“Ultimate Love”

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-21

Generally, 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the “Love Chapter”, and I have had several brides choose this passage for their wedding ceremony. But in my way of thinking, 1 John 4 deals with love in a much more intentional way. While 1 Corinthians offers many examples of what love is and what it isn’t, and that is probably the reason for its attraction, 1 John 4 give us several reasons that prove the extent of God’s love.
1 Corinthians says that without love, our voice, regardless of what we profess, is nothing but a cacophony of noise. Without love, we are told, our faith, regardless of its depth, or our ability to prophesy, or to understand or explain the gift of Christ to others, is worthless. And regardless of what we do on behalf of others, unless we do all things in that love, we gain nothing for our own salvation.
The passage gives us many examples of how we can recognize love in others and how we can show love to them, but not a single word of why love is so important, and where this love comes from.

Our 1 John passage for today tells us why love is so important for our lives, and gives us insight into the source of that incredible love.

Read 1 John 4:7-12

Love originates in the Lord, and when we come to “know” him, we receive his love. This is the first revealing – that love of God is unique, and is never inherent in the human essence! The only way to experience and receive that deep, fulfilling, perfect, heavenly love is to know God through the gift of Jesus, and to claim his reconciling sacrifice at Calvary. That decision, a decision to begin to know God, is the only way that we will ever begin to know what true love is all about.

God’s love, unlike human love, is made complete by the Lord alone, and not by mutual consent. Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s love for humanity is offered without prerequisite – we don’t have to get our lives straightened out before the Lord loves us; we don’t have to show love to God before he loves us; we don’t even have to agree to love him later IF he loves us!
In John 15:16, Jesus said “You did not choose me, but I chose you” – God’s love came first, Jesus’ choosing came first, but neither was left at that. Jesus’ words continue – he chose us “and appointed [us] to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” We aren’t loved by God for no reason; we haven’t been chosen by Jesus for no reason – it has all been put in place for one divine purpose – that those who have discovered the Love of God in Christ Jesus might go out and show others, and tell others, about the incredible love that is waiting for them.

And the author of this letter writes that “Whoever does not love does not know God” Without love in our own lives, the love and knowledge of God sits on the proverbial “shelf”, just waiting for us to discover and take him for our own life.

Read 1 John 4:13-16

Revealing #2 – by accepting the love of God in Christ Jesus, God lives in us and we live in him. And we come to know this through both the giving of His Son Jesus as the source of salvation, and the sending of the Holy Spirit as our guide within that salvation. Once more - receiving the Lord is by God’s “giving”, and not by our own will! It all comes to be by simply acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God, which includes the Godly plan that he is the Lord and Savior for our lives. And by claiming that Jesus is, indeed, Lord and Savior and Son of God, we also claim that while Jesus is not of, or from, the world, he definitely was in the world.
Think about that – God left his place in glory to come into this world with one thought in mind – to provide forgiveness for our sin, and eternal life for you and me! And regardless of what that task might entail, he would never turn away from the eternal plan.

One more proof, or test (remember last week?), that God loves us. Christ was sent to us to set us on the right course toward the Father, and the Spirit was sent to us to help us stay on that course. By our acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God, we allow God to live within us. By our allowing the Holy Spirit to shape our lives, we are allowed to continue to live with God. That may seem a bit confusing, but try this on for size:
Our understanding and ability and wisdom and efforts have nothing to do with any of this! It is all about what the Lord has done on our behalf, and our admission that it is so. That is what faith is.

Read 1 John 4:17-21

Revealing #3 – the love of God is made complete by living in God and accepting his ways for our own life. But we need to remember that living and loving in God can never be a static condition! It will always result in confidence in the coming Day of Judgment – that in knowing God in Christ, the judgment will be for salvation, and not death. And in that confidence, we are to be bold in the new life that we receive – bold in the way we begin to live, bold in the way we talk to others, bold in the faith that we live and share, bold in the way we carry the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Some will say that they are uncomfortable in publicly sharing the gospel with others. But verse 18 tells us that “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear”. Perfection in God’s love can only exist by the power that comes from the Spirit! Whenever fear or hesitation or reluctance begin to raise their ugly heads, and they most certainly will in all of our lives (!), we have to intentionally look to the Spirit of God to strengthen us and to lead us within that “perfect love”. And God’s perfect love will never, can never, be defeated!

So what is there to fear? “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) When we allow the power of God to work within our lives, the proof that “there can be no fear in the love of God” will be proven.

But even while the author has been so intentional to proclaim and encourage the “vertical” love between God and his Church, he now moves to reinforce Jesus’ words that the love we show to other people is akin to loving God. (Mark 12:28-31) “Vertical” love is now turned to the “horizontal” equivalent. Jesus’ words in Mark 12:31, that there will never be a greater commandment than to love God and to love your neighbor, is now reinforced in this text. The concept of love for God and hatred for another person can never exist. They are incompatible; they are opposites; they can never exist together.
This is the fourth revealing – that Love of God and love from God can never be an exclusive concept. If we claim to love the Lord, then we must, by definition, love people, even while they are the most unlovable!
No one ever said that it would be easy! But scripture tells us that, by faith, we will be yoked with Christ. (Matthew 11:28-30) A yoke was designed to allow two animals (and never only one!) to share a load, with one who was wiser and stronger, and another who was eager but less strong and inexperienced. This Matthew passage concludes with “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This is the promise of God’s perfect and complete love – that by putting our complete trust in Him, every other commandment that the Lord ever gave, and every plan that the Lord has ever made for us, will fall into place. In Luke 1:26-38, Mary expresses a concern that she is a virgin and that it is a well-known fact that a virgin can never have a baby. But the angel Gabriel responds by telling her that “Nothing will be impossible with God.” Notice that the woman wasn’t told that nothing is impossible for God – the word that was used is with God! Of course nothing is impossible for an infinitely powerful, infinitely wise, infinitely present God, so why can’t things be infinitely possible when we allow him to work with and through us?
The answer is that all things are possible when we allow the Lord to come into our lives! No fear, no hesitation, no concerns, no limitations – just power and proof for all who see the love of Christ at work in our lives. Can it possibly get any better than that?