1 John Study
Lesson # 12
The Importance
Of Loving One Another
Introduction
Love is a word that is often so casually used that we are often unaware of its importance. We speak of loving many things – sweets, people, cars, houses & all sorts of pleasures. John speaks of love as being of supreme importance, because unless we love one another it is impossible to love God. As we examine the rest of chapter four John presents several concepts about love, God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit that we will examine.
1. Love is from God
a. God is the origin of love. Human love is only a reflection of something that is
divine in nature. Without this revelation from God man would be
consumed by his passions & desires & would never express love.
b. Love has a double relationship to God
1) It is only by knowing God that we learn to love
2) It is only by loving that we learn to know God
3) In other words - Love comes from God & leads us to God
c. When we love one another, people see two things:
1) People see that we are born of God, that we have the nature of God, that
God has put His divine nature into us.
2) People see that we know God. They see that we have been talking to
God and learning about God; that we are doing what God says,
carrying out His instructions, and that we are actually taking on the
very nature of God.
d. But note a significant fact: the person who does not love others reveals
something as well: that he does not know God (1 John 4:8).
Actions of one who does not love
God
* Lives selfishly * Steals
* Hoards * Neglects others
* Discriminates * Abuses
* Is prejudiced * Criticizes
* Elevates himself * Backbites
* Gossips * Hates
* Anger & Rage * Murder
There is no demonstration of love, concern or care for others. Their life
is lived to bring hurt, pain & destruction. This is not of God, it is of Satan & therefore they do not know God.
e. Because God is spirit, no one can see God; what we can see is the effect of God
1) We cannot see the wind, only what the wind can do
2) We cannot see electricity; we see only what electricity produces
3) The effect of God is love
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2. God manifested His love for us in Jesus
a. In Jesus we see God’s love for us fully demonstrated
1) His love for us held nothing back – Rom.8:32
2) It is totally undeserved – Rom.5:6-8
b. When we look at the world & all of mankind we see all sorts of evil &
destruction. If all we ever looked at were the creation, we would find it
difficult to fully sense the love God has for us, but in Jesus it is fully
demonstrated. He spared no expense to bring us back to Him.
c. John’s conclusion – “if God so loved us, we ought to love one another”
1) Loved us when we were obstinate, disobedient, ignored Him & rebelled
2) If He went to such great lengths to love him, we ought to love them too
3. Loving one another proves God’s Spirit dwells within
us
a. No one has ever seen God, but God is known by His presence - love
b. Notice what happens when God begins to dwell within us (1 John 4:12).
1) We love one another and God’s love becomes perfected, that is,
complete and fulfilled in us.
2) We just grow and grow in love. We mature more and more, ever
completing and perfecting the love of God upon earth.
c. Notice one other thing: How do we know that we dwell in God and He in us
(1 John 4:13)?
1) By the Holy Spirit whom He has given to us.
2) If we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, He bears witness with
our spirit. Rom.8:16 It is impossible for God to be living within the
body and life of a person and the person not know it. It is the Spirit
of God who tells us that we have been saved and are in God and
God in us.
3) If a person does not have the witness of God’s Spirit within him, he
needs to evaluate his conversion. The likelihood is that he has
never been saved. Even if he is temporarily in a backslidden state,
the Holy Spirit is convicting and bugging him to repent and turn
back to God. Jn.16:7-11; Rom.8:11
4. When love comes, fear leaves
a. Fear is the characteristic emotion of one who expects to be punished
1) If our concept of God is just that He is judge, king & lawgiver we will
live in fear.
2) When we are filled with the concept of God’s love, fear gets swallowed
up by that love.
3) In its place is a different kind of fear – a fear of grieving the one who so
loved us.
b. As Christians we are delivered from the fear of judgment.
1) All will be judged – Mt.12:36;
25:31,32; Rom.14:10; 2 Cor.5:10;
2) Those in Christ do not need to
fear that day – Rom.8:1,34,35; Heb.4:16
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c. There is no fear in love.
1) If we really love someone, there is no need to fear him. In fact, we will
not fear him. If we love the person, sacrificially give him our very
best, then we have done all we can. Our lives and what we have
done are in God’s hands.
2) We will rest assured that we can do no more. A peace, an assurance,
will sweep over our soul. Even if some people react against us and
persecute us and martyr us, God will give us such a deep sense of
His presence—so deep that we will be flooded with peace and
assurance. This is what Peter calls “the spirit of glory and of God”
that rests upon the believer when he is reproached. 2 Tim.4:16-18
3) 1 Pet 4:13-14 - But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of
Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed,
for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (NIV)
4) Realize - only a love that is growing will be blessed by God.
a) A believer cannot love one person and hold feelings against
another person. This is not love. True love is impartial.
b) A person who really loves, loves everyone. There is no such
thing as a heart filled with love and hate. The two are
incompatible.
c) Therefore, the only believer who knows the peace and assurance
of God is the believer who is being perfected in love, the
believer who is growing and growing in love, fulfilling and
completing his love.
5. Love
of God & love for man are indissolubly connected
a. 1 John 4:7,11,20,21
b. The only way to prove that we love God is to love men whom He created. That
love must be demonstrated in our lives or we are
living a lie. 1 Cor.13:1-8
6. The
statement “God is love” answers many questions
a. It explains the creation
1) Why would God create a world that would only bring Him heartache?
2) See Gen.6:1-5 – so grieved, ready to completely destroy
3) The answer – the creation is essential to God’s nature
a) Because God is love, He cannot exist in isolation
b) For love to be love, it must have someone to love & someone to
love it
b. It explains mans free will
1) Unless love is a free response, it is not love. Forcing someone to love
you is not love. Love must be spontaneous.
2) God could have created us as robots, with no more choice than a
machine, but no relationship could exist between us.
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3) God had to deliberately limit Himself & endow man with a free will
that the purpose of creation might be fulfilled.
c. It explains the providence of God
1) God could have created the universe & wound it up & simply walked
away & left it to do what it would.
2) But because He is love, He created it with a need of constant care.
d. It explains redemption
1) God could have left man to the consequences of his sin. Man would
simply die & eternal justice would be exacted.
2) His nature of love drove Him to seek & save that which was lost. He
had to find a cure for sin that He & man might have fellowship.
e. It explains life beyond the physical
1) God could have created us to have just a brief lifespan & die. We would
be like the flowers that we plant each year – here for just a short
time & then have to be replaced.
2) His love moves Him to give us eternal life
7. What
these passages tell us about Jesus
a. He is the bringer of life – vs.9
1) There is a world of difference between existence & life. All men have
existence, but not all men have life.
2) Jesus gives us a reason to live – life becomes a great adventure
3) Jesus also gives us the strength to live – to master life’s frustrations
4) Jesus also gives us the peace, serenity & contentment needed in life
b. Jesus is the restorer of a lost
relationship with God – vs.10
1) He is our atoning sacrifice
2) Our sin broke our relationship with God, but Jesus made it possible for
us to enter a new relationship of intimacy, peace & friendship with
God. He broke down all the barriers.
c. Jesus is the savior of the world – vs.14
1) Without Jesus men are only conscious of their own weaknesses &
helplessness. Man cannot save himself from his sin, habits,
temptations or his fears.
2) Jesus is the answer for all those problems
d. Jesus is the Son of God – vs.15
1) Jesus has a relationship with God that no other person can have or ever
will have. He is God’s only begotten Son
2) He alone can show man what God is like or bring man to God. Only
through Him can man perfectly know God or be in a perfect
relationship with God.
8. What
these passages teach us about the Spirit
a. Because of the Spirit we know
that we dwell in God – vs.13
b. Because of the Spirit we seek God, become aware of His presence & have the
certainty that we are at peace with God. Rom.8:15,16