Morning Message Text: 1John 4: 16-21
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Morning Message:
What is love? There are so many different opinions and man-made answers to that question we couldn’t possibly cover them all here. There is only one true answer, and it’s the one that mankind resists the most. John 15: 13 says: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John Harper, a Scottish Baptist pastor and a widower, was on board the RMS Titanic when it struck an iceberg and sank. He put his young daughter and niece in a lifeboat and stayed behind to preach the Gospel to fearful passengers. As the Titanic was about to sink, he finally jumped into the freezing waters but did not survive. Being the caretaker of two young children, he could have claimed a seat in a lifeboat, but he gave his life for others. John Harper displayed, according to Jesus, the greatest love one can show: Laying down one’s life for his friends. Eternity will no doubt reveal those who found eternal life because a faithful pastor gave his life for them. In that way, John Harper imitated the sacrifice of Christ who gave His life that we might live.
Rare are the occasions when one person is called upon to die that another might live. Yet we can demonstrate the “greatest love” in countless other ways when we die to our own desires and choose the good of another over ourselves. How can we find ways to demonstrate Christ’s “greatest love” for the sake of others? As followers of Jesus, we should be looking for opportunities to demonstrate this kind of sacrificial love.
As Christians, why do we love? Come on church! It’s right in your Lenten devotional Guided to the Cross. By the end of this season of Lent, I hope that all of you are ready on Sunday morning to answer from that booklet. Listen,
“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4: 19.
From our devotional: “We’re into the second week of Lent. We are getting closer to the cross and what happened there. What happened there? Love happened there. On that cross, we see what love is when it takes on flesh and blood. In the words of Jesus: ‘Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends …’ (John 15: 13-14).”
“The church at one time was not something lovable. The church Jesus loved was rebellious, full of spots and ugliness—and he gave his life up for her on the cross. Why? So he could make her lovable, as lovable as he is.”
“To love with the love of Christ is to love without demanding love in return. To love with the love of Christ is to love as we have been loved because it comes straight from the cross and grave—Jesus’ death and resurrection.”
“From him comes the power to love …and it works.”
What is love? Anyone have the answer? We will come back to that.
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” What does this verse tell us? There is no such thing as an unloving Christian. God is love, and if God is in you, love is in you. Someone might say to you, “I’m a Christian but I really don’t care for people, I have a hard time loving people.” Maybe you have felt that way. Christianity is not like religions. It’s not something that is meant to be lived in a vacuum, alone, just you and God. Jesus didn’t call you to live in a cave separated from everyone else. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength.” It doesn’t stop there. “And love your neighbor as yourself.” Listen to me carefully. If you have accepted Jesus, God is in you, and if God is in you, love is in you.
What is love? Love is the lack of fear about judgment. To truly know the love of God in Jesus is to have no fear of judgment day. And I will go one step further, we should not fear the end of this world as we know it. We all have our share of things that frighten us. I am not talking about common, everyday phobias. We should be looking forward to judgment day, not fearing it. And, as we see the end drawing closer, we should have two emotions. First, we should feel sorrow for those who are unsaved, and secondly, we should feel the excitement that our Lord is returning.
For Christians the question should not be: What is love?, but who is love?
Love is not a thing. People try to make it a thing. The whole world wants to talk about being in love or having love for someone. But real true love is God. God is love, and we know and experience that love in the person of Jesus. If you want to make love a thing then the closest thing that describes love is sacrifice. Without sacrifice love can never be fully expressed, and sacrifice is what Jesus did on the cross for us. Listen, it is the most beautiful, love filled verse in God’s word. “For God so loved the world that he gave (sacrificed) his only son so that whosoever believes in him shall have eternal life.” John 3:16.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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