WEBVTT 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:09.039 Well, as a preacher of God's word, a tool of teaching I appreciate is repetition. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:18.079 Uh years ago, when I was still living in California, I got my real estate license, even though I never sold a single house, but that's another story for another day. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:28.399 Um, but to study for the state exam, I bought a book and found out that the author of the book had an audio version of him reading the book, the study book, to prepare for the state exam. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:29.920 And so I downloaded the audio. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.200 And at the time I was working a job where I was traveling all over the place in a van for my shifts. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:46.399 And I would just listen to the book over and over again to the point where when I took the state exam, I would read a question, I could like hear the guy's voice in my head reading a chapter from the book and ended up passing the exam. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:51.840 And I often jokingly tell people repetition as a teaching tool is ordained by God. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:01:07.280 And where I get that from is Peter, when he is speaking to the church in Asia Minor, that he is encouraging in the faith, he's teaching them sound doctrine and the gospel, he says this because he is anticipating, they're probably at some point going to be like, Peter, you've already taught us this. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:14.879 He says, Therefore, I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:20.959 I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent to wake you up with a reminder. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:27.040 Peter's essentially saying, as long as I'm breathing, I'm gonna keep giving you guys the same gospel truth that you need. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:36.959 When you look at 1 John chapter 4, 7 through 21, the word love or loves, love together, the concept of love shows up over 27 times. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:44.640 So whenever you see something repetitiously show up in the text of scripture, you should take note of it because obviously the author is making a clear point. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:50.799 The dominant theme of this chapter in these verses is God is love. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.079 And what I want us to look at this morning is two things. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:02:02.959 Number one, well, the big idea I want us to focus on that I think captures these verses is that the love that saved you was never meant to stop with you. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:13.280 So what we'll see in John's letter here is that God's love is meant to, yes, save us, but then it's also meant to produce something in us. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:19.280 So the love that saved you was never meant to just stop with you, it was meant to flow out from you. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:29.520 And John even uses our understanding of God's love and our practice of God-empowered love as a test as whether or not someone truly is a child of God. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:42.159 And so I'm gonna not necessarily walk through verse by verse and unpack every single verse in this, but rather I want to like just hold up that dominant theme of God is love, and then look at the imperative of that. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:46.479 What are we to do in light of being God's child? 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.319 As uh Taylor read for you guys, you can use the pew Bible in front of you. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:54.639 If you do not own a Bible, please take that Bible home with you as a gift from us to you. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:59.840 The big number is the chapters, and the smaller numbers are the verses if you would like to follow along. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:03.439 But let's start with what does it mean that God is love? 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:10.240 If you've been a Christian for any length of time, we use a lot of terminology that we're very common, or that's very common, we're very familiar with. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.439 We all would amen, like God is love, Christians should love. 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:18.960 But I think sometimes we can take those things for granted and not really sit with those and think, well, what does that mean? 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.800 Like what does it mean to say that God is love? 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:34.080 Because notice John does not say God has love, or that God is like 75% love, or that God does loving things, though that is true, but he makes a pretty strong statement. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:36.400 He says, no, God is love. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.919 Well, let's start with what it does not mean. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:41.919 I always find that helpful. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:56.960 And I try to condense myself here because I could I could preach a whole series on what does it not mean that God is love, but here's a few that I think some people can get trapped in, especially in our culture, of how people might think about God and his love. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:02.159 God being loved does not mean that God loves you because you're lovable. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:06.240 That is not what John means when he says, God is love. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:07.520 Let's just be honest, right? 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:12.400 There was nothing about you that made you worth loving on the father's end. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:13.680 Just receive that this morning. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:14.719 I know it's humbling. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:23.920 But God did not look at any of us, if you're a Christian this morning and say, you know what, I'm gonna save them because of blank, or because they're gonna be really great at this. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.680 No, he does not love because any of us are lovable. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.160 I mean, according to Romans, he died while we were what? 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:34.160 Sinners, enemies, rebels to his will. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:40.319 The statement that God is love doesn't mean total acceptance and no questions asked. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:47.120 I think people in society are drawn to, you know, the Bible's a big book, 66 books made into one. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:54.800 And I think most people who have like cultural Christianity will affirm two truths, rather, out of the Bible. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.199 God is love and do not judge. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.879 Like that's most American Christians' entire knowledge of the Bible. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.519 God is love and don't judge. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:05.680 And here's what they actually mean by that. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:10.160 A loving God, they say, would never judge you for anything. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:16.240 A loving God would never oppose what makes you feel loved or what affirms you. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:20.079 He just accepts you exactly as you are. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:26.959 So judging anybody for anything becomes one sin that we can commit. 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:30.160 But that's not what John means when he says that God is love. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:37.360 God is not some affirming deity in the sky just rubber stamping everyone's desires and identity. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:42.959 But third, it doesn't mean that God will never judge. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:49.600 We act like love and judgment can't be two things true at the same time in the heart of God. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:55.759 We tend to think God is either loving or he's a judge, but he can't be both. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:57.839 But that makes no sense. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:06.319 If you watched a court case and you saw someone was guilty of a serious crime, and the judge said, Well, love is love. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.439 I just affirmed this person and what they did. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.360 I can't judge because then I wouldn't be loving. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:16.240 We would all say, Well, that's an unjust judge lacking the love of justice. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.600 God can be both loving and a righteous, holy judge at the same time. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:31.360 So we gotta we gotta be careful here because I do think for right now, for example, in our cultural moment, if you disagree with someone, it's almost like you're you're evil. 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:36.319 Because we have no category for, well, I can still love you, but agree to disagree with you. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:45.600 No, love in our culture is no, you must affirm everything I believe to be true, everything I want to do, everything I want to believe in, every decision I make about how I want to live my life. 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:49.360 And if you say anything opposite of that, you're actually doing me harm. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.120 Oh, now I'm triggered. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:56.720 So now we live in a culture where everybody is ultra sensitive because we don't know what truth is. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.160 God can be loving and a judge. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:09.680 So then what does and you know the danger there too is that is a subtle way of us as humanity projecting onto God a human understanding of what love is. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:22.800 So instead of coming to the scriptures and saying, God, teach me who you are, how you operate, how you are loving and holy and a just judge, instead we say, I will project onto you what type of God you should be. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:28.079 I've heard even loving Christians make statements about, well, my God would never do that. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.639 Well, he probably wouldn't because he's not the God of the Bible. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:31.680 He's your God. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.759 So yes, your God wouldn't do that. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:38.720 But the God of Scripture does do that according to his word. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:45.360 So what does it mean then when John says that God is love? 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.920 Well, let me just highlight a few aspects of that statement. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:54.720 Number one, God's love is an initiating love. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.439 He made the first move. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:02.720 You didn't get God's attention, he gave you his attention. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:04.000 Think about that. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.360 Before the foundations of the earth, he set his affections on you. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:15.920 If you're in Christ this morning, uh in the same vein, I would say, secondly, God's love is a electing love or an eternal love. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:17.519 Think about this. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:24.480 He knew everything about you before you even dawned on this universe, and he still chose you. 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:29.360 Before you existed, God put his love on you. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:38.320 Uh, you can turn here if you want, but just real quick, Ephesians chapter 2, it's one of the most beautiful passages highlighting God's electing eternal love. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:42.320 Friends, if you're in Christ this morning, this is your testimony. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:47.200 Ephesians chapter 1, beginning in verse 3. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:55.840 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:04.399 For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in love before him. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:12.480 He predestined fancy way of saying he chose us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:13.440 Why? 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:22.240 According to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the beloved one. 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:34.480 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:36.399 Friends, that is your testimony. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:41.440 Before the foundations of the earth, that is what God did for you. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:43.039 He chose you. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:45.759 I love how Spurgeon talks about this. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:53.919 He says, I believe the doctrine of election because I am quite certain that if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen him. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:00.320 And I am sure he has chosen me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:11.600 And he must have elected me before reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:13.759 Praise God. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:19.200 That is the type of eternal electing love that God has set on you. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:25.519 This is why it is so dangerous when some people believe that salvation works by well, and I used to believe this before I was a Christian. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.080 I used to think, well, you know, I'll become a Christian when I'm like 40. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.519 Like I'll take, which is like around the corner for me now, but I used to think, you know what? 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:37.200 When I'm older, then you know, I'll take Christianity seriously. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:38.960 But until then, like I gotta work on myself. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:42.879 I gotta clean myself up a little bit so that when I hit 40, I'm like more presentable to God. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.080 Like that is foolishness, that is self-righteousness. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:50.720 No, God chose us before the foundations of the earth. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:54.480 God's love is an electing love, an eternal love. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:58.399 But third, God's love is a powerful love. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:04.320 Nothing in creation is strong enough to sever God's love for his children. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:05.840 Nothing. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:07.840 That's what Romans A is getting at. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:18.799 Paul is essentially saying there is nothing in creation, in the spiritual realm or in the earthly realm, that is more powerful than God's saving love towards you, the Christian. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:20.799 It is a powerful love. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:26.080 And not only is it powerful to keep you, but it's powerful to destroy the power of sin in you. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.559 Only God's love could do that. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.240 But God's love is also unchanging. 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:35.840 And friends, I think this one's a little neglected for a lot of us. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:42.240 God's love is unchanging, means he doesn't love you more on his good weeks and less on his bad weeks. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:44.799 It doesn't mean like God's love is like a vibe. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:52.399 Next year, like, ooh, like, you know, you're giving ick kind of thing, right? 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.440 Like that's not that's not God's love. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:56.960 His love is unchanging. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:57.600 Think about that. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:11:59.679 Imagine if God's love was like us. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.960 Imagine if it could ebb and flow, right? 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:07.519 Depending on how you treat me, my love for you might change. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.720 No, God's love is an unchanging love. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.000 It's a done deal. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:14.480 There's nothing you can do to make God love you more. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:17.600 There's nothing you can do to make God love you less. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:25.360 Now, don't get me wrong, on our end of the equation, we can ebb and flow in our experience of God's love. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:37.360 If you're running towards sin, you might not experientially feel the potency, so to speak, or or the uh the power of God's love, but on his end, it hasn't changed one bit. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:42.399 Because even the sins we commit, Jesus died for 2,000 years ago. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:50.159 This is why I commonly say, if you're in Christ, whenever you confess sin to the Savior, you should never be ashamed because you're confessing forgiven sin. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:53.840 He already knows about it, he already has dealt with it on the cross. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:07.519 You're going to him to talk about something he has already dealt with, which should motivate us to run to him in our confession because he's the one who gave us our healing from the power and effect of sin. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.200 So God's love is an initiating love. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:12.480 He moved towards you. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:14.320 You didn't first move towards him. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:20.960 God's love is an electing love, he set his love upon you before he created a single atom in this universe. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:23.679 And God's love is a powerful love. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:30.639 There's nothing more powerful than his love, which means nothing can separate you, sever you from his love. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.600 And God's love is an unchanging love. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:35.039 It never changes. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:36.399 He never loves you more. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:38.639 He never loves you less. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.519 These are some of the things I believe he's getting at. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.240 John is getting at when he says that God is love. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:46.480 And again, it's important to understand. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:53.360 This is a, like if you really want to geek out, it's a fun study to just look at what theologians would call the attributes of God. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:56.559 And then there's the incommunicable and communicable attributes of God. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:08.399 But there are things about God's attributes that can get a little tricky when we as humans try to study them because theologians try to compartmentalize like God is holy, God is just, God is love, God is good, and those are all helpful categories. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:13.759 But we can't fully wrap our minds around the character and attributes and power of God. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:15.039 Like just think about it. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:24.399 Like I think we can tend to think of God as like, you know, a diagram where it's like, okay, he's 25% love, he's 25% holy, he's 25% good, and then it all equals 100. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:25.679 And it's like, no, no, no, no. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:29.360 Like God's love embodies his holiness. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.519 His holiness embodies his love. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:37.120 God's love is embodied in his justice, and justice is mirrored in his love. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:38.799 They are interconnected. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:43.919 I understand why the scriptures say God's ways are above our ways, his thoughts are above our thoughts. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.159 But that shouldn't stop us from studying theology. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:50.480 It is, I remember the first book I ever read as a Christian outside the Bible. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:54.320 Someone introduced me to a uh volume one of a series in systematic theology. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:55.519 Never heard that phrase before. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:56.559 I had no idea what that was. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:00.000 Never read a book other than The Hobbit when I was in seventh grade. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:05.200 And I could not put that book down because I was just learning all these great things about God. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:06.320 I couldn't even pronounce the words. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:07.519 God's omni omni. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:08.000 What? 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:09.120 He knows everything? 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:12.080 He's everywhere present, he never changes. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:16.320 I didn't know any of these things because I didn't grow up in a Christian house, so I didn't know the Bible. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:22.000 And it just made me fall more deeply in love with the Lord when I realized He really is a great God. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:27.440 And this is what John wants his audience, this church, to understand. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:38.399 But in the vein of thinking about God being love or the embodiment of love itself, let's not neglect the fact that God's love is proven in the sending of his son. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:42.080 Look down at uh 1 John chapter 4. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:44.320 Let's start in verse 7 real quick. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:52.080 He says, Dear friends, let us love one another because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:59.039 So there you see again this test, these three tests John has been given all throughout this letter to test whether or not you truly are in the faith. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.679 In this chapter, he's emphasizing the love test. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:04.080 Do you love your brothers and sisters? 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:05.519 Verse 8. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.000 The one who does not love does not know God because God is love. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.960 God's love was revealed among us in this way. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:18.000 God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.480 Now notice verse 8 is a rather matter-of-fact statement, isn't it? 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:26.799 The one who does not love does not know God because God is love. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:32.000 And elsewhere he says, if you say you love God but you don't love your brothers and sisters, you are a what? 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:33.279 A liar. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:35.600 This is a pretty matter-of-fact statement. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:37.200 It's a simple equation. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:42.399 If you've been saved by God's grace, you love others the way God loves you. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.240 And that is evidence that you are of the Lord. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:48.399 There's no other way to do it. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:53.519 But notice in verses 9 through 10, he's emphasizing the work of the Son. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:57.840 He says in verse 9, God's love was revealed among us. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:16:59.679 Think about that statement. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.960 He says God's love was revealed, it was demonstrated for the whole world to see. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:09.119 God's love was revealed among us in this way. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:13.039 God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:22.960 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:29.839 Let's not forget the most popular passage in all the Bible written by this same author in the Gospel of John. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:39.680 For God so loved the world in this way, he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.480 Friends, that word gave is so powerful. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:45.440 He gave his one and only son. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:55.279 He gave the Son, the God man, Christ Jesus, as an offering on our behalf so that we can be reconciled back to the Father. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:56.799 Think about this. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:03.279 Because God revealed, He put on display his love to all humanity through the work of the Son. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:09.039 If you're in Christ this morning, you'll never, you should never have to wonder whether God loves you. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.720 Because you can go back in human history and look at the cross. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:24.799 The fact that the Father gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life instead of eternal wrath. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:37.599 There's a lot of parents in this room, and even if you're not a parent, I know many of you have someone you love very deeply, and I doubt that you would voluntarily give your loved one to die on behalf of one of your enemies. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.559 Friends, that's exactly what God did. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:44.640 That word, as I've been studying for this sermon, I mean, that just grabs me. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.200 He gave his one and only son. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:49.920 And he didn't give him begrudgingly. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:56.240 He didn't give because, you know, like his fingers were pried open and he had to let go of his grip on Jesus. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:59.200 He voluntarily offered his son up. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:02.480 And the son voluntarily said, I will go. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:14.559 I will offer myself as a sacrificial offering on behalf of the bride, the church, so that any who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:17.519 Friends, the first missionary was God the Father. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:23.519 When you read Genesis and you read about the fall, who was the first person to introduce hope and redemption? 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:32.000 The Father, telling Eve, from your line, sister, will come the serpent crusher who will make all sad things untrue. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:35.200 If you are in Christ, you, and again, we all struggle. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:38.480 I I've been there, struggling with does God truly love me? 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:44.480 But friends, that's just our emotions, that's just our vain thoughts trying to lead us astray. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:51.759 But God, the Father, put on display for all humanity evidence of his love when he sent his son to die on your behalf. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:55.440 He already answered that question publicly at the cross. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:00.319 And remember this love that can that costs nothing proves nothing. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:07.920 We never have to wonder if God loves us because he paid the ultimate cost to prove to us that he loves us. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.240 And the cost was his own son. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:13.039 So that's the love of God. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:21.440 It's an initiating love, it's an electing eternal love, it's a powerful, unchanging love that's proven when the Father sent his son. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:35.839 But love that just stops at a definition is not good enough for the Christian because we know the entire Bible, the Father is concerned with our hearts, not just having right doctrine, but living out the doctrine we say we believe in. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:43.440 And this is what John gets at, which part two, I want us to look at, okay, so what does God's love produce in his children? 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:48.640 So kind of using that theme we talk about often in the Bible, you see indicatives and imperatives. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:58.319 Indicatives are declarative truths that then fuel the imperatives, the passages of scripture that are the commands, the exhortations we are to follow. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:00.559 But look down at verse 11. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:04.000 He continues on in verse 11 of 1 John 4. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:10.000 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.000 No one has ever seen God. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:17.039 If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is made complete in us. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:23.200 God's love, brothers and sisters, must move through you and not just land on you and settle in. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.839 We are to be conduits, so to speak. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:33.119 Romans 5 talks about how God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, but we're we're not like to just contain the love of God within us. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:41.039 We're to express that love towards our brothers and sisters in Christ and those who are in our sphere of influence who have yet to know the Lord as their Savior. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.680 And verse 12 echoes uh John 118 deliberately. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.279 Christ made the invisible God visible. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:50.880 So let's do some theology here. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:53.839 God the Father is spirit, he is not visible. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:59.359 So when you see the Old Testament sometimes using language of God extended his hand, that he doesn't literally have a hand. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.039 It's a word picture. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:06.240 God is spirit, but God the Son makes God the Father visible. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:07.839 Now think about this. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.680 According to John, no one has seen God the Father. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:20.240 But when you as a Christian love others through a God-empowered love, you make God the Father visible. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:21.279 Think about that. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.839 Don't please don't gloss over this reality. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:24.559 This is profound. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:30.319 Just like, for instance, it blows my mind to think that as Christians, we can grieve the heart of God. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.160 That's what Paul says in Ephesians, right? 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:41.359 Do not grieve the spirit, which means we are so interconnected to the Father that in our sin we can actually bring sorrow to the heart of our Father through our sin. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:50.400 But on the positive side here, John is saying, God the Father is spirit, he's invisible, but the way you love others, you put on display God the Father. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:56.000 It's almost like every Christian has a superpower, and your salvation is like your origin story. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:03.440 You have the power, the capacity to put on display the preeminent glory of God the Father through your life. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.000 This blows my mind sometimes. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:13.519 God in a very real, experiential way is put on display through your actions. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.799 Think of it as a triangle for you note takers out there. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:30.000 So if you drew a triangle and put God at the top of the triangle and then put yourself on one end of the triangle and then others on the other end, I think that's kind of what John is getting at when he says God's love is made complete in you. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:38.240 It's when God's love indwells you, and then you extend his love and how you love, serve, disciple others, his love is made complete. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:45.759 I don't believe what John is saying is we somehow complete God's love as if it's like insufficient and it's under you know construction kind of a thing. 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:52.079 It's like, no, his love, he's perfect, but we complete his love and how we love others. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:53.279 Does that make sense? 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:54.559 Think about that. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:57.359 People can, I'm sure some of you even have these stories. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:58.880 Like, okay, here's an example. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:11.759 Have you ever been in a situation where maybe you're out at a store or you're at some event, you're somewhere outside of a church context, and you're getting to know someone, and you start wondering, like, I think they might be a Christian. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:16.480 Like, there's a there's a level of love and joy and in their demeanor and how they talk. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:17.920 You know, have you ever had that feeling? 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:20.400 And then maybe later you find out, like, oh, they are a Christian. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:20.960 Okay. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:28.319 I think that's a that's a sampling, so to speak, of how our love can be displayed to the world. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:29.519 Think about it. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:33.119 Christians, like, we're weird people when you think about it. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:41.359 When we think about the fact that we're elect exiles, living in a world that's not our home, just think about things that we believe convictionally that the world does not agree with. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:46.000 How we even just think about what love is, how we extend love to other people. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:48.319 Doesn't the Bible command us to love our enemies? 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:49.839 Does the world tell us to do that? 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:50.799 Absolutely not. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:54.480 The world says get vengeance now, get payment, right? 00:24:54.720 --> 00:25:06.480 How the Bible tells us to love our spouses, how we love and disciple our children, how we are to live a life where we are more focused on others' good than our own good. 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.440 How we are to resist sin and temptation. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:16.240 I mean, all these things encompass a biblical, God-empowered understanding of love that the world is like, why would y'all live that way? 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:22.079 But as we do, we put on display our Heavenly Father and his love. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:27.839 So again, we aren't to just say, yes, I believe in God's love, I receive God's love, and then keep it to ourselves. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:38.079 No, it's meant to produce love or loving deeds, rather, that go externally out from us towards our brothers and sisters in Christ and the unbelieving community. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:42.319 Now, but you can't give away a love you're not sure you actually have. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:47.119 So John points us to the one day that settles it. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:51.359 This is the weight of what God's love has actually accomplished. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:54.480 We're going to focus on verses 17 through 18 here. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:56.640 Verses 17 through 18. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:58.799 He's making some strong statements. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:09.920 He says, In this love, verse 17, in this love is made complete with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:13.759 Because as he is, so also are we in this world. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:15.839 There is no fear in love. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:21.599 Instead, perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:25.359 So the one who fears is not complete in love. 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:28.480 We love because he first loved us. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.400 You can see these repeated themes, right? 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:33.759 He keeps repeating, we love only because God loves us first. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:40.079 He keeps repeating, if you don't love, then you're not truly of God because love is born of God. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:47.680 But in 17 through 18, he's now talking about judgment, and he uses this phrase, perfect love cast out fear. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.839 Now, this is a passage of scripture that is commonly misused or misinterpreted. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:57.519 Many use it to say, this is a great verse to memorize to battle, you know, your anxieties about tomorrow. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:01.519 Friends, this verse has nothing to do about an anxious heart. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:05.599 Well, maybe an anxious heart fearing the day of judgment. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:10.000 But when you read the context, what does he say there in verse 17 and 18? 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:15.759 He's talking about perfectly love cast out fear for the day of judgment. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:19.599 This is a terrifying reality all throughout the pages of scripture. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.680 There is the day, judgment day. 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:34.319 In your Bibles, the word day will often be capitalized because it's referring to the day when humanity will stand before Jesus Christ and be judged eternally, whether or not they embraced the gospel or whether they rejected the gospel. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:40.480 And John is saying perfect love casts out fear on that day of judgment. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.519 So this verse isn't about your nerves, your emotions. 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:53.119 This is about standing in front of a holy judge with confidence that you have eternal life, which brings up a problem for many. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:55.920 Because many objectors will talk like this. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:00.160 If God really is love, then why is he judging anybody at all? 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:03.759 If God is really love, why is he sending people to hell? 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:09.680 And some will just reject the concept of hell and eternal punishment altogether because they can't reconcile that with a loving God. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:16.640 And let's just be honest, in America, I think most American theology is all you have to do to go to heaven is simply die. 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:21.039 Just be a decent enough person, and when you die, automatic heaven. 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:28.799 No judgment, no gospel, just live a decent life according to your own standard, and you'll be in heaven. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:40.000 But friends, the Bible has no issue with holding two truths at the same time: God is love, and God will pour out his eternal wrath on unrepentant sinners forever. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.079 Let me just illustrate this. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:29:04.880 In Exodus, when God delivered Israel by a mighty and powerful hand, and when he, you know, through a supernatural miracle, had them uh walk through the Red Sea, right after God collapsed the sea and destroys Pharaoh's army, judgment, wrath, do you know what Moses did? 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:10.640 He sang a song about God's judgment and love. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:15.920 And in one line in Exodus 15, he says, Lord, who is like you among the gods? 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:22.960 Who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:32.079 So Israel literally saw God's power, his love, because he's redeeming Israel, he's saving them and protecting them and guiding them. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:42.799 But then they also see visually right before their eyes his wrath poured out on evil Egyptians who were oppressing and seeking to kill these Israelites. 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:49.759 And Moses responds to all of what they're witnessing by praising God for his holiness and love. 00:29:50.480 --> 00:30:00.960 Lord, who is like you among the gods, who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:05.839 The same holiness that judged Egypt also rescued Israel. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:15.519 So if God's wrath is real and God's love is real, and they are, how does a holy God actually deal with your sin instead of just staying angry at you forever? 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:16.640 Well, here's how. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:18.640 Let's use some fancy words. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:29.599 So in verse 10, if you have the CSB and some other translations, the phrase is atoning sacrifice, or it is he was uh verse 10. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:30.720 Let's just read verse 10. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:44.960 Love consists in this, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, or some of your Bibles might say a propitiation for our sins. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:47.599 Both are very helpful terms. 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:49.200 But let's talk about that for a second. 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:57.440 How does God, a holy God, deal with sin righteously while still maintaining that he is love? 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:00.240 Well, let's just talk about two doctrines. 00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:07.759 Propitiation, Jesus being an atoning sacrifice on behalf of the Christian, simply means that God's wrath has been satisfied. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:10.400 That's what it means that Jesus is a propitiation. 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:17.039 His God's wrath, God the Father's wrath has been satisfied in another, Jesus, your substitute. 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:19.440 Think of a lightning rod, for example. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:26.240 When lightning strikes a lightning rod, that rod observes the strike rather than whatever the rod is attached to. 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:29.440 That's a way to picture propitiation for the sinner. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:33.599 If you're in Christ when you believe the gospel, God's wrath had to fall on something. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:38.480 But if you trusted in Jesus Christ, it fell, it struck him instead of you. 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:42.400 So God doesn't just delete his wrath, he doesn't just sweep it under the rug. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.640 God's wrath must be poured out on sin. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:46.319 He must punish sin. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:54.960 And the only way to be saved from such wrath is either Christ stands in your place or you stand and you take the wrath of God yourself. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:57.279 That handles the wrath part. 00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:07.440 But there's still a record of debt against you, a charge, so to speak, with your name on it, a debt you owe to God the Father that you must pay. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:09.519 And that's where expiation comes from. 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:15.839 That's just a fancy theological word, expiation, which simply means that your sin has been wiped clean. 00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:21.680 Uh, theologians would say this more refers to the moral aspect of your sinful state. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:30.319 So through Jesus being your propitiation, which deals with the wrath part, you're actually made clean through expiation. 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:38.880 Think of a criminal record that's been expunged, it's deleted, it's gone, as if it never happened. 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:45.359 Somebody can run a background check on that person and nothing will come up because their record has been wiped clean, so to speak. 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:47.039 That's what a pardon is. 00:32:47.279 --> 00:33:01.279 Think of Paul in Colossians when he says he, Jesus, erased the certificate of debt with its obligations that was against us and opposed to us and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:03.599 That's what expiation means. 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:11.599 Jesus took the wrath on your behalf and wiped the sleigh clean through his work on the cross. 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:19.359 Now, notice in verse 14 that John refers to Jesus as the world's savior. 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:22.640 He says he's the savior of the world. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:33.680 Now, just to be clear here, because some might misinterpret and some have used this passage to teach what's called universalism, that pretty much all humanity will go to heaven because God is a God of love. 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.160 Everybody might find their different path to him. 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:40.319 So you can believe in Islam, you can believe in this, or you can just be a good person. 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:48.240 God knows your heart, God is love, so he is the saviors, he's the world's savior, and everyone will receive eternal life. 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:52.960 Friends, as I said earlier, every last one of us in this room has a concept of justice. 00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:58.160 There is no way you would want to worship a God who doesn't punish sin. 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:03.200 But this is not teaching, John is not teaching universalism here. 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:07.680 He when he says, because some will say that, oh, he's the savior of the world, so I'm probably fine. 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:12.159 I can just live a decently good life, and Jesus is my savior because he died for the world. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:13.760