Many have left the subject of “love” to poets and song writers. There have been some good poems on the subject. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning. “I will always love you” – Dolly Parton. More spiritual people fight to bring “love” back to the theologians, for “Theos is love” (I John 4:8). Unfortunately for you, I am neither a poet nor a theologian. I make no profession of much more than a superficial understanding of the subject.
John on the other hand is more of an expert. As you may know, John is often called “the Apostle of Love.” His deep love for the Lord is expressed in the gospel that bares his name. And as we have already seen, he is very concerned that God’s people love correctly. This chapter 4 is not the first time he has brought up the subject of “love” in this epistle.
There are some memorable verses and thoughts in the scripture we just read. And I’ll probably focus on one or two of them before we move further into chapter 5. But this evening, I’d just like to take a drone view of these eighteen verses. Let’s consider the nature, source and manifestation of Biblical love.
What is love? What is the nature of love?
John doesn’t define it for us. He apparently expects us to know what it is – at least to some degree. Webster, who is usually so good with his definitions and explanations, seems weak on this particular word. “To love (verb): to be pleased with; to regard with affection on account of some qualities which excite pleasing sensations or desire of gratification.” While that might explain some forms of human love, it is totally wrong in regard to God’s love. Jehovah doesn’t love based on something He appreciates in us or which pleases Him. “Love (noun): an affection of the mind exited by beauty and worth of any kind, or by the quality of an object which communicates pleasure, sensual or intellectual.” Rather than a definition maybe we’d be better off a description from poets like Shakespeare, Keats and Browning. But then, as I just said, John expects us to know what love is.
Why does he spend all this time and ink on “love?” It seems to me there are three reasons: First, God is love, and therefore we should study love. But then secondly, why do we have to be exhorted? “Beloved, let us love one another.” “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” “This is (God’s) commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” Why is it necessary that God must command us to love? Isn’t it because even though we know what it is, we aren’t as good at it as we should be? If our spouses yearn for more of our love; how much does Jehovah “yearn” for more love? The third reason, takes us back to John’s primary purpose in this letter. Love is a good test of whether or not we are actually children of God.
Whether we understand it or not, John reminds us that God is love’s ultimate SOURCE.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” It is safe to say that love is a very good gift, and even the ability to love is a good gift. It would have been correct if James had referred to God as the “Father of LOVE” rather than the Father of lights, because He is love. “Love and the ability to love are from above, and cometh down from the Father of love, with whom is no variation in love, nor even the shadow or thought of turning that love away.”
So, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God…” And those who have been born of God, know their Heavenly Father, and they have experienced His love. “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that believeth is born of God, and knoweth God.” “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (verses 7-8).
Here we go back to some of the things which John has already told us. Salvation is not merely deliverance from the punishment of sin. It is God abiding in us. It is Christ in us the hope of glory. And God is love. The Christian is someone possessed by, inhabited by, indwelt by God who is as much love as He is holy. John says that God is in the believer, and He says that the Holy Spirit indwells that believer. Other scriptures remind us that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. We are indwelt by the triune God. And with it all, because God is love, we could say that we are also indwelt by living, divine love. When there is no love, it is proof that someone does not know God and is not indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
And by the way, even the love between two or more haters of God still has its source in the Lord. It could be that love is a part of the image of God with which man was first created. But, like so many other things in us, that love has been corrupted by Adam’s descent into sin. So, in a sense, our love has to be regenerated even as our souls must be made alive.
Laying aside fallen human love and returning to “agape”…
In what ways is love made MANIFEST?
Let’s start at the top. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” Earlier John wrote: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us…” Are there any more precious scriptures than Romans 5:6-8? “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Why? What motivated Him to do that? To die for us? “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would ever dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ die for us.” It is the love of God that lays behind all the blessings of Romans 8. Please notice Romans 8:32: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
How was the love of God made manifest? It wasn’t in creation. It isn’t in the gift of good health and the ability to make wealth. The love of God isn’t in United States citizenship. God’s love is seen in the death burial and resurrection of Christ. And it could even be argued that love played a role even in God’s permitting of Adam’s fall into sin, so that He could unconditionally love and save a few of us.
While John refers to the manifestation of God’s love, he is more concerned with OUR love, even if it is so shallow as not to be comparable with the Lord’s. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” Not only is there a vertical love; a love which we are to have toward our Heavenly Father. There is also to be a horizontal love toward other human beings.
As ambassadors for Christ, one of our responsibilities is to share God’s love with others. And as Christ taught us, even if it begins with our brethren in Christ, it should be shared with our neighbors. Verse 12: “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” Just as we have never seen God, our unsaved neighbor is at an even greater disadvantage. What he sees of the Lord must come through us. So if he is to know about God’s love it must be through our love. Verse 13: Among many other things, we have been given the Spirit of the Lord for this purpose. “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” We have been called to the witness stand; we have been sworn in… It is our obligation to testify of the Father’s love.
Putting it negatively, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” And this leads us into a different way in which love is made manifest. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment… “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment… In other words, the professing Christian who truly loves God, loves God’s Word and loves God’s people… The saint who loves the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength and with all his mind… He who can’t get enough of the Word of God and yearns for fellowship with others who love the Word… That person can face the Judge of Heaven and Earth with boldness and confidence. Of course, we may have some trepidation as we stand before the Lord. But, among other things, having passed the love test, we will not have a problem with God’s judgment.
But before we stand before the Lord, we need to test ourselves. And with what do we test our love of God? The human tests don’t apply. Someone says, “I love my fiancé, just look at the size of the engagement ring I’ve given to her.” “I love my family and I show it by coming straight home from work night after night. And I sacrifice my desires to satisfy theirs.” These sorts of things can’t be use to test the love to which John refers. Then again, I suppose some would say they prove their love by giving to the Lord’s work above their tithes. Others might point to their faithfulness in attending the church for which the Christ died. Some might say that their love for their family proves their love for the Lord. And to some degree these things are true.
But John throws the net out much wider than just a few selected issues like these. “For this is the love of God” – this is love toward God… “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and (we know that) his commandments are not grievous.” We know that we love God when we love to do ALL those things which He tells us to do. Deuteronomy 10:12 is often quoted – in the New Testament and in sermons around here. I’ve already touched on it this evening. “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” But that is not the end of the original sentence. The thought goes on: “And now… what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD… to walk in all his ways… to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God … (and then) to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command these this day for thy good?” Throughout the Bible, loving God cannot be severed from obedience to the Lord.
John is saying, “Professing Christian, do you pass the love of God test?” Do your brethren and neighbors concur? Have you and do you continue to pass the love of God test?