“Questions About God: What Does God’s Love Look Like?”
1 Jn. 2:3-5; 3:1-3, 16-20; 4:7-21
If you discovered that you had only five minutes left to say all that you wanted to say, what would you say -- and to whom? A man named Christopher Morley posited that “every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that we love them.” I truly believe that the most common regret people have as they near the end of their lives, other than failing to respond to the call of Jesus Christ, is failure to love more people more fully. No matter how successful or full life may have been, failure to love tarnishes the glow. That’s why we need to learn about God’s love in Jesus Christ. In his Gospel, John wrote of Jesus, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the end.” Let’s learn from Jesus how to love fully all the way to the end.
To discover what God’s love looks like, we need to begin where John begins: THE CORE OF LOVE IS IN GOD’S HEART. Does God love us? Yes – a thousand times “Yes!” God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to become one of us. He did so not just so He could fully identify with us, but so we could more fully understand and identify with Him. That’s why John begins “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us...” It literally states, “Behold what manner of love...” In the Greek language “what manner” actually means “of what country.” Something is so spectacular or different that it can’t be from a normal source. For example, in Matthew 7:27 we read, “What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him;” meaning “from where does this man come?” Or Peter wrote (2 Pt. 3:11): “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind (manner) of people ought you to be?” Literally, “according to what country’s standards ought you live?” So here John acknowledged that this great love is not earthly but heavenly in origin: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!”
The core of God’s love begins with the fact that HE HAS ADOPTED US. Remember how God repeatedly reminded Israel, “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” (Dt. 7:7-9) He chose them not because they were so good or great or deserving: rather He chose them because He chose them. Likewise He has given us the privilege of being part of His family – brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ! Likewise it is not because God made a huge search or ran a worldwide contest to find the most qualified, the greatest, the most deserving people to be His children; no, He settled for us – for the likes of you and me. Pure grace – totally undeserved and unmerited. We could never have measured up on our own. But He adopted us! We share all the riches, rights, and royalties of Jesus! But unlike those adopted into human families, we’ve been given the family genes: “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” We’re on our way to looking like Jesus - a little more every day! As Roxie Lisk Smith wrote in “The Master’s Touch”, “Deep beyond my mind I know of God’s unfailing skill; He makes the scope of time to bow to His almighty will. I cannot doubt the Master’s art remolding such as I, An erring child with willful heart; remade by Him on high. My weakened soul was scarred with time; my life was spent in vain; It was in order and with rhyme He did restore again. He took the grief I could not bear and tossed it in the sea; Inserted quiet acceptance there within the heart of me. For deep within I felt the pine and bowed my heart to prayer; He gently touched this life of mine, and left His likeness there.” God loves us - we know it because He has adopted us.
We know it also because HE HAS GIVEN HIMSELF FOR US. (3:16):“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” G. K. Chesterton pointedly said, “They have invented a new phrase that is a black-and-white contradiction in two words – ‘free love.’ As if a lover had been, or ever could be, free. It is the nature of love to bind itself.” God has bound Himself to us in Jesus Christ! Jesus has bound Himself to us in that He gave, and continues to give Himself for us. Jesus opened Himself up, shared his heart and life with us; He fully entered into our lives at the deepest levels. Everything He did was for us. And still, from the Father’s right hand, everything He does is for us. He rules for us, prepares a place for us, intercedes for us, advocates for us - and He will come again for us. His mind, His purpose, and His will are all bent and bound towards us. God is bound to us through Jesus who spent, and is spending His life for us.
To be sure we hear and feel the message John added a third proof of God’s love for us – HE PAID THE PRICE FOR US. Jesus’ giving of Himself came to a climax when he boarded a cross and journeyed into death for us. (4:9-10): “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God publicly displayed His love by sending Jesus on a type of divine Kamikaze mission. Knowing we could never measure up to God’s holiness or pay the price for failing to do so, God stepped in. He loves us too much to let us die in our sin and spend eternity in hell. This is the uniqueness of God’s love in Jesus. Many religions are built on the premise that God is love. Christian Science, Buddhism, Hinduism, Universalism, Humanitarianism, can all be built on this premise. But the defining act of the love of God is the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is no one else or nowhere else to be freed from the penalty of our sin. Because of Jesus, we are free, totally accepted and loved as we are.
A man finally decided to ask his boss for a raise in salary. He told his wife as he left that morning what he was about to do. All day he was nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon he summoned up the courage and spoke to his boss. To his delight, the boss agreed to a raise. He arrived home to a beautiful table set with their finest dishes. Candles were lit and his wife had prepared a festive meal. He figured someone from the office had tipped her off. Finding his wife in the kitchen he told her the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down and enjoyed the meal. Next to his plate he found a beautifully lettered note which read: “Congratulations, darling! I knew you’d get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you.” While on his way to the kitchen to get dessert, he noticed that a second card had fallen from her pocket. Picking it up he discovered it read, “Don’t worry about not getting the raise. These things will tell you how much I love you.” No matter what, God accepts us – we can be sure because He has adopted us, given Himself for us in Jesus who paid the price for us. Does God love us? A thousand times “Yes!”
That, my friends, is good news! But why, then, does John say God’s love is incomplete? (4:12) “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” God’s love is not complete until it is seen in us; it is never experienced by others until it flows through us. THE CONTINUATION OF LOVE IS IN OUR HEARTS: WE OUGHT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Citing the example of Cain and Abel, John reminds us. (3:14ff.) “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.” And 4:9: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” LOVE IS THE TEST OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD We are either lovers or haters and murderers – there is no in between. If we have truly experienced God’s love in our hearts, we will respond by loving others. A compass points north because it is so constituted that it responds to the magnetic field that is part of the earth’s makeup. The compass is responsive to the nature of the earth. So it is with Christian love; the nature of God is love. And a person who is constituted with the Spirit of Jesus will share the nature of God’s love. So love is the test of our nature and relationship with God.
How, then, do we love? WE GIVE OURSELVES AWAY. We are to consistently and constantly do what love demands and requires. Charles Schultz has Lucy come to Charlie Brown and say, “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. Since it‘s that time of the season, I think we ought to bury past differences and try to be kind.” Charlie Brown asks, “Why does it just have to be this time of the season? Why can’t it be all year long?” Lucy looks at him and exclaims, “What are you, some kind of fanatic?” That, in fact, is what we are commanded to be – fanatical.
John continues: “...if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” Like Jesus WE MUST LAY DOWN OUR LIVES. 3:17: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” If our hearts are not touched by the need of others, we need to examine our relationship with Christ. To “have no pity” is a wonderful Greek word, “splangknas.” It means, deep inside – our innards. We talk about gut level openness – that’s splangknas. As God felt our sin “splangknas” – deep inside Himself – so we are to feel the pain of others and act to relieve it.
Make no mistake about it – this removes love from the feeling level – THIS IS AN ACT OF THE WILL. It is ‘agape’ love – a love, like Jesus’ love, which is constant because He has promised to love us no matter what – even when He may not feel like it! Still He loves. As Reuben Welch wrote, “...we have to move out of the level of liking and emotion and feeling and warmth to the level of the will – a posture, a stance, an attitude, a frame of mind, a life’s direction towards others that’s conditioned by our understanding of God’s self-giving in Jesus.” (1)
Did you catch that? “A life’s direction towards others...!” WE ARE TO BE OTHER-ORIENTED. The need of the other person is primary. His or her good is the tantamount issue. This agape love therefore even transforms the sexual act – it makes it an act based on the need of the other thus treating the other as a person of value rather than an object of desire or lust. If the love of God is within us, we will give ourselves away.
But notice: OUR LOVE IS TO BE DISCRIMINATORY. Repeatedly John stated we are to love our brothers and sisters, we are to love each other. That does not mean we do not love those outside the family of God – but it does mean that the way we love those in the family will determine if those outside the family even care. As an outsider looks at the church, the body of Christ, what does she see? As an outsider looks at Hope Church, what does she see? Is there enough love to convince or convict her of Christ’s love? St. Augustine wrote: “Love alone distinguishes the children of God from those of the devil. They can all sign themselves with the sign of Christ’s cross; they can all respond Amen and sing Alleluia; they may all be baptized and come to church; and they may build churches; but the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil only by love. Those who love are born of God, those who don’t are not.” If we are truly filled with the love of God, if we truly know God, our agenda and temperament is not one of a critical spirit, an ego-centric attitude, a fault-finding eye, nor a ‘my way or the highway’ mentality, nor a “let someone else do it” philosophy; it is one of “What can I do for you? How can I help you? What does love demand I do for you?” Based on your love life, how would you rank your relationship with Christ?
Someone has put it this way: “Lovers smile a lot. Something caring and contagious flows through them. It’s inviting, warm, gentle, and kind. Lovers treat you as someone really special. Warmth and welcome quickly turn into genuine friendship. They like you as a wonderful person and do not hesitate to say so. Lovers’ faces light up every time they see you. Their hugs and handshakes and personal words make you feel totally accepted. Quickly they invite you into their conversation, group or home. Instinctively you know that you have a place in their hearts. Lovers make knowing Jesus and living in Him so attractive. If coming close to Him is something like coming close to them, it has to be wonderful. Lovers are generous with compliments from the heart, quick to see your strengths and tender with your weaknesses. Lovers know God. You sense that they tap into the true source of love often and regularly. The overflow of their lives shows at once ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love...’ Lovers have flaws. They are not perfect, and sometimes their weaknesses hurt us more than those of others from whom we expect so little. Lovers sometimes become victims of our rising expectations. We, and so many others, want to treat them like close friends. No one can keep up with the demands of true friendship for so many people. We can easily expect lovers to do more for us than is reasonable or even possible. When it’s time for lovers to be loved...Many will rise up and call them blessed. Rightly so. They have blessed so many for so long that it only seems right to give them a little gratitude and appreciation in return. Christ’s lovers do incredible good to all within their sphere of influence. It’s little wonder then that the most often repeated command in the New Testament is ‘Love one another.’”
God has called us to be lovers. His love is incomplete without us. Does your love look like God’s? Let’s bring heaven into the real world. Let us commit to perfecting His love, to build a church of love, to give ourselves totally to excelling in love. The seed is already within us – love is part of the fruit of the Spirit. We just need to clean out our arteries and let the love flow through us.
(1) Reuben Welch, “We Really Do need Each Other”, © Impact Books, Nashville, TN, p. 95
