I.THE SUPREME DEMONSTRATION OF LOVE VV. 16-18
In Ghana, we the Akans
have a saying that goes like this: “Obi nkere abofra Nyame,” meaning “nobody
teaches a child to know God.” There is a certain knowledge or concept of God
that is universally inherent in humans. For example, when you look at the
universe or nature, you can’t help but to admit that there is a Creator who put
everything together. Heaven and earth and the things in them are not happen
stance. They do not exist by chance. Humans did not just evolve; the Creator
God created us. The theory of evolution is a flawed hypothesis concocted by one
person which unfortunately has been imbibed by so-called intellectuals in
academia.
Pondering over this reveals to us that there is a
Creator God who loves us. How then do you answer a person who says, “If God
loved me why do I feel this way? If God loves me why don’t I see it?” If God
loves me why am I suffering? These are legitimate concerns.
A. The answer: the inadequacy
of nature to demonstrate or reveal the love of God for us. God therefore sent
His Son Jesus Christ who came down and laid down His life for us on the cross.
This is the supreme revelation of the love of God for you and me.
B. Love is an action word.
Real love is an action, not a feeling.
Love produces selfless, sacrificial giving. Christ’s
death was a voluntary self-sacrifice on behalf of sinners. How can you lay down
your life for others? Sometimes it is easier to say I will die for you than to
truly live for others, which involves putting others' desires before yours.
Jesus taught this same principle of love in John 15:13. The love of God, which
Jesus has supremely demonstrated, should characterize those of us who are
Christians.
C. Contrasting hate and love:
1. Hate is negative.
It seeks another person’s harm, and leads to
activity against him/her even to the point of murder (Cain out of hate killed
his brother Abel) Genesis 4:8.
2. Love is positive.
It seeks the other person’s good, and helps him/her
even to the point of self-sacrifice. As Cain has been given as a supreme
example of hate, Christ is presented as the supreme example of love. When Jesus
died on the cross, He did not die for His sins. He had none.
A
person’s life is his/her most precious possession. That is why on the
horizontal plane or human level, the first commandment is the prohibition of
murder. “Thou shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). For the same reason, to give
your own life on behalf of another is the greatest expression of love. The
great contrast then is this: Cain’s hatred resulted in murder, Christ love
resulted in self-sacrifice. Indeed true love (agape) is self-sacrifice.
D. Two persons who
demonstrated this kind of love in the OT are Jonathan and David. Love is
putting others' interest before yours.
E. The story of the two
friends who vowed to die for each other: A story is told of two friends who
vowed to die for each other. One day, as they were walking on an isolated path,
they saw a lion springing towards them. One of the friends climbed a tree. The
other unable to climb a tree fell down and feigned dead. The lion drew closer,
smelled him and put his mouth closer to his ear as if to whisper something to
him. Then the lion left and ran to the bush. Afterwards the friend climbed down
from the tree to ask his friend. I saw that the lion whispered something in
your ear. What did it tell you? The other friend responded, "The lion told
me to be wary of people like you who do not keep your word."
Most of us may not be
called to lay down our lives for others, but self-
Giving love is a principle to which all of us must
be dedicated.
Verses 17 & 18. That is where the rubber meets
the road. John now illustrates for us how we can demonstrate our love to
others.
How love on the vertical plane should motivate us to
demonstrate love on the horizontal plane (human love).
F. The problem of
insensitivity to the needs of others: a personal example, my well-to-do friend
who was insensitive. I was also insensitive to others.
What John is teaching us as
Christians is to be sensitive to the needs of others.
In order to be sensitive to the needs of others, you
must have discernment. There are times when the needs of others are obvious to
you. For instance, you have a friend who has a few clothes or dresses, but the
Lord has blessed you with abundance of clothes/dresses. An angel of God should
not come from heaven to tell you to give some of your clothes/dresses to that
needy friend. The need is obvious but you have closed your heart to your
friend.
The phrase, “closes his heart” is a word picture.
Have someone slammed a door at your face before? When I was in College in
Kentucky, I went on visitation with one Mr. Charles Perkins. We went and knocked
at the door of one man. He opened the door and soon as he saw us, he slammed
the door in our face and we left. The man was a mean person. Some people do the
same thing to door to door salesmen.
John is saying to you and
me that if we have the opportunity and resources to meet another person’s need,
but we refuse it is like slamming a door at that person’s face.
He is saying that if we do that, then where is the
love of God in our hearts?
3. True love is revealed not
only in supreme sacrifice; it is expressed in all lesser giving as well. You
and I must demonstrate our love, and one way to do that is to provide money to
help meet others needs (James 2:14-17). How clearly do your actions say you
love others? It is easier to sing about love than to demonstrate love by our
actions.
I like what C. H. Dodd wrote years ago: “Love is the
willingness to surrender that which has value for our own life, to enrich the
life of another.”
In verse 18, John is saying that genuine love is
more than words of mouth. Talk is cheap, but actions speak louder than words.
Are you a generous person? Are you as generous as you should be with your money,
possessions, and time?
II. THE SUSTAINED DECLARATION OF LOVE BEFORE GOD
VV. 19-24
Love brings assurance of
your standing before God. How do you feel inside when you go out of your way to
help somebody? It can be the giving of a helping hand, money, clothes, shoes,
or any practical help such as a phone call when someone is sick. A simple meal
together with lots of laughter is a display of love. A simple note for a
discouraged companion is a show of love. A prayer intention for a person who is
ill is an evidence of love. A warm hug for an older member of the community who
is lonely is an exhibition of love. A small cash gift when a friend is out of
job is a showcase of love. An offer to baby-sit for a tired mother so she can
rest is love. These are little things that make you a saint. When you
demonstrate love to a person in need one way or the other, your heart assures
you that you have done what is right. That is, you have loved in truth. The
fruit of love is confidence. When you practice genuine love, not only will you
come to know that you are of the truth; in addition, you shall assure your
heart before God. But when you refuse to show love to another person, the Holy Spirit
convicts you. You begin to feel bad and your conscience begins to bother you.
Someone has said that the
way you can know that you are walking in the Spirit is that you become
sensitive to sin and righteousness. Have your conscience bothered you lately?
Many Christians feel
guilty because they think they are not ready or they are unable to demonstrate proper love. Their
conscience bothers them. John has such Christians in mind when he wrote this
letter. How do you escape the gnawing accusation of your conscience? It is not
by ignoring them or rationalizing your behavior, but by right actions, says,
John.
The caution is that there is a sense when you can be
entertaining false guilt. False guilt is one of the ways Satan attacks
Christians. John is not talking about false guilt. He is dealing with real
guilt when you and I refuse to show practical love. John is saying that if our
conscience, which is fallible condemns, the verdict of an Omniscient God will
be even more severe. But if your heart doe not condemn you, you have confidence
before God. The Bible urges us to rebuke a sinning Christian in love (Rev. 3:19).
However, you are not to play the Holy Spirit. Do not take the place of the Holy
Spirit by putting false guilt on people. Let the Holy Spirit do His work.
If
the Holy Spirit convicts you as a believer, it is up to you either to give up
the sin in your life or to hang on to it. It is your business, not mine.
However, the good news is that if your heart does not condemn you, you have
confidence before God. Do you know why some Christians do not pray
consistently? If your conscience is clear, you can come to God without fear,
confident that your request will be heard and granted. Now get this:
“Obedience is the indispensable
condition of answered prayer (v. 22). An obedient life is an expression of
harmony with God.
“Children who come so confidently to their heavenly
Father cannot ask anything that He will refuse.”
Notice that the assurance of answered prayer is stated
in the most unqualified manner: “whatsoever we ask.” The last half of verse 22
tells us how this can be. Let’s say it together. It is “because we keep His
commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”
“Our prayers are answered
because our wills are at one with the will of God.”
Verse 23 gives us the definition of God’s
commandments
First, we are to believe
the name of His Son Jesus Christ. In the Bible a person’s name stands for His
character. It represents who he really is. We are to believe not only in the
words of Jesus but also His very person as the Son of God. To believe in His
name is to live for Him. It is to pattern your life after Christ’s. It is to
become more like Him.
Second, we should love one
another as He commanded us. Here John tells us the sum total of love. Loving Jesus
Christ and loving your neighbor as yourself. John links love with belief in
Christ, and obedience to His commandments as the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s
presence in your life. If the Holy Spirit abides in you, He does not jerk you
around or throw you down to let you know He is in you. You do not have to speak
in tongues everyday in order to know that the Holy Spirit abides in you. Some
do, that is okay. However, if you are a true Christian, there is something deep
inside you that assures you that you are a child of God and that the Holy
Spirit abides in you. He abides in you to enable you demonstrate unconditional
love to people who are not even part of your circle of influence.
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