1 John 4:7-21
Today's Passage: 1 John 4:7–21
I was once asked if I would like to come speak at the Student Ministry. They were in a series on 1st John. I was handed these same 14 verses and told I had 20–25 minutes. Writing a Jumpstart on this same section feels similarly impossible. There is just too much I would love to share with you.
Since “love†is mentioned 27 times (29 if you include “beloved,†and you should) we should probably start there. In seminary, I was exposed to a tiny little book called The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson. This book is 84 pages—with decently large type and good space between lines. Although it can be read in a short time, it packs a wallop.
This book radically shaped how I think about “love†from a biblical perspective. Most notably, Carson laid out five different ways the Bible speaks of the love of God: (i) The peculiar love of the Father for the Son and of the Son for the Father: (ii) God’s providential love for Creation: (iii) God’s love for the lost: (iv) God’s saving love: (v) God’s love conditioned on obedience.
Considering these five categories, you can look back at our passage and see all five kinds of love in action, either implicitly or explicitly. Indeed, love is a complex word—and that’s even before you get into the human response of love to imitate God’s love.
As I often do, I attempted to define God’s love in my own words (I didn’t aim for categories like Carson presented, but just a basic definition that you could apply to those categories if you wanted). After some consideration I defined God’s love this way, “The (1) irrevocable (2) pursuit of the (3) absolute (4) best.â€
God’s heart enduringly runs toward an irrevocable pursuit of the absolute best. It’s that love that sent his Beloved Son to die for sinners. It’s that love that send “another helper†(John 14:16), the Holy Spirit, that indwells believers from the moment of salvation, convicting of sin, sanctifying, and sealing us for the day of judgment (https://www.gotquestions.org/Holy-Spirit-seal.html). And it’s because of God’s great love that we should share his heart with others—not only because we should be like our Heavenly Father and value what he values, but also because he loves those other people so much.
We cannot say we love someone while hating someone they love. If you say you love me, but you hate my wife, my children, or even my church, I appreciate the sentiment, but you really don’t love me. You would never be able to participate with me in any of the things I most treasure because it must include them as well.
Genuine Christianity is marked by love; love for God and a love for others. Let us reflect on what we’ve read and seek opportunity to join God in the irrevocable pursuit of the absolute best.
Written By: Tyler Short
I was once asked if I would like to come speak at the Student Ministry. They were in a series on 1st John. I was handed these same 14 verses and told I had 20–25 minutes. Writing a Jumpstart on this same section feels similarly impossible. There is just too much I would love to share with you.
Since “love†is mentioned 27 times (29 if you include “beloved,†and you should) we should probably start there. In seminary, I was exposed to a tiny little book called The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson. This book is 84 pages—with decently large type and good space between lines. Although it can be read in a short time, it packs a wallop.
This book radically shaped how I think about “love†from a biblical perspective. Most notably, Carson laid out five different ways the Bible speaks of the love of God: (i) The peculiar love of the Father for the Son and of the Son for the Father: (ii) God’s providential love for Creation: (iii) God’s love for the lost: (iv) God’s saving love: (v) God’s love conditioned on obedience.
Considering these five categories, you can look back at our passage and see all five kinds of love in action, either implicitly or explicitly. Indeed, love is a complex word—and that’s even before you get into the human response of love to imitate God’s love.
As I often do, I attempted to define God’s love in my own words (I didn’t aim for categories like Carson presented, but just a basic definition that you could apply to those categories if you wanted). After some consideration I defined God’s love this way, “The (1) irrevocable (2) pursuit of the (3) absolute (4) best.â€
- God will never change his mind about his love no matter what a person or group does. It’s a little imprecise to refer to God’s love as “unconditional†because of the blessings and curses associated with obedience (Dt. 28). However, the Bible makes clear that nothing anyone does can revoke God’s love and disrupt that love’s ultimate victory.
- God’s love is an initiating love, a pursuing love. Love isn’t passive, but actively seeks opportunity such as Christ sent to reclaim his Bride. Sharing God’s heart must include the kind of pursuit with which He pursues us.
- God’s love does not promise agreement with our wants. Often, quite the opposite. God tests the idols of our heart to show us the failings of our loves. God’s love challenges the affections of our heart that we might not settle for less than God’s absolute best.
- Ro 8:28, God’s best includes equal parts grace and truth. Love does not mean we will not know pain—God’s love sees us through the trials of a fallen world, rather than sparing is from them. We cannot share God’s love with the lost without experiencing the brokenness that sin creates. Even in suffering, God is jealous for our affections, not out of vanity, but because he is our greatest good. Loving God is our best. Wanting the best for others means wanting them to know God too.
God’s heart enduringly runs toward an irrevocable pursuit of the absolute best. It’s that love that sent his Beloved Son to die for sinners. It’s that love that send “another helper†(John 14:16), the Holy Spirit, that indwells believers from the moment of salvation, convicting of sin, sanctifying, and sealing us for the day of judgment (https://www.gotquestions.org/Holy-Spirit-seal.html). And it’s because of God’s great love that we should share his heart with others—not only because we should be like our Heavenly Father and value what he values, but also because he loves those other people so much.
We cannot say we love someone while hating someone they love. If you say you love me, but you hate my wife, my children, or even my church, I appreciate the sentiment, but you really don’t love me. You would never be able to participate with me in any of the things I most treasure because it must include them as well.
Genuine Christianity is marked by love; love for God and a love for others. Let us reflect on what we’ve read and seek opportunity to join God in the irrevocable pursuit of the absolute best.
Written By: Tyler Short
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