Introduction
This is the last week of the Challenge of Love. We have looked at many aspects of Love over the last few weeks including:
Developing the attributes of love in us, showing love to others in practical ways, living in a way that pleases God which is our obedience as a result of love and that God’s Spirit is within us to lead and guide and teach us.
Today we will complete the series on 1 John by taking a look at chapters 4 and 5. Once again we have the challenge to love others, and the challenge of obedience. These are recurring themes in this letter appearing in every chapter.
Truth 1
We have victory because we belong to God.
We are God’s children, and we belong to him. We have his Spirit. John writes in chapter 2 that his Spirit in us leads us and guides us. Here in chapter 4 we learn more about his Spirit.
There are people in this world who will try and lead us astray by fine sounding words – the Bible calls them false prophets. We are to test the “prophets”. We may struggle with stuff in our lives, but we have no need to. God is greater than all of this and his Spirit in us is greater than the spirit of this world.
God is greater and more powerful than anything we can face.
1 John 4:4-6
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
John says, because we belong to God, because we are his children, we have already won a victory. More than that, we have God’s point of view not a worldly point of view. The word used for victory or to overcome means:
-to conquer
-to carry off the victory, come off victorious
Paul the Apostle also wrote about the same victory that we have in Christ, because we belong to God and have his Spirit. His Spirit dwells within enabling us to live by and be controlled by the the Spirit of God.
Romans 8:9-14
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life[a] because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,[b] you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,[c] you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children[d] of God.
Challenge
Live and walk in victory each day.
We are victorious, and not just victorious, we are more than victorious. Paul days we are more than conquerors.
Romans 8:35-38
New Living Translation (NLT)
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
The word here for overcoming, for victory is a bit different to that used by John, but it carries a similar meaning. It speaks of victory in terms of surpassing victory, meaning a great victory, more than any other victory.
John continues this theme in chapter 5.
1 John 5:1-5
New Living Translation (NLT)
Faith in the Son of God
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ[a] has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
We are God’s children; we show our love for him through obedience. His commandments are not burdensome. (Maybe if we are finding his commands burdensome, we are following someone elses commands or we are trying to live them from obligation and not love.) Why – because through faith in Christ, we have victory. We defeat this evil world, we gain victory, and we already have victory, because we have Christ. John poses and then answers his own question: Who wins this battle? The answer is those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The words used here “defeats” and “victory” is the same word he uses earlier – to overcome – to conquer, carry off the victory.
1 John 5:11-12
New Living Translation (NLT)
11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
Because we have the Son of God, we have life and victory
Exercise:
Do I really understand that as a child of God, I am victorious? (We already have the victory)
How well am I walking in victory each day? What life issues do I need to apply God’s victory too?
What do I need to do to start or continue to live in victory?
Truth 2
God loves me with a great and abiding love
God loves each and every one of us with a great and abiding love that is totally and utterly unconditional. He loves us even when we don’t love him.
1 John 4:9-10
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
God’s love for us is so great that we actually find it difficult to grasp. We are used to human love. Hopefully that too is unconditional, but many live in families where love is conditional and strings are attached - where love is only given in return for something. This is not God’s love; his love is completely unconditional. God’s love for us is not conditional on us being good. His love is steady and strong regardless of our love for him.
When we truly get a hold of God’s great love for us, we love in response. John goes on to say, that when we truly understand this love, we will not be afraid. We need have no fear when we know that God loves us with a great and abiding love.
1 John 4:16-18
New Living Translation (NLT)
16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
Notice, that as we live in God, in his love, and as we understand his love, our own love grows more perfect. And as we understand how much God loves us we can have perfect trust in him and in his love.
Challenge
Live in God’s love in complete trust and confidence before God.
As we understand his love, we understand that we need have no fear. As we live in God’s love and allow his love to be perfected in us, we can be absolutely confident before God. Sometimes when we come up against the less than perfect love of people, we can have our confidence and our trust shattered or at least badly bruised.
God does not want us to live like that. He wants us to know that God loves us, that when we have the Son we have eternal life. Because God loves us he has made it all possible. John tells us these things so that we can be confident before God, confident of his love, and confident that he hears us when we pray – asking for things that please him.
1 John 5:13-15
New Living Translation (NLT)
13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
What is according to his will?
The word means:
-what one wishes or has determined shall be done
-of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ
-of what God wishes to be done by us
-commands, precepts, will, choice, inclination, desire, pleasure
We can be confident that God will answer our requests when we ask according to his will. According to his kingdom purposes
Exercise:
Do I fully understand God’s love, live in God’s love, and trust him completely?
What stops me from trusting God completely?
What life experience or fears do I need to address in my life?
What will I do to allow the love of God to permeate into those areas of my life?
Conclusion
When we get a hold of the victory that is ours in Christ:
-because we belong to God
-because we are his children,
Then we can live a life of love and victory in God.
When we understand God’s great love for us;
-when we see and understand that God loves us totally and utterly unconditionally
-that it is a great and abiding love
Then we can live in perfect trust and without fear of what is to come.
This is the ultimate Challenge of Love
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