Feb 11, 2023
2023.02.12 - Love Isn’t, Love Is! Love Worth Having
Love. There are few things so universal and yet so challenging. Love for God. “The most important” commandment, says Jesus (Mark 12:29–30), and one that both the old and new covenants portray as necessary to enjoy God’s sustained favor.
In verses one through six of chapter two John has already made the point that one of the ways we know we know Him is if we obey Him. And now, he follows that insight up with another one; We know that we know Him if we have His love.
He tells us that if we love Him, we will grow to be more like Him and that is a love worth having.
Notice these three things.
I) The priority of love (7-11)
In these five verses John draws our attention to three things, concerning a love worth having.
A) The origin of love (vs. 7)
Beginning in the earliest books of the Old Testament, God's desire was that we would love Him and love others.
John is reiterating what they had known, from the beginning. Love God and love each other. This is foundational to what it means to know God.
B) The operation of love (vs. 8)
Jesus’ commandment did not have to do so much with the decision to love, that was the old commandment. The new commandment had to do with the depth of that love, or the kind of love we are to have for one another.
Jesus says, I want you to love each other like I have loved you.
C) The opposite of love (vs. 9-11)
John is contrasting true love with hatred. True love, Christian love, the kind of love God has for us, the kind of love Jesus expressed on the cross, is sacrificial and active. There is no room for neutrality, we either love others or we hate them, we cannot, according to John, ignore them and at the same time say we love them.
II) The process of maturity (vv. 12-14)
In these three verses, John gives us two sets of three parallel statements. He addresses three different groups of people in the church.
A) The children - those who are young in the faith
B) The Fathers - those who have been believers a long time
C) The Young Men - those who presently carry the responsibility for the furtherance of the gospel.
III) The perils of the world (vv. 15-17)
Whereas we are told to love God and one another, here we are strongly warned against loving the world and the things of the world.
A) The lust of the flesh (v. 16)
The cravings of sinful man. They are the desires that come from the human desires which are shaped by the world and the spirit of the age, rather than by the Spirit of God living within us.
B) The lust of the eyes (v.16)
Greed, materialism, envy, are strong desires which come from wanting what we see. In all of our lives the enemy tries to tempt us with that which we see. That's why we must be careful what we set before our eyes.
C) The pride of life (v.16)
This is the sin of self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and pride. That desire to get more at any cost, consider the pride of life it took for Judas to betray Jesus.
In Closing:
Where is your love this morning? Do you love the world, or do you love the Lord?
Do you have this love worth having? And if not, what are you willing to do to get it?
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