NOTICE: We are thankful to confirm that, we will be returning to Outdoor Worship Services for Springford Baptist Church starting next Sunday July 4th at 10:30 am (weather permitting). If you are attending, please bring your own lawn chair and mask. We will still be maintaining safe social distancing. It will be wonderful to worship God together again! The Sunday Service will remain available online for those who aren’t able to attend in person.
I John 4: 13-21
13 This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit.14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because He first loved us.20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.21 And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
I John 4:13-21 GOD’S LOVE AND OURS
Springford Baptist Church: June 27, 2021.
Have you noticed that animals are not usually good at sharing?
When animals are fed, they are trying to get as much as they can for themselves. This was certainly true of the cows and pigs on the farm where I grew up. I was watching a tv program about orangutans and the same thing. When food is provided, they try to grab as much as they can for themselves. Sometimes they even try to take bananas away from another orangutan. Animals are inclined to look out for themselves. God calls us as human beings to something very different. God calls us as His children to receive His love and to share His love with those around us.
The Scripture from I John 3 that we were considering together last week for Fathers’ Day was assuring us that God loves us as His children. This is a wonderful gift to receive, knowing that we are deeply loved and cared for by God. This love that God lavishes on us is not for us to keep selfishly to ourselves. In fact, the evidence that God lives in us and that we live in God will be the work of God’s Spirit in us. (I John 4:13)
“We know and rely on the love God has for us.” (vs. 16) Would you say that you rely on the love that God has for you? Do you recognize that the generous love that God gives us is exactly what we need? We often try to manage life on our own. It is an extreme relief to realize that we can know and rely on the love that God has for us. This assures us that we are kept safe in God’s loving care for us. We are not alone!
God is the One who defines what love is because it is absolutely true what we read in the next part of verse 16, “God is love.” What has been your experience of discovering that God is love? Has it been an ever-expanding certainty that You are always held in God’s loving embrace?
God expresses His love for us in a multitude of ways so that our experience of His love can be reinforced again and again. When we are going through a difficult time this does not mean that God has forgotten us or that in those moments we are not loved by God. We can hold on to the promise that there is nothing that can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord(Romans 8:39). This is necessary to review not only for our reassurance that God is the faithful and unchanging One who forever loves us, but also for us to be challenged that this is the same enduring love that we are called to share with each other.
Our call to love with the love of God is not a time to try to excuse ourselves with, “Yes but…” Every moment we are called to respond to the call to love others with the obedience of these words, “Yes God.”
The last part of verse 16 declares, “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
God is love and God calls us as His followers to a high standard of love. Do we believe that God will equip and enable us for what He asks of us? When Jesus said to His disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you”(John 13:34), He was making the example or standard of love, God’s love.
Where do we see differences between GOD’S LOVE AND OURS?
Our tendency can be to love when it is easy and does not require much effort on our part. God’s love is so much more than that.
Our tendency can be toward self preservation and looking after our own interests. We have seen examples during this pandemic of people stock piling various items and emptying shelves so that essential items were then unavailable for others. God’s love is so much more than that.
Our tendency can be to only give people so many chances and then give up on a relationship. God’s love is so much more than that.
Our tendency can be to react in the moment to various social injustices that are highlighted in the news but then to carry on with our lives and to move past the outrage that had stirred up in us. God’s love is so much more than that.
Our tendency can be to hold on tightly to our way of thinking and not to take time to listen and to hear what other people think and feel and experience. God’s love is so much more than that.
Have you noticed photos where someone in the picture is much taller than all the others. That really takes our attention doesn’t it? Well, when we are carefully examining our lives, God is always much larger than we are. His love and capacity to love takes our attention because there really is a stark contrast between God’s love and ours. Although this is true that God’s love and ours is noticeably different, we can pray for God’s grace to grow in love so that our love does become closer and closer to the size of God’s love.
Verse 19 confirms, “We love because He first loved us.” All love comes from God and is initiated by God. This gives us hope in our desire to grow in loving as God loves. God is the source of love. Our love comes from God’s never-ending supply of love.
This Scripture concludes with clear statements about God’s call to love with His love. “For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (vs. 20)
Again, God’s love is so much more than all the limitations we put on love. We are more than animals jostling for our place at the feeding trough. We are God’s own compelled to love as he loves! We can anticipate knowing God’s love and showing God’s love in this week ahead.
By God’s grace, GOD’S LOVE AND OURS can become more and more similar.
21 And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.