Every moment of every day, the horrors of human depravity are broadcast to us in high definition. You turn on the television, you log on to the internet, or you pull out your smart phone, and there it is. You see the sarcasm, the selfishness, the greed and corruption, the innuendo, the vile language, the unspeakable violence, the utter disregard, the images of sexually violated men, women, and even children, the sheer cruelty of people and nations, the killing of the young and unborn! And it's not just on our devices. Such things are part of the fabric of our lives-- our past, our family histories, our personalities, and our psychological state of mind. We look upon evil and wonder, "Where is God?"
But what we see in our world is not the absence of God. What we see is the increase of wickedness. Again, it's not that there's the absence of light, but there is the increase of darkness. It's not unlike what happened in the days of Noah, when the inclination of men's hearts became only evil all the time. What we see today is lawless man, being left to himself, following whatever inclination his heart desires. No matter how justified a man feels when he is following his heart, the heart that's dead to the Spirit of God is dying.
If God were to truly withdraw his power and presence, our world would become utterly wicked indeed. If you think our world is dark now, imagine wickedness if it were to go unrestrained by God! Imagine the terror of hell, being eternally separated from all remnants of God's love, removed from any glimpse of light, and surrounded only by the bitter weeping and gnashing of teeth that comes when wickedness has its way.
We question God for the wickedness he tolerates, but the truth is that God has not yet withdrawn his love from our world. Instead he waits, hoping that our love will be awakened by his love. He is waiting for our hearts to be quickened by his Spirit. He is hoping that we might come to our senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has been a liar and murderer from the beginning. Allow me to share some facts about love.
God is the Source of Human Love.
1 John 4:7-8 (ESV) tells us, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Whatever love we observe in the world ought to be credited to God. Where else might love come from? In nature, there is no such love. The lion devours its prey. The creatures of the earth elude danger, only to swallow up the life of another. We live in a world where everything is continually consumed and destroyed. Adam and Eve consumed the apple, and their son Cain destroyed his brother Abel. This is the history of man apart from God-- men consuming and destroying one another-- even their own flesh and blood. Here on earth, human tragedy is the default. But then there is love.
The Bible tells us that God is love, and that we were created in God's image. In other words, God has given us his capacity to love and be loved. Such love didn't originate in us. It originated in God. God is the source of human love. The very nature of God is that God is love. Any love we give, or receive, or enjoy in this world, is of God. The closer we draw to God, the more profound our love grows. To love is to become more like God. But the further we drift from God, the more dark and tragic our hatred becomes. Then we become less like God and less human.
Jesus is the Showcase of God's Love.
1 John 4:9-10 (ESV) says, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
A lot of people think that God is cold and distant, impersonal, and disengaged from human tragedy. But God's love is anything but cold and distant. God's love is real and tangible, active and ever-present. In the person of Jesus, God entered into our stories of tragedy, bearing the tragic burden of our sin, suffering the cruelty and hatred of our cross, paying the penalty of death that we in our sin deserved. He did this so that human tragedy would be no more!
The cross was the ultimate tragedy to end all tragedies. Instead of God consuming and destroying his enemies, God laid down his life, and he allowed his one and only Son to be consumed and destroyed by his enemies. Romans 5:8 (ESV) tells us, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And why? To save us. John 3:16 (ESV) says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." There is no more radical, clear, or compelling demonstration of love than what Jesus showcased on cross.
God's Love Perfects Our Imperfect Love.
1 John 4:11-12 (ESV) says, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."
So God's love in Christ is not without effect. If God so loved us, we ought to love one another. We saw that the complaint today is, "Where is God?" When people experience tragedy, they feel God is absent and distant. But when people say they don't see God, what they're really saying is that they don't see, feel, or experience love. So what do we do about this?
Love is the single most powerful way God becomes real to people. God showcased his love by sending his Son, but now it's our turn to showcase God's love. In John 13:34-35 (ESV) Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." In Luke 6:35 (ESV) Jesus said, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil." And what about 1 John 3:16? 1 John 3:16 (ESV) is the "so what" of John 3:16. "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."
The call for us to love one another isn't what's profound about these verses. What's profound is that as we abide in God, his love is perfected in us! If our world is too loveless (dark, evil, and wicked), it's because the world abides too little with God, and too much with darkness. The world turns away from God's love, only to experience more tragedy. But when we turn to Jesus, the tragedy ends. In Jesus, God overcomes evil with good, and he invites us to walk as he walked, to follow in his footsteps.
God's Love is Intensely Relational.
1 John 4:13-16 (ESV) says, "By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
Every tragedy is the result of broken, corrupted relationships. If tragedy results because we turned against God, what might come if we turn back to God? What if we acknowledged God as Father? What if instead of resisting God's Holy Spirit, we yielded to him, even invited him into our corrupted, sinful hearts? What if instead of denying God's love, we were to receive God's love expressed to us through his kindness in Christ Jesus? What if instead of using our mouths for wickedness, we confessed Jesus as the Son of the living God, as Lord and Savior, as creator and sustainer, as the word of life, as the bread of life, as the resurrection and the life, as the way, the truth, and the life, and as the gate to heaven?
Don't you realize that God is inviting us back into fellowship with himself? We are being invited back into fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! It's not an invitation to be religious. It's an invitation to know love, abide in love, be transformed by love, and let God's love pour through you into this tragic world! Relationships consume and destroy you. Only God can restore and redeem you.
1 John 1:1-4 (ESV) says as much. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete."
God's Love is Eternally Consequential.
1 John 4:17-18 (ESV) says, "By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."
Do not suppose that God is in any way vested in your destruction, or your punishment, or your condemnation. If you truly knew God you wouldn't fear him. You would run into his arms. You would see that it is God's pleasure to forgive your sins, acquit you of all charges, purify you from all unrighteousness, and set you free from sin forever. If you run into God's arms you have nothing to fear! But if you flee God's presence, you have everything to fear. Because in God's absence there is no light, and only darkness. Without God, there is no love, and only increasing wickedness. There is no life, just more tragedy and death. Hell is the complete absence of God's love, the withdrawal of God's love.
If you memorize John 3:16 you have to memorize John 3:17. John 3:16-17 (ESV) tells us, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
Here is God's promise to you. 1 John 1:9 (ESV) tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." That is God's heart. That is God's pleasure! But here is God's warning to you. 1 John 5:12 (ESV) says, "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." As C.S. Lewis said so perfectly, "God cannot give you life apart from himself. He cannot give you something that simply does not exist!"
It's not God who rejects us. It's we who reject God. We have sufficient time in this life to respond to God's invitation, to his offer of love in Christ Jesus. But whatever our choice, God honors it for eternity.
Let God's Love be More than Words or a Song.
1 John 4:19-21 (ESV) says, "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."
Love is not about us earning our salvation. The only love that earns us our salvation is Christ's love. So now that God's love has been firmly established, and unequivocally demonstrated in Christ Jesus, we are free to practice loving others without fear or guilt.
2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV) says, "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." Galatians 5:13 (ESV) says, "... do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." 1 Peter 2:16 (ESV) says, "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."
Love does not earn us salvation. Even if we loved perfectly we couldn't love enough to satisfy God's standard. There is always something to sell and give to the poor, the sick to call upon, the poor to serve, the hungry to feed, a prisoner to visit, the sick to heal, an orphan to adopt, and tears to comfort. Even if you quadrupled your capacity to love, your love would fall short of God's standard. If that's your goal, you'll surely fail. It's a burden you simply cannot carry.
There are many motives for Christian love. For some, love is all about pride. "Look how loving I am. Look at me!" For others it's works-righteousness cloaked. "God will accept me if I love this much." For others, love is about finding self-worth, esteem, or personal benefits. Or it's just about feeling good. "If I love, people will like me and return the favor. I'll feel good." For some, love is purely sensual, used to seduce.
But for the Christian, love points people to God. Love causes them to see and know God. That's the motive. Those are the stakes! If we withhold love, people see God less. In regard to love, it's not so important that people see me or you, but that they see God. In love, Christ must become greater and we must become less. Love isn't so much about my incarnational presence, as it is about God's presence first manifested in Jesus. That presence of love is now made manifest in you and I by God's Holy Spirit. The first evidence, or fruit, that God's Spirit dwells within us is love. The first fruit of the Spirit is love.
So God has given his Spirit! We love not of the flesh or of ourselves. Love is of God, and made possible only as we yield to God, and God gives himself to us by his Spirit. God is not asking us to manufacture something that's impossible to manufacture apart from him! God is love, and he promises that if we abide in him, he will express his love abundantly through us in every way! C.S. Lewis said, "Christians don't think that God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because he loves us."
Let us love, not only with words or songs, but that God may be seen by all!