of God. First John explained that a person can arrive at the knowledge, that someone who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is actually speaking on behalf of God by the content of their message.

John stated that the person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God and who teaches a message that proclaims and pledges allegiance to Jesus being God in a bod who entered into humanity to appear and reveal Himself to humanity is actually speaking on behalf of God. By contrast, the person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God and who teaches a message that proclaims and pledges allegiance to a message that denies and rejects Jesus as being God in a bod is not speaking on behalf of God.

Instead, John states that the person who teaches a message that proclaims and pledges allegiance to a message that denies and rejects Jesus as being God in a bod is speaking on behalf of the spirit of the antichrist. Now your immediate response to John’s statement is “what does that even mean?”

Earlier in this letter, we looked on as John explained to the members of the church at Ephesus that, just as it is for us today, they were part of the final and climactic chapters of God’s story on earth. And as part of that story there will be those who will stand as adversaries to Jesus Christ and his kingdom.

John explained that while the Antichrist, which is the last great world leader who will place Himself in opposition to God and His kingdom mission that we read about in the Book of Revelation has not yet appeared, there are already present those who possess the same spirit as the spirit of the antichrist and are adversaries to God and His kingdom mission. And these antichrists will be present until Jesus comes again. As we get closer to the end of God’s story on earth the adversaries of Jesus Christ will continue to become more and more hostile to the kingdom of God.

John is calling the members of the church at Ephesus, and followers of Jesus throughout history, to recognize the spirit of the antichrist who oppose God and the kingdom of God by their false teaching that denies and rejects Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah. Here we see John reveal a timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. And that test is this: What is the content of the message that we are being taught?

Does the content of the message being taught proclaim and pledge allegiance to Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?  Or does content of the message being taught deny and reject Jesus as being God in a bod who entered into humanity to reveal and explain God and rescue humanity from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God?

But not only does the content of the message being taught provide a timeless test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God. We see John provide a second test to determine whether or not a person who claims to be speaking on behalf of God is genuinely speaking on behalf of God.

Friday we will discover that test together…