Perfecting of Gods Love
1 John 2:5; 4:12, 17, 18
In concluding this sermon series on the love of God, we come full circle to the text of the first message I preached on January 6, ten months ago.
No other writer in the New Testament spoke more about the love of God than the Apostle John. Some say that as John got older, that is all he talked about. I can relate to that. The older I get, the more I appreciate God’s love and the more I want others to know it also.
As I reflect on my preaching today compared to how I preached when I was younger, it is not as harsh or “highly seasoned” as it was years ago. Today my preaching is more exhortation than admonition. I believe this is due to God’s love is being perfected in me.
I. The STARTING point.
A. Back in the mid 1960’s Jackie DeShannon had a big hit song titled, “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Candidly, no truer words have ever been spoken. However, the “love” in the lyrics of that song is very different from the Biblical concept of love.
Love starts with God—He is the SOURCE (1John4:19).
- An unsaved man, with only a depraved nature, is incapable of “agape” type love (God-like unconditional love). Peoples’ motives in loving are basically tainted by self-interests. They show “love” for what they can get.
- Until a lost man knows God, the only kind of love he can give is some kind of “self-generated” love that is nothing more than carnal affection or emotional sentimentality.
B. Only those who have received Christ can love in a Biblical sense because “God is love.”
- 1 John 4:8—“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
- Jesus told the Jewish leaders of His day,“…ye have not the love of God in you” (John 5:42). If someone doesn’t have the love of God in them, they cannot show it.
II. The STEADY flow.
Why does God love us? I don’t know except to say, He loves us so we might love others.
Just as the sun is our only source of daylight, God is our only source of love. Sun rays reflect off objects, diffusing the atmosphere with light making it possible for us to see.
Likewise, God’s love enters the world and reflects off our hearts, making it possible for us to love Him and love others. We have no innate capacity… no self-originating supply of love to give. We can only give what we have received from God.
