Living in the light of God's love
1 John 4:7-12
INTRODUCTION
With the help of 24-hour news, we have seen so much physical destruction and human tragedy. We have witnessed (almost first hand) the painful aftermath of a devastating tsunami in Japan. In this context, many are asking about God and his love. We have seen the collapse of dictatorships in the Arab World, while others resist with force. This has left many perplexed about God and his ways. Nearer to home, we have become more aware of the negative affects of economic recession. At times like this, we can feel insecure and even question God’s love. This brings us to our theme today from 1 John 4:7-12: Living in the Light of God’s Love. Notice first from vs.7-8…
THE REALITY OF GOD’S LOVE (7-8)
A lovely passage
In the light of all that is happening in the world today, 1 John 4:7 has a lovely rhythm to it. It says, “Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God. Those who love have been born of God and know God.” Verse 8 goes on to say, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Love is mentioned 6 times in these two verses. This is the reality of God’s love.
Loving in the family
Verse 7 says those who love have been born of God and know God. In other words, those who love belong to God’s family and display the family likeness. Ephesians 5:1-2 says in doing this, we imitate (mimic) God. This is the reality of God’s love in us.
Accepting God’s love
Depending on how we were raised, we may struggle to accept love, to feel loved, or to express love. God is love, however, and nothing we think, nothing we say, nothing we do, can change this. God is love. This is the reality. Psalm 86:5 says, “The Lord is abounding in love to all who call on him.” Call on him now as he comes to us in Jesus. This is the reality of God’s love and it leads to…
THE RESOLVE IN GOD’S LOVE (9-10)
God’s resolve to love
Having mentioned love six times in vs.7-8, the word occurs another four times in vs.9-10. That’s ten times in 4 verses. Verse 9 says, “This is how God showed his love amongst us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” He then says in v10, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” This is the resolve in God’s love.
An expression of God’s love
Verse 9 speaks about the incarnation of Jesus when it says, “God sent his one and only Son into the world.” This is more than his birth. The incarnation is the full life of Jesus on earth. The purpose of this incarnation is that we might live through him.
Verse 10 takes this further when it says, “God sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Jesus lived the life we could not live, and died the death we should have died. This is symbolised in the bread and wine of communion when Jesus took bread and said, “This is my body, which is for you” He then took the cup and said, “This is the new covenant in my blood.” When we eat the bread, we reflect on his life; when we drink the wine, we reflect on his death as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
This is love
The idea of love can be ambiguous and fleeting, but in 1 John 4:10 there is a clear statement about love. It says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: Jesus lay down his life for us.” Here God is fully involved in human suffering. This leads to a final thought as we live in the light of God’s love. So far, we have seen the reality of God’s love and the resolve in God’s love, now…
THE RESPONSE TO GOD’S LOVE (11-12)
A positive response to God’s love
Having mentioned love six times in vs.7-8 and four times in vs.9-10, the word is now used five times in vs.11-12. That’s 15 times in 6 verses. I think John is trying to make a point! He says, “Beloved since God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is made complete in us.” This is the response to God’s love.
God’s love seen in us
The little word ‘so’ in v11 is big in meaning. It could be translated, if in this way, God loved us we ought to love one another. In the midst of suffering and hardship, God is love, and we can be the same. Verse 12 brings this out further when it says, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is made complete in us.” John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son has made him known… in us.”
Love is the tangible experience
Jesus is no longer with us in person, but if people want to see him, they can look at us. In this way, John leads us from a mystical experience of Christ in heaven to a more tangible experience of Christ in the real world. With this in mind, St Teresa of Avila said, “He has no hands but our hands… he has feet but our feet… he has no voice but our voice.”
Bernard Cartledge