The First Epistle of John: Lesson Forty-Eight

"But God demonstrates His own love for us,

in that while we were still

sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

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Good morning! Let's thank the Lord together...

"Blessed Father, thank You, Lord, for demontrating Your own love for us by giving Yourself, Your Son, to us as a holy living sacrifice to save us from Your holy wrath. We praise You and glorify You and bless You this day. May we take this fact with us in our hearts today as we deal with all that there is for us to face today: We have been saved by and through Your love for us.

Father, I pray that You will forgive me of my sins and cleanse me this day. I pray that You will remove the burden of sin from me and purify me so that I may serve You. Guard my speech, give me wisdom to think before I speak.

I pray for each lady reading this study today. I pray that You are speaking to her heart today. I pray that You will encourage her and lift her up. Bless her with every spiritual blessing. I pray that You will be in the center of her decision making and in her home. Help her and come alongside her. Give her peace.

In Jesus' name...amen."

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Today we will look more into the love of God and how it was manifested toward us. We will look at 3 verses today and see what John was wanting us to know.

1 John 4:9-11

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

Knowing God Through Love

God demonstrates....God manifests....God so loved....

It is obvious that we worship a God who is very active rather than passive. He shows, demonstrates, reveals, does things. Why?

To be known.

Remember, there is no need in God. He is eternal, He has no needs. He does not do anything to fulfill a need within Himself. He does all things to be known: to be is to do.

Saying that God needs us to worship Him is like saying the sun needs to shine on us. It is we who need the sunshine, not the other way around! God does not need us tod o anything for Him or too Him. It is we who need Him so desperately.

John writes these verses to remind us of what it was God did for us. He wants us to know the true definition of what love is....God is love and to know God is to know true eternal LOVE.

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us...."

John gives us a glimpse into how this true eternal love was revealed toward us:

Please read:

John 3:16

Rom 5:8

At our best, we were sinners. We were dead in our trespasses. We were nothing. We were enemies of God! How incredible to think that the Lord God...creator of the universe....looked upon us and made Himself known to us in such a way as to sacrifice Himself for us that we would be reconciled to Him.

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"That God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him."

By sending us His Son, God has given us a way to live again. We now have passage way to God through the death and resurrection of the Son.

John 3:16 (re-read it again...)

In this act, God manifested what true love is: God saved sinners.

Ps 100:5

Mark 10:18

1 Sam 2:2

This generous love and kindness touches all creatures upon the earth. That is how great God's love is! It is so mammoth that it cannot be constrained. It must be completely revealed to all the earth.

Ps 145:9-19

This fact ought to bring sinners to repentance:

Rom 2:4

But, unfortunately, it doesn't:

Rom 2:5

So, although Jesus was sent to all the world, not all the world would accept Him as their Savior and Lord.

Rom 2:7-11

That is why Jesus did not pray for all the world, but for those whom God had given Him:

John 17:9

John 17:20-23

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"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins..."

1 John 2:2

Remember what "propitiation" means: a sacrifice meant to satisfactorily take away that emnity between worshiper and God.

This sacrifice had to be perfect. Remember, the sacrifices in the Old Testament were meant only to cover the sins of the people. That is why they were brought to the Lord annually.

Heb 9:6-14

Only the blood of a perfect sacrifice could remove the sins of the people...not merely cover them up.

The sacrifice had to be perfect because God is perfect. Nothing with blemish or stain can be in His presence. That is why the sacrifice had to be equal to God Himself otherwise it would not be perfect enough to satisfy the debt. Only God can be equal to God. So, that is why it was God Himself who had to be that sacrifice. That is why Jesus and God are equal.

Titus 2:11-14

(New Geneva Study Bible, Commentary, 1995)

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"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another."

Now we see John return to his message: if we have received this love from God, then how can we not love others?

It is our nature to hate...to hate God and to hate others. It is in our nature to love ourselves above all. So John reminds us that if we have received this eternal gift of Love from God....then we have been commanded to obey His commandments and love one another.

1 John 2:5

1 John 2: 10

So, John writes that love is not that we loved God...because we would never love God. Love is God loving us and saving us while we were still His enemies filled with hatred for Him and all His creation. Now that's love!

That love ought to radiate from us...it ought to be visible to all creation! If that love remains hidden, then God's work remains unfinished. That is when we miss out on all the blessings the Lord has for us.

Matt 18:33

God had pity on us. Who are we to deny this pity, this love, on others who belong to Him? We are nothing without Him.

That is John's message throughout this chapter: knowing God through love is the greatest thing for the believer. Like the sunshine...we need that love to live!

Take all that you have learned here today and treasure it in your heart.

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Life Application

The love of God surpasses all other love we humans can know. The love we have for our spouses or for our children is so different. The love we have for our children is more of a protective caring love that comes from deep within us. The love we have for our spouses is more of a satisfying love that comes from showing service and receiving service. Instead of that protective stance, we usually have more of a secure stance with our spouses.

The love of God encompasses all of the "loves" described above.

Storge- this is the Greek word for love that means natural affection. It is a quiet abiding love. It is found in the New Testament.

Eros- this love is more passionate and sexual. It is based on emotions and bodily chemistry. It is not used in the New Testament at all.

Phileo- This love is more companionable. It is a love that responds out of kindness or appreciation. It is found in the New Testament.

After reading the words for love above, one can see glimpses of a type of love we humans share with others. And we can see only a tiny glimpse of the love that God has for us.

But there is a love that is more from and about God. It is "agape" love found in the New Testament:

Agape- This love is called out from the heart. It is not kindled from merit of worth, but originates in its own God-given nature. It delights in giving. This love keeps on loving even though the one receiving the love is unresponsive. Agape love desires only the good of the loved one. It is a comsuming passion for the well-being of others (Used by Permission: First John, Precept Ministries, 2001).

This love is the love of God. In this love, you can see how it is manifested in humans but only in a limited finite amount since we are limited and finite.

But in God, this love is eternal. He loves us even when we are unresponsive to Him. He delights in giving to us. He loves us faithfully even when we are unfaithful. Why? Is it because of anything we have done to deserve this?

No. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:8. God loved us while we were still sinners. He loved us even when we were His enemies.

Now, that's a love we can live with!

This Agape love is the love we are to have for one another. This is the love John wants us to show for one another. Pray today that you can make manifest this agape love for the brethren around you.

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Until next time....

"Fallen man is in a state of ecxeedingly great misery, and is helpless in it. He is poor, weak creature, like an infant cast out in its blood on the day that is is born. But Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is strong, though we are weak. He has prevailed to do that for us which no other creaure could do. Fallen man is a mean, despicable creature, a contemptible worm; but Christ, who has undertaken for us, is infinitely honorable and worthy. Fallen man is polluted, but Christ is infinitely holy; fallen man is hateful, but Chist is infinitely lovely; fallen man is the object of God's indignation, but Christ is infinitely dear to Him. We have dreadfully provoked God, but Christ has performed that righteousness which is infinitely precious in God's eye's."

-Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758 (Altogether Lovely, 1997, p. 45)

Blessings,

Ruth