December 12, 2021

1, 2 & 3 JOHN: LOVE IS THE POINT

December 12, 2021

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

What does unconditional love mean to you? Is there anyone in your life who loves you no matter what you do? Is there anyone you love like that? It’s not easy, is it?

John, the only apostle who was not martyred, lived until his nineties. When he was in his last years he wrote the letters of 1, 2, and 3 John, which were passed from church to church. These short letters focused on encouraging the believers to grow in their faith and to remain steadfast. John, like Peter, saw the heresies invading the church, just as we see it happening today. False teachers can be spotted only if you spend so much time reading the Word of God that you know when a counterfeit statement hits your ears or mind. Your relationship to God, daily Bible reading, and prayer should be your highest priorities in the new year.

Focal Passage: The Books of 1, 2, and 3 John          

Love is not an option

  • Read 1 John 4:1-4. What were the special attributes that John could still declare from personal experience? In verse 4, why did he feel impelled to write?
  • Read verses 7-8. How do these verses reflect Jesus’ words in Matt 22:37-39? When is the last time you examined your life against 1 Cor 13? What is the biggest challenge you find as you focus on loving others? Why is our love for others not an option?
  • Why is it so vital that we who are Christ-followers love one another, and fellowship with one another often? What are some of the ways you have learned to show love by serving those of your community who may not know Christ as Savior? Why would it be easy to let our “works” of service gradually become the gauge of our salvation, rather than as fruit born of our redemption?
  • Read 3 John 11. What pertinent statement does John make here? Do you know someone who considers themselves Christians, but has “evil” in their daily life?

God’s love is absolute

  • Read 1 John 4:9-10. What is the reason we love God? How much did He love us? Read Eph 2:1-3. Would you be willing to let one of your children die if doing so would save many evil people for eternity? Can you grasp a love so amazing?
  • When you had your child, were they born already loving you as a parent? How did he/she learn to love you? How does that analogy apply as we learn to love God?
  • Read 1 John 5:13. What are the things John is speaking of? Does he desire us to be assured of our salvation? What does our hope of eternal life rest upon? Read Eph 2:8-10. How has God been faithful to you throughout your life?

You can’t fake love

  • Read 1 John 4:7-12. Why is there nothing greater than love? Read 1 John 5:2. How can we know that we love God?
  • Read 1 John 4:14-16? What is the test to determine if someone knows and loves God, and Jesus as Savior?
  • Read 2 John verse 6. We read in 1 John 5:2 this same thought. Why are our actions a direct reflection of the love we have for God?

Close

As you know from reading 1 Corinthians 13, Paul ends the chapter with these famous words: “And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Read it through again, and let your mind grasp the enormity of the thought. God has given us His Word which says “…without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6). Faith, then, is so important that without it, we cannot please God. And in 1 John 3:3, John writes, “And everyone who has this hope [of eternal life] in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” So we are purified by the hope we have, based on faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. Yet, it is love that is greater than either of those. Why? As John wrote in 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

Are we perfect? Definitely not. What about the many times we get angry in our homes and for a while—maybe minutes, hours, days—we don’t feel loving? At our job? At drivers on the road? In check-out lines that move slowly? How does our anger fit into our love? We’re in sin and definitely and quickly need to repent. Do we do that?

Can you even imagine what unconditional love is like, or have you experienced it? Won’t it be wonderful to be in heaven, have the tears wiped away, the disgruntled feelings melted away, enjoy true peace forever, and always be in the presence of God and His Son, Jesus Christ? Dan Womack wrote, “Tradition tells us that in his extreme old age when he could no longer minister the Word, John was carried into the church and when asked for a word of wisdom, would invariably say, ‘little children, love one another.’” It’s never too late to repent of your sin, to love God, and to love people.

 

 

/by