FIRST JOHN
The Theme of Love (Part One)
1 John 3:11-20
INTRODUCTION
There are three themes circulating in 1 John:
Why are all 3 of these themes so important? Why not just the first, the belief that the historical Jesus was God the Son? Again, it always goes back to the cross. We claim that the cross is the central event in history. Our whole destiny depends upon our response to the cross. All that is true. Unfortunately though we limit the significance to the cross only to its sacrificial element: Christ died to save us from our sins. The cross though is not only the place of sacrifice. It is also the place of revelation, God's revelation about Himself. There God reveals that He is a righteous God. In what way does the cross show this? Christ died on the cross because God hates sin that much. It took nothing less than the death of God (the Son) to remove God's wrath from us because of sin. Second, it reveals God to be the God of love. Only love for us would have motivated God to sacrifice His own Son on our behalf. The sacrifice of Christ is not the core meaning of the cross, while righteousness and love are side issues. All three form the central meaning of the cross.
THE NECESSITY OF LOVE (1 John 3:11-15)
According to John what was the message we have heard from the beginning (3:11)?
By "beginning" John is probably referring to the beginning of humanity. When you read Genesis 1-4 though you don't even see the word "love"; however, you do see an incident which in reverse stresses that we are to love one another. According to John what incident in Genesis shows us that God demands that we love one another and how does that incident demonstrate love (1 John 3:12)?
According to John how do we know that we have eternal life (3:14-15)?
How would you define eternal life?
What is true about the person who actually has hate in his heart?
Does any of this remind you of a teaching of Jesus on love/hate, and if so, which teaching?
This is just another example of the NT being based upon and expanding the teachings of Jesus while He was here on earth.
DEFINITION OF LOVE (1 John 3:16-20)
It's really interesting (really a coincidence but a neat one) that chapter 3:16 in both the Gospel of John and 1 John are some of the most wonderful verses on love in the entire Bible. Gospel of John: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . ." and 1 John: "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." The 2 verses actually go hand-in-hand.
According to 1 John 3:16 how do we know that God truly loves us?
Sacrificial love is the essence of God's love for us. In that same verse, how does John say we are to love others?
James Price's favorite author, C. S. Lewis, says that there are actually 4 words used for love in the Greek language: storge (affectionate love), philos (friendship love), eros (romantic love), and agape (God's love). Unfortunately we use one word for all four kinds of loves and thereby delude ourselves into thinking that we have fulfilled this command by being affectionate, friendly, or romantic. The word used here though is "agape," God's love, sacrificial love. Any love substituted for this love does not fulfill what John is saying here and what God commands.
John goes on to explain more about the kind of love God has for us. How does verse 17 help us understand more about God's love?
Notice that the emphasis again is on the "brother," that is, the fellow Christian. Our responsibility is always to be first towards the Christian poor because they are our family, fellow sons and daughters of God (Matt. 25:31-46). It's not that we won't help the non-Christian poor; it's just that the emphasis is placed on the Christian poor because whenever we've done it to a Christian, we've done it to Christ.
As a result of this, what are we supposed to do (1 John 3:18)?
There is a marvelous consequence of our loving others. According to John in verses 19 and 20 we can have assurance in the day of judgment even though our heart may condemn us. Many times our hearts are not telling us the truth. They are condemning us, whereas all along we are going to be OK during the time of judgment. Do our hearts though determine whether or not we are going to be OK in the day of judgment?
According to 1 John 3:20, who is greater than our hearts?
In other words, He is not listening to our hearts to decide whether or not we are condemned or not. He is greater than our hearts. As a result, we can have confidence regarding the day of judgment regardless of what our hearts are telling us.
Now think about this for a minute. The passage on assurance (verses 19-20) comes right after what passage?
Now try and link the 2 passages together and what do you get?
According to 1 John 4:17-18 why should we have no fear regarding the day of judgment?
Whose love is John referring to here in this passage (this is critically important because some of us, whether we know it or not, should have fear regarding the day of judgment)?