There are 105 verses in 1 John and love is mentioned more than 40 times. John uses seven verses to remind us of a wonderful truth – “We love God because He first loved us.”
- We love Him because He first loved us.
- We love others because He first loved us.
- Love starts and stops with God.
1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 John 4:16 – “So we have come to know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in him, and God abides in him.”
1 John 3:1 – “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.”
Listen to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails…”
There are many ways that we are not like God, our Creator.
- We are not omniscient – all-knowing.
- We are not omnipresent – always present everywhere.
- We are not omnipotent – all-powerful.
But God is love and He wants us to share that attribute with Him and with others. We are most like God when we love.
Can you quote John 3:16? – “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Can you quote 1 John 3:16? “By this, we know love, because He laid down His life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (and sisters.)”
The two verses complement each other.
- Love gives sacrificially.
- The world knows very little about true love.
- The Holy Spirit fills our hearts with God’s love.
Romans 5:5 (NLT) – “And this hope will not lead to disappointment for we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”
There are at least three kinds of love mentioned in the Scriptures.
- Agape love – is a sacrificial commitment, dedicated to the well-being of others.
- Phileo love – known as brotherly affection.
- Eros love – which is sexual affection.
Note: The most common love mentioned in the Bible is Agape love. It is God’s love and it is sacrificial and committed to the well-being of others. It is a fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit produces the kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
Charles Stanley said, “When we look at the fruit of the Spirit in these verses we can look at it like this-
- Joy is love enjoying
- Peace is love resting
- Patience (or longsuffering) is love waiting
- Kindness is love reacting
- Goodness is love choosing
- Faithfulness is love keeping its word
- Gentleness is love being able to empathize
- Self-control is love that’s in charge
Billy Graham once said, “Suppose that I understand the Bible…and am the greatest preacher who ever lived. The Apostle Paul wrote that unless I have love, ‘I am nothing.’” Mark Twain once said, “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Bob Lupton wrote, “I wonder what a church would look like that measured its success by the quality of its members’ neighborly love?”
About the kinds of love mentioned in Scripture –
Agape love is not something we can work up on our own. It is an outflow of the Holy Spirit living with us. Phileo is a brotherly kind of love. Paul in Romans 12:10 wrote, Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. In Hebrews 13:1 we read, Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. I wonder if he was suggesting that this kind of love can diminish if it is not watched over and cultivated. Brotherly love should saturate the body of believers who are the church.
Eros love is a sensual or sexual love. This word is not used specifically in Scripture but is certainly implied in the admonitions concerning marriage. God invented eros love for the most intimate part of marriage. The world has tried its best to distort this kind of love and has been very successful. It is written about, sung about, and acted out the most.
Question: Why do you think God created man?
I believe that God created us so that He could express His love to us and we could respond with love. God’s very nature is love. Because it is, He is loving. He wanted an object for His love so He created us.
How does He express His love to us? I think there are several ways.
· He expresses His love to us through creation. What about creation delights you and speaks to you of His love? In Psalm 119:64 we read, “O Lord, your unfailing love fills the earth; teach me your decrees.” In Isaiah 42:5 we read, “God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, and life to everyone who walks the earth.” Psalm 96:11-12 declares, “Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! 12 Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy. All of creation.”
· is an expression of His love for us.
· God expresses His love to us by giving us the freedom to choose. That may sound a bit strange because He could have made us robots, programmed to love Him. Some might think that giving us free will is not a very loving thing to do. Look at what happened to Adam and Eve and ultimately the entire human race. Fortunately for us, God still loves sinners. But God wants us to choose to love and serve Him. In Joshua 24:15 we read, “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
· God expresses His love by putting us in a family. God’s word tells us that we are accepted and adopted into God’s family through faith in Christ. We are referred to as His children, and we are brothers and sisters in His family. God is the Father, Jesus Christ is our elder Brother, and the Holy Spirit is our indwelling Comforter and Helper. I love the fellowship experienced with my brothers and sisters at Jubilee. In Luke chapter 8, verse 21, Jesus said, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”
· God expressed His love for us by sending the Holy Spirit to live within us. He said He was going to send one just like Himself to reside in us. He does not just love us. He empowers us to love Him, and others. In John 14:16-17 Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him because He lives with you now and later will be in you.”
· God expresses His love for us by arranging our circumstances for our good and His glory. Paul in Romans 8:28 wrote, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” In Philippians 1:12 Paul wrote, “And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.” Paul was in prison, but he had a captive audience and shared the good news about Jesus with them and it bore fruit.
· God expresses His love for us by assuring us that when this life is over, we will be with Him forever in the Father’s house in heaven. John 14:1-6 says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going. 5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” In 2 Corinthians 5:8 we read, Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
· God expresses His love for us by His uninterrupted presence in our lives. In Hebrews 13:5b we read, For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” The Psalmist in Psalm 23:4 wrote, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.” From cover to cover in God’s word He promises to be with us and never forsake us. He will be with us during the death of a loved one, or the sleepless nights because of an unsaved mate or child who is rebelling. He is with you when the doctor does not have good news, or when you are going through financial struggles. Don’t let your pain make you feel like a loving God is not with you.
Folks, His love is everlasting. In Jeremiah 31:3 God says, “I have loved you, My people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love, I have drawn you to Myself.”
In closing, I want to say that God’s love is perfect, everlasting, sacrificial, unconditional, and immeasurable.
Paul in Ephesians 3:17-18 wrote – “Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.”
In verse 19 Paul adds, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Blessings,
Pastor Leonard
