Sunday Sermons
God IS... Love
“For God is love” (1 John 4:8)
John’s assertion that God is love must not be interpreted to mean that God is only love, for the same book also claims that God is light (1 John 1:5), and other passages note that God is spirit (John 4:24), and that God is also a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). “When understood in its true Biblical sense, love as a divine attribute is unique to the Judaeo-Christian concept of God. Clarke calls it ‘the Christian specialty’. Brunner notes how hollow the affirmation ‘God is love’ sounds when one tries to apply it to other so-called deities of the world. He also calls this ‘the most daring statement that has ever been made in the human language’” (God the Redeemer, Cottrell p. 323).
John does not say that “Love is God”, the terms are not interchangeable” (Robertson p. 232). This truth assures us that all of God's dealings with us proceed from love, for God always does that which is in our best eternal interest. Hence, God's commands are always for our "good" (Deut. 6:24). Barclay notes: “It is the explanation of free will. Unless love is a free response it is not love. Love is of necessity the free choice and the free response of the heart; and, therefore, before men could love God in any real sense of the term, their wills had to be free. It is the explanation of providence (Acts 14:16-17; Matthew 5:45 “for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”). Had God been simply mind and order and law, He might, so to speak, have created the universe, wound it up, set it going, and left it. He might have used it as a man uses a machine, never paying any regard to it unless something goes wrong. It is the explanation of redemption. If God were only law and justice, He would simply leave men to the consequences of their sin. It is the explanation of the life beyond. If God were simply Creator, then men might live their brief span and die forever” (pp. 117-118).“The Gnostics believed and taught that God was immaterial spirit and light, but to the truth that God is love they did not attain”(Stott p. 160). This statement also infers every judgment found in the O.T. and N.T., even those that consumed people, was motivated by justice and love. Remember, love not only tries to warn and save the sinner, but love also must try to protect others when the sinner refuses to repent.
“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9).
God’s love therefore can be defined as “self-giving” and an unselfish concern for the well being of His creation. “He is unselfishly interested in us for our own sake; He cares whether we are truly happy and self-fulfilled. God is concerned about us simply because we are His creatures. He would not have made us only to ignore us or treat us with indifference. He is doubly concerned about us now that we are sinners, thus in terms of concern, Go does not love us less now that we are sinners: He loves us even more” (pp. 336-337). What impresses me is that God loves us regardless of outward attainments and external show; God loves us even if we have absolutely nothing in terms of possessions, human glory, external accomplishments, or earthly fame. God loves me even when I am stripped of all outward extras. This is what Jesus was trying to tell us in Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”. We are far more valuable than all the “options” and “add-ons” that surround us. God loves what He created to be in His image (Genesis 1:26), He loves us even though we may have nothing else but our soul and body. Such love even gave abundantly and worked for our best interest, even when we were nothing more than sinners (Romans 5:8).
“Love is from God” (1 John 4:7)
That is, love originates, springs, or flows from God. W.E. Vine observes that even the word used for such "love" in the New Testament ("agape") was virtually a new word and concept for the ancient world. “AGAPAO and the corresponding noun ‘agape’ present ‘the characteristic word of Christianity, and since the Spirit of revelation has used it to express ideas previously unknown, enquiry into its use, whether in Greek literature or in the Sept., throws but little light upon its distinctive meaning in the N.T’” (p. 20). “God is the source and origin of love and all true love derives from Him” (Stott p. 160). “Love is part of the nature of God, and has its ultimate origin in God. Every expression of love, therefore, for God or man, emanates from God--for apart from revelation man would not know what ‘love is’. All love has its roots in God, to love is to be like God” (Zond. Ency. pp. 990-991).That last statement should impress us. Since God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26), every expression of sacrificial and unselfish love must be tied back to God. Even when the non-Christian does something that is a momentary manifestation of such unselfishness, they are demonstrating by such an action that they are made in the image of God--even though they might deny it. Without God's revelation (the Bible) and its universal influence man would have probably never learned what constitutes true love.
“His only begotten Son” (1 John 4:9)
“Single of its kind, only. Used of Christ, denotes the only Son of God or one who in the sense in which He Himself is the Son of God has no brethren” (Thayer p. 417). “MONOGENES: Indicates that as the Son of God He was the sole representative of the Being and character of the One who sent Him. The expression also suggests the thought of deepest affection (Genesis 22:2)” (Vine p. 140). “Also unique (in kind), that is the only example of its category” (Arndt p. 527). “The only one of its kind, unique. Of the same nature, related. ‘Monogenees’ actually is a compound of the word ‘Monos’ (alone), and the word ‘Genos’ (race, stock, family). The Son is the only one of the same stock, race, and family as that of the Father” (Was Christ God? Zodhiates pp. 20-21). “Jesus is not only God's Son, which connotes derivation, relationship, but the Father's unique Son, which is John's way of expressing the Lord's qualitatively superior sonship” (Zond. Ency. "Only Begotten" p. 539). Thus we find that God gave the "best". “He loved us and sent His Son to rescue us, not because we are in any sense lovable, but because He is love. So the greatness of His love is seen in the costliness of His self-sacrifice for the wholly undeserving (Romans 5:7,8)” (Stott p. 163). God did not just send anyone to die for our sins, but the only one of his kind, the most precious and unique.
“Not that we loved God, but that He loved us” (1 John 4:10)
“Here is evidence of the falsity of the theory of the creeds that God was angry with man and that Jesus came to appease the wrath of a vengeful God” (Woods p. 295). ”When we look at Jesus we see two things about the love of God. It is the love thatholds nothing back. God was prepared to give His dearest one, to make a sacrifice beyond which no sacrifice can possibly go. It is a totally undeserved love, the wonder is that God loves poor and disobedient creatures like us” (Barclay pp. 115-116).“Let no man think that any higher manifestation of love than this can be found. It is not in any love of man for his maker, but in His makers love to him” (P.P. Comm. p. 103). In view of such truths how can we even allow ourselves to think that we can give God the bare minimum of our time, talents and prosperity? How can a man be stingy with such a loving God? How can we hold a grudge? And how can we argue that we are not going to try to help someone unless they first make the request for help? Like God, we must take the first step, even towards our enemies (Matthew 5:46-48; Ephesians 2:1-5; Titus 3:3-5). “Thus God simply does not tolerate people, but He loves them with all the fervor of His holy nature” (Cottrell p. 339). “It is a love that stops for nothing, that is resolutely devoted to the other, however far away and hostile that other may be; it is a love which is unmotivated and for which no sacrifice is too great to enrich people who did not ask for it or who even oppose it” (p. 338). Compare with 2 Corinthians 12:15.
The warmth of God’s love
God actually does have an affection for mankind for the Greek word philia which includes the concept of tender affection, is used as well for God’s love for us, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared” (Titus 3:5; John 16:27). Such affection is also seen in the great Biblical analogies that picture God’s relationship with His people:
· The Father-child analogy:
“Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13). In the New Testament, God is described as “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Christians are called His adopted children, who call Him not merely “Father” but even “Abba” Father (Romans 8:15), “a name which to Israelite ears had the ring of an unusual intimacy” (Cottrell p. 343).
· The mother and her infant comparison: (Isaiah 49:15; 66:13).
· The husband-wife relationship:
Thinking specifically of the book of Hosea, even though Israel in the Old Testament was often a shameless and adulterous wife, God still loved her and made every attempt to allure her back (Hosea 2:1-20). We find the same husband-wife analogy in the New Testament, again as a way of describing God’s love for His people (Ephesians 5:25; 2 Corinthians 11:2).
· The Shepherd and the flock: (Psalm 23; Isaiah 40:11; John 10:11).
“How can we say that God has no affection for His creatures whom He made to be in fellowship with Himself? Does a father have no feeling for his son? Does a mother have no emotional attachment to her infant daughter? Does a husband have no deep attachment to his wife? Surely these analogies teach us that God’s love is warm and tender and deeply personal. They help us feel the depth of His passion when He contemplates His rebellious people and (as Isaiah says) ‘longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you’ (30:18). We hear the pathos when He says, ‘Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; therefore My heart yearns for him’ (Jeremiah 31:20). We feel with Him when He cries, ‘How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender You, O Israel? My heart is turned over within Me, all my compassions are kindled’ (Hosea 11:8). We can picture Jesus’ tears of love when He said, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling’ (Matthew 23:37; Luke 19:41). With such affection as this, no wonder our loving God is concerned for our well-being; no wonder He desires to give completely of Himself to accomplish it; no wonder He has already actively accomplished our redemption even though it meant an infinite cost to Himself” (Cottrell pp. 344-345).
Thus God’s love reached out to us even when we were sinners. “It is only safe to approach the doctrine of the divine Love through the doctrine of divine Holiness. This keeps us from making statements that are too extravagant, and it helps us to appreciate all the more what the Bible says about His marvelous love” (p. 321).
