Living in God's Love (Part Four)

Well, good evening to all of you.

If you're new, joining us for the first time, I'd especially again like to welcome you.

This evening we're going to continue a study that we've started some time ago.

Actually, back in January, we've been picking our way slowly through 1 John, the first pastoral

letter that John wrote.

And this letter has a lot of wonderful things in it.

We've been focusing on one of the central themes in this letter, and that is what it

means to know God.

We've been asking that question as a community.

What does it mean to know God?

Not just to know the theology, not just to know the correct answers, not just to know the philosophy

or way of life, but what does it mean to actually have a relationship with God and what sets

that apart?

And if you've been following in this letter or if you know anything about 1 John, John

does not write in the way that Paul writes.

In other words, John doesn't write in a linear fashion, laying out his propositions and his

points.

John's writing is much more like a spiral, and it can be really frustrating at times because

he has themes and he will spiral around and around and he'll come back to the same themes

again and again and again.

And the main themes that we have seen are the themes of truth and obedience and then

love.

And tonight, we circle back for the final time.

This is the apex.

This is the pinnacle of the letter where John talks about love and what love really is.

What is true love?

In light of the events of this past week in Baltimore, this is an incredibly relevant

topic, but it's also something that's very central and close to the heart of the Christian

faith.

Love, what it is and what it means.

We've, well, I'll just tell you honestly, I was originally looking at this passage.

I was looking at 1 John 4, verses 6 through 12, and my plan was to cover all of that tonight.

1 John 4:6–12

It's just a few verses, and I thought that would be no problem.

And then the more I looked at this, the more I began to realize how much there is here.

It's so central to our question of what it means to know God.

It's so central to the Christian faith.

And really, it's just beautiful.

And I felt like we would be sitting down to this beautiful meal and rushing through it.

And, you know, if you sit down to a beautiful meal, sometimes you just want to slow down

and enjoy each bite.

You want to savor it.

And so I felt as I was preparing that we really needed to do that with these verses.

And so rather than preaching a three-point sermon, I'm going to break this up into three

weeks.

So you're just going to get point one tonight, essentially.

And so we're just going to look primarily at one verse here.

We're going to look at 1 John 4, verse 8.

1 John 4:8

And in particular, we're going to look at this statement.

God is love.

God is love.

And we're going to look at what this means, and then I'll give you five reasons why it

matters.

So let's pray for the Lord to help us.

Father, we do recognize that this is your word.

But for it to become more than ink and paper, we need your spirit.

We need you to illuminate and enliven your word.

Lord, we need you to open our hearts.

And so we ask, Lord, just as you have shown us mercy through your Son, so in your love

and your grace, you would enable us to hear you.

We know that the same word that brought existence, brought this world into being at creation, now

in our midst, has the power to recreate us.

And so we pray that it would, for your glory, in your Son's name.

Amen.

Amen.

So first of all, I want to look at this statement that John makes, this profound, mysterious

claim that God is love.

I'll give you a little bit of the context, starting in verse 7.

He says,

So he's saying God is love.

In other words, he's saying, he's not saying God is loving.

He's not saying that God feels love.

Love is not just an attribute that he's putting on a list.

Rather, he's saying that love is of the very essence of who God is.

It's of his very nature.

And this is one of those places in the Christian faith where, if you try to explain it too much,

you risk losing a sense of the mystery.

You know, there's a, in the early church writings and in Scripture, we see this word mysterion.

The sacred mysteries at the heart of the Christian faith.

This is one of those.

That somehow there's a God who is one, and yet a trinity.

And within those three persons, there is a love that is eternal, that has always been.

And somehow, in the mystery of God's nature, love resides at the very center.

Love is his very essence.

And what this means, especially in light of the context, is that God is the source of love.

He's the source of love.

That's why it says in verse 7, love is from God.

So many of us like to hike.

And you know if you're hiking in the woods, and you're hiking on a hillside,

and you come across a stream of water, a little trickle of water,

immediately when you see that stream, that tells you that somewhere up the mountain,

probably beyond where you can see, there's a source where that stream emerges from the rock

and begins to flow down the hillside.

You know that there's, because of the spring, you know that there's a source.

And just as the stream points to the source up the mountain,

so the sheer existence of love in the world points to the source of love beyond the mountains.

That any time, in any way, in any place, we observe the reality of love in the world,

there is an inherent promise to that, that somewhere beyond the mountains,

there is a source from which all of that love has come into the world.

All of the love everywhere that we see, the love between dear friends,

the love between parents and children, the love between lovers, husbands and wives,

the love that we have, the love that we share, all of these different kinds of love,

you know, the Greeks like to categorize these kinds of love.

But really, they're all tributaries, flowing from the same source beyond the mountains.

And so all love is, in one way or another, a sign of God's goodness and His blessing in this world.

And the thing is, even if you don't believe in God,

some of you are here and you don't believe in God,

maybe you don't know what you believe.

But even if you don't believe in God,

our experience of love in this life

only makes sense if there's a source beyond the mountains.

Our experience of love alone can only really fully be understood

if there is a source beyond the mountains.

And the reason is this.

It's because our experience of love in this world

always falls short of what we would hope for.

It always falls short.

In other words, we have the capacity, and not just the capacity.

We have a deep down, innate desire, a need, a hope for a kind of love.

And that hope is never fully satisfied.

And if you think about your life,

think about your experience of love in the world,

you will find that to be true again and again and again.

In all of your relationships, you know,

we idealize when we're young.

I'm lucky my kids are still in this phase,

but not for much longer.

When you're very young, you idealize the love of your parents,

and they are perfect, and they're infallible,

and they love you unconditionally,

and you can't imagine a more perfect love.

And then you get older,

and you begin to see your parents for who they really are.

And you realize that sometimes even the best parents,

their love is conditional.

Or you realize that maybe you had siblings,

and maybe there was a clear sense of favoritism,

even though your parents said,

we love all of you the same.

You know.

Maybe your love kind of,

their love is kind of maybe based on your performance

a little more than you would like to think.

And then you see your parents making decisions,

and it really seems like they're motivated by self-love,

rather than love for you.

And you go through these,

and it's disillusioning,

and you realize this isn't that perfect love.

Right?

And then you idealize your love for a friend,

and I just want to find a best friend

with whom I can share everything.

And maybe you have an amazing friend,

and thank God for this incredible friend.

But maybe there's also a bit of rivalry.

And maybe your friend has some success

that you didn't enjoy,

and there's also kind of jealousy and bitterness there.

Maybe you just grow apart in your interests.

And you realize that that wasn't really the love

I was hoping for.

Right?

And then you think,

well, maybe when I get married,

then I'll find it.

And you get married,

and it's great,

and it's bliss,

and you fall in love,

and you're surging with hormones.

Right?

And you can't think straight.

And then after about a couple of years,

normally, on average,

the hormones kind of run out.

And you,

who are you?

We share a life now.

And you begin to get to know your spouse

about two years into marriage.

And you get to know them,

and it's great,

but life is really mundane,

and sometimes life,

for long stretches,

just seems like you're paying bills

and fighting over who washes the dishes.

And sometimes it's really hard,

and sometimes the sex is amazing,

and sometimes you have maintenance sex.

And more often than not,

maybe you have maintenance sex.

And then more often than not,

you find that there are times

when neither one of you

really even cares about sex.

You would much rather go to sleep

because you're tired.

And that sounds so much better than sex.

And all of these realities begin to set,

and you realize we love each other,

and at times it's bliss,

and at times it's really hard,

and at times,

sometimes we kind of feel like we hate each other.

And you realize this is marriage,

and the love is good,

but it's not perfect.

It's not perfect.

And then maybe you think,

well, you know what,

when we have kids,

then we will be able to pour all this love in,

and it will be amazing.

And then you have kids,

and it's incredible,

and that moment in the hospital

is unlike anything else.

And then you move forward,

and it's great,

and you're losing sleep,

but it doesn't matter

because you still love them,

and then they break stuff,

and it's okay,

and you still love them.

And then they don't do anything you say,

and it's okay,

you still love them.

And then they hormones kick in,

and then they say,

hey, I hate you.

And it's okay that you hate me

because I know you don't mean it,

and I still love you.

And then,

and this is if you're a successful parent,

they leave.

And then you try to figure out,

what do I do now?

The love of my life,

my heart,

my flesh

just walked out,

and now they're getting married,

and now they'll visit once a year at Christmas.

And then what do you do?

And again and again and again,

our experiences with love are wonderful,

but there's something in us

that says there's got to be more.

There's got to be something out there

that will fulfill me,

that will satisfy this gnawing hunger in me,

this thirst that I have.

So here's the question.

Why would we have such a desire

for such a love

that goes so far beyond anything

we can experience in this world?

How could we explain that

unless there is a source

beyond the mountains?

And there's something in us that knows it.

And even if we don't know

that's what we're longing for,

that's what we're longing for.

So God is the source of love.

He's the source beyond the mountains.

And now I want to spend the rest of our time

just considering why this matters,

why it's worth spending a whole sermon

on this statement.

So I want to just go over five reasons

why I think this matters.

The first reason,

why does it matter that God is love,

that he's the source of love?

Why does that matter?

Well, first of all,

it matters because it reminds us

that love is not God.

That love is not God.

There's a philosopher, Simon May,

from King's College,

wrote a book called Love, a History.

It's a fascinating book

tracing the evolution

of our cultural approach

and understanding of love.

And basically,

May makes a statement

that we've gone in our culture,

as Christianity has occupied

less and less and less a place in culture,

that that vacuum has been filled with love.

And May writes that we've gone

from being people who say

God is love

to being people who say

love is God.

And that's a really popular idea

among religious people,

non-religious people,

conservative, liberal,

doesn't matter.

Everybody loves the idea of love.

And particularly,

we are deeply formed by romanticism.

And so we love the idea

of romantic love.

And so it's very common

in our culture

to hear people say,

you know,

the only real difference

between religions,

the differences don't matter.

They can all be boiled down

to love.

We just need to love each other.

That's all that really matters.

When we look at romance,

we say,

well, as long as two people

love each other,

whatever they want to do is fine

because the love is there.

The love is the thing

that makes the difference.

And in all of these ways,

we have gone from

believing that God is love

to believing that love is God.

And the Apostle John

is aware of this.

People were making similar claims

in his day,

and so he makes it very clear

that this is not the case,

and this is getting

a little technical,

so I apologize.

But if you look

at the original Greek,

John does something interesting.

In the original Greek,

the word God

has an article in front of it.

The word love does not.

You don't need to know

much about that.

The only thing you need to know

is what that means is

is that it's not reversible,

is that you can only

accurately translate this,

God is love.

You cannot say,

love is God.

It doesn't work

with the grammar.

And he did that

intentionally, I believe.

And this matters

because all of our definitions

of what love is

and how it behaves,

and there are many

in our culture.

The ways that we define love

are many and varied.

But if God is love,

if God is the source,

then it means that

our definition of love,

our understanding

of what it is

and how it behaves,

has to be drawn from God

if it's going to accord

with reality.

If it's not,

then it's a fiction.

So that's the first thing.

It reminds us that

rather than enthroning

human love as God,

that we're able to take

our love in all of its forms

and place it before

the throne of God

and ask God,

what is this supposed

to look like?

And that leads us actually

into the second point.

The second reason

this matters is this,

that knowing that God is love

matters because it means

that we cannot claim

to know God personally

if there is no evidence

of love in our lives.

We're going to get to this

more in two weeks.

But we cannot claim

to love,

to know God personally

if there is no evidence

of love in our lives.

And specifically,

he's talking about

the love that Christians

have for one another,

the new commandment

that Jesus gives.

that that is to be the thing

by which God's people

are recognized.

It's the real core

of hypocrisy

is people who claim

to be Christians

without love.

This leads us to the third reason

why this matters.

The third reason why it matters

that God is love

is this,

is that it reminds us

that we are not

the source of love.

I don't know about you,

but that is something

that I need to be reminded of

many, many, many times.

The way you know

that you believe

that you're the source of love

is when you look at yourself

and you look at your life

and you listen to something

like what I just said.

You can't claim to know God

if there's no love

in your life.

And if you're like me,

you look at your life

and you think,

oh my gosh,

there's a massive deficit

in the area of love.

There's a massive deficit.

And the way you know

you believe you're the source

is if your response to that

is to say,

I gotta try harder.

I gotta buckle down.

I gotta become more loving.

The Bible says

that doesn't work.

In fact,

I think that that creates

more of a hardness

than anything else

because you resent

having to do it.

We can only love others

to the extent

that we believe ourselves

to be loved.

And that means

if you look at your own life

and you see a deficit there

like I do,

the answer is not to try harder.

The answer is to go to the source.

It's no coincidence

that John,

as he addresses his people,

repeatedly calls them what?

Beloved.

What he's saying is

before your job,

before your race,

before your ethnicity,

before anything else,

his desire,

pastorally,

is that our primary identification

be as beloved.

And he would never ask you

to love

if you weren't beloved.

Only God's beloved

can love in the way

that God loves.

And so the way

to become more loving

is to go to the source.

Not to say,

I'm going to try harder

to love,

but to say,

I'm going to open myself up

more

to what it means

that I am beloved.

To allow myself

to experience

that love.

So that's the third reason

why it matters.

We're not the source of love.

The fourth reason

that it matters

why God is love

is because this shows us

what love should look like.

It shows us

what love should look like.

Let's go back

to the stream

in the woods metaphor.

Right?

You come upon a stream

in the woods,

say you're hiking,

you're out of water,

you're really thirsty,

do you drink it or not?

Do you drink it or not?

Have you ever heard giardia?

Giardia?

If you've ever had giardia,

you won't drink it.

Right?

If you haven't,

still don't drink it.

Right?

Do you drink it or not?

One of the things

that really matters

is how close

is that stream

to the source.

Because the further

downstream

that water goes,

the more pollutants

get mixed into it.

Right?

And the more

that gets mixed in,

the more impure

the water becomes,

the more it's probably

going to make you sick.

And so if you drink water

right on next to the source,

you're a lot better off.

But the further down you go,

maybe you can drink it,

maybe you can drink it,

but at some point,

the chances that it's

going to make you sick

get higher and higher

and higher

until there's almost certainty.

Somewhere down there,

it's no longer even water,

it's just mud.

You know?

It's just wet dirt

and muck.

But if you're thirsty enough,

you'll drink it.

And it's the same way

with love.

You know,

we spend time

in West Virginia

from time to time

and along the Shenandoah River.

And you know,

the Shenandoah near the source

is pretty clean.

But the further down

the Shenandoah you go,

there's chicken farms

all along the Shenandoah.

And you can imagine

what happens when it rains

and all that runoff

just goes into the water.

And so further down

the Shenandoah,

it actually poses

a health hazard

to animals and humans.

You know?

We found that out

the first year

we told our kids,

yeah, you can swim.

And then we're like,

rinse off, rinse off.

The further down you go,

the more polluted it gets.

It's the same with love.

The further love is

from the source,

the more polluted it becomes

because all kinds of junk

gets mixed in.

And love can be life-giving

or it can actually sometimes

be so polluted

that while there is

a kernel of real love there,

it can actually begin

to do harm, right?

It can be a harmful,

destructive,

kind of twisted form

of love.

There's something in there

that is of the Lord,

but there's a lot

of other stuff mixed in

that does damage.

Like the friend

that you have,

and there's a part of you

that loves this friend

and you do loving things

for that friend,

but there's also

a bitter, jealous rivalry

between you.

And you can't enjoy

the successes

of your friend

because of the jealousy.

That's a pollutant

that's been mixed in

with the love

and it's unhealthy,

you know?

Or like the couple

and they really genuinely

marry each other,

love each other.

They're really genuinely

committed to the marriage,

but there's also

a lot of jealousy

and there's not

a lot of trust.

And they check each other's

Facebook accounts

and they follow each other's

email correspondence.

And from time to time

they check the credit card statement

to see if anything unusual

is happening.

And you see that mistrust

is kind of mixed in

with the love.

These are kind of pollutants

that will do damage.

And what we see is

the healthiest forms of love

are those that are

closest to the source

and what does that mean?

It's love that accords

with God's character.

That's why it's really important

to note that you can't say

that love is God,

only that God is love

because although God is love,

He's much more than love.

In fact, in the same letter

He says that God is light.

And so what this is telling us

is we have a source

against which to measure

the love in our lives.

To know is this close

to the source,

is this reflecting

the same kind of love

clearly,

as clear as water would?

Or is it dirty water?

Is it polluted?

Is there stuff mixed in

that needs to be cleaned out?

So what this tells us is

we can learn how to love

our kids,

how to love our friends,

how to love our spouses,

how to love people

we don't know,

how to love our enemies

by looking at the source of love

and seeing how did He love?

How does He love?

So that's the fourth reason.

Knowing that God is love

matters because it shows us

what love should look like.

And the fifth and final reason

this matters is this.

The reason it matters

that God is love

is that it shows us

what to do

when love fails us

in this life.

It shows us what to do

when love falls short.

As we said a moment ago,

it will.

Parents, friends, kids, spouse,

it will.

It won't be a failure,

but it will fall short.

You will be left wanting.

And there are really only

two options when that happens.

The first option

is to look elsewhere

in the world.

Is to say,

well, that was this relationship.

Surely there's a relationship

out there

that will be better,

that will fulfill me completely.

And romanticism drives

a narrative,

for instance,

that marriage is that thing.

Romanticism drives

this narrative

that if you can find

the right person,

your soulmate,

which by the way,

that's a pagan myth.

That's Greek mythology.

That's not Christianity.

But if you find

the right person,

they will fulfill you.

Not true.

It's a lie.

It's not true.

King Solomon,

one of the wisest people

that ever lived.

700 wives.

300 concubines.

Do the math on that.

That's a lot of women.

Right?

You know,

we hear this

and we say it's absurd,

but,

you know,

guys,

if you counted up

the number of people

you imagined

having sex with,

if you were to marry

all of them,

maybe the number's

not quite as absurd

as it sounds, right?

So Solomon was honest.

But you look at a person

like that

and all of his wisdom,

all of his wealth,

all of his learning,

and yet he's still

looking for love

in these women.

The kind of love

that can only be provided

by God.

And we know,

actually,

if you read 1 Kings 11,

you realize

that it was his,

it says literally,

1 Kings 11 tells us

that Solomon

clung to these women

in love.

That he was looking

for that fulfillment.

And he clung

to these women in love

and because of that

it pulled his heart

more and more

and more away

from the Lord

until he abandoned the Lord

and he started

worshiping other gods.

G.K. Chesterton,

this quote

is attributed to him.

Every man who knocks

on the door

of a brothel

is looking for God.

Every man who knocks

on the door

of a brothel

is looking for God.

It's that deep down hunger.

You know,

you look at things

like this,

you look at our desire,

our fascination

with, you know,

Fifty Shades of Grey

or pornography

or whatever,

brothels, you know.

And you realize

that even though

within that

is a deep fear

of intimacy,

even though within that

there's a whole

power dynamic,

even though there's

all these,

we can psychologize

it all day long,

that at the core

there is that hunger,

that gnawing hunger,

that gnawing thirst

for that love.

It's there.

So that's the first option

is that you can kind of

get into that

romanticism-fueled loop

of looking for love

and failing,

looking for love

and failing

and going again

and again and again

and again,

700,

1,000,

2,000,

more and more

and more and more

and more.

Or,

or the second option

is to look for the source

beyond the mountains.

In John 4,

when Jesus meets

the woman at the well,

he knows,

and he reveals,

he knows that she's

had five husbands,

and he says,

and the one you're with

now is not your husband.

And yet he knows

down deep beyond that,

below it,

behind it,

that this is a woman

who is in search

of the kind of love

that will fill her up

completely.

And that's what he speaks

to in verse 13.

He says,

everyone who drinks

of this water

will be thirsty again.

He's not talking

about the water,

by the way.

He's talking about

the husbands.

He says,

everyone who drinks

of this water

will be thirsty again,

but whoever drinks

of the water

that I will give him

will never be thirsty again.

And she says,

where can I find it?

He's saying,

the kind of love

you most need,

the kind of love

that will fill you up,

can only be found

at the source.

And this is the good news

of Jesus.

And this is the news

that we will look more at

next week,

actually,

in great detail.

The good news is this,

that the love

that we long for

the love

that we look at

and we know

it can't be found here

and we know

down deep

that there is a source

beyond the mountains

that although

even if we were

to go looking,

we would never be able

to find it on our own.

The good news is this,

that that source

in Jesus Christ

has come down

and he has found us.

And that is the promise

of the Christian faith

and the certainty

of the love of God

that we share.

let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.