Thank you.
After the war, Mary received a long-awaited phone call from her son, Jack.
Oh, baby, is everything okay? Are you still coming home next week?
Yes, Mom, I'm in transit now, just waiting on a few more paperwork.
I'll be home in a few weeks at the most.
By the way, Mom, I have this buddy that fought with me.
He had taken a nasty hit and will need some permanent care.
I have invited him to stay with us.
Oh, that would be nice to have your buddy for a few days.
Is he from our town?
No, Mom. I have invited him to stay as long as he likes so that he can be taken care of.
Oh, what sort of care would he need?
How threatening were the injuries?
I'm not sure how well I would cope with someone with a disability in the house.
Don't the government have a department to look after them?
I would love to have something.
I would love to do something for your buddy, but I'm not sure we are the best care for him, my love.
But anyway, you come home first.
We'll see.
Okay, Mom, I'll be in touch.
I can't wait to see you.
Be home soon.
I love you.
I love you, Mom.
After a week, there was a letter with a photo of Jack in the mailbox.
He's in a wheelchair with one of his legs amputated and half his face deformed with an eyes missing.
Mom, I'm in an excellent care home provided by the government.
It's about a couple of hours' drive from home.
I'm learning to drive, especially feed the car, and I will come by to visit as soon as my car is ready.
We come to a challenging passage of the Bible, and I would say it's as challenging as Mary seeing her son Jack's photo for the first time after the war.
However, it's about a topic that all Christians should know well and have experienced a lot.
But also somehow struggle with a lot.
It's a topic Jesus identified as the greatest commandment in the whole Bible.
It's a mark of those who genuinely belong to Jesus.
It's what signified a true Christian.
It's a topic of love.
Love is such an essential but often misunderstood subject.
It often turns out to be utterly different from what we think it is.
Maybe that's why John repeatedly repeats, like a broken record.
I think not a lot of people know what that means.
If you have the black broken record, it will just keep looping back to the same place.
So he keeps looking back, looping back into the same line or same idea as he writes this letter of 1 John.
Please keep the Bible open to 1 John.
We'll be going through the chapter 3 and 4, but I'll refer some to the previous chapter as well.
In 1 John 2, 5, John says,
If anyone obeys God's word, love for God is truly made complete in them.
And then in the same chapter in verse 9 to 10,
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light,
and there is nothing in them that makes them stumble.
And then in chapter 3, verse 1,
See what great love the Father has lavish on us,
that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.
And in our two passages today, the word love repeated more than 30 times.
It's actually mentioned 34 times.
Chapter 3, verse 16, and chapter 4, verse 9 to 10,
It's almost the same.
3, 16 says,
This is how we know what love is.
Jesus Christ lays down his life for us.
And then in chapter 4, verse 9,
This is how God showed his love among us.
He sent his one and only Son into the world,
that we might live through him.
This is love.
Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And in this two passages, it's repeatedly calling us to love one another.
As the new year begins, we start on our new 5G plan to learn to be an authentic follower,
an authentic disciple of Christ.
Let's look into three areas that will help us start our journey well.
I have three questions.
Who or what is love?
Who do you live like?
And who do you love?
When I start preparing this sermon by calling the first poem,
What is love?
But then after reading the two passages over and over again,
especially from chapter 4, verse 7 to 8, and 10 and 16,
I think I should call the first poem,
Who is love?
If you turn to chapter 4, verse 7, it reads,
Dear friends, let us love one another,
for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love.
And then verse 10, this is love.
Not that we love God, but that he loves us
and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And then verse 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.
Apostle John repeated God is love a few times
and defined love as what God has done for us through Jesus
in chapter 3, 16 and 4, 9 to 10, which I read out before.
This identification and definition of love are very different
from how we categorize love in this world.
Don Carson says,
One of the chief ways we distort the biblical picture of God's love
is when we purposely presuppose that love demands freedom.
The world is saying love means no boundary, no restriction.
We distort the ideas of if you love so-and-so, set them free,
to mean if you love so-and-so, let them do what they want
and be what they want to be.
If a boy wants to dress up like a girl,
or a girl wants to be a boy, let them be.
If people want to start a relationship with the same sex,
we shouldn't stop them.
Some politicians go as far as proposing laws,
including prison for up to 10 years,
or heavy fines for anyone caught trying to suppress
or change someone's sexuality.
The world puts up slogans saying,
Love is freedom.
Love is lust.
This kind of thinking and slogan
feeds into all the gender identity debate,
gay and lesbian movement,
the redefinition of marriage,
and many other problems our world faces today.
Humans are saying,
Love is God.
And motivated by my love,
I should not be stopped.
I should be allowed to choose or control my destination
and decision.
We have a microscopic and distorted view of love
that is all about us, ourselves.
Very self-centered,
self-serving,
self-fulfilling,
self-glorifying,
and self-honoring
kind of love.
That is not true and authentic love at all.
The kind of self-guided misconception of love
drives King,
the person mentioned in the first passage,
in chapter 3,
to become upset
when his offering to God
was not as favorable as his brother.
He harbored hatreds towards his brother
and ended up murdering him.
Get rid of his competition for God's love.
John reminded us
that love is from God
and God is love.
Love cannot be found in this world without God
and cannot be defined in any human terms
or any human construction
because love is not from this world.
Same is true freedom.
True love can only be found in the words of God,
in the Bible,
which recorded all that God says and does
to set us free truly.
The Bible also shows us
what it costs God to do so.
I've been reading a book by Jared Wilson
called Gospel Deeps.
He says,
The Bible shows us
our God who is love,
saying and doing all sorts of things,
most our more sensitive souls
will not consider loving at all.
We must remember that God's ocean and love
occupies space in the perfect balance
of the infinite universe
of all his attributes.
He is love, yes,
but he is also just and jealous.
In the Bible,
we find the love of God
violates human freedoms
regularly and consistently.
If there's one thing
any Bible figures can count on,
besides that God loves them,
it's that they're not in control
of their destiny.
God has a plan for us
that awaits ours.
Jared concludes that
the Bible picture of God's love
is much bigger,
stranger,
and more complex
than how humans can imagine it
or try to construct it
in humans' terms.
Love is from God
and God is love.
God sent his one and only son
into this world
as an atoning sacrifice
for our sins.
God shows his love
by sending Jesus
to be among us.
Love is Jesus Christ
laid down his life for us
so we might live through him.
To live through Jesus
is to focus on this area
of his sacrificial love.
Sacrificial love
refers to the offering
of oneself for others' benefit,
often without any reward
in return.
It's not natural
for a human
to be sacrificial in love
or other-centered
in how we live.
God knows that,
so he repeatedly
remind us
and command us
to do so.
In chapter 3,
verse 11,
for this
is a message
you heard
from the beginning.
We should love
one another.
And then verse 16,
this is how we know
what love is.
Jesus Christ
laid down his life
for us
and we ought to
lay down our life
for our brothers
and sisters.
Jesus.
Verse 23,
and this is his command,
to believe in the name
of his Son,
Jesus Christ,
and to love one another
as he commands us.
And then in chapter 4,
verse 11,
dear friend,
since God so loved us,
we also ought to love
one another.
And he has given us,
and verse 21,
and he has given us
this command,
anyone who loves God
must also love
their brother and sisters.
Jesus.
Apart from all these commands,
John also warned us
from chapter 3,
verse 14,
that we know
that we have passed
from death
to life
because we love
each other.
Anyone who does not love
remains in death.
What is
remain in death
means?
It means
we are separated
from our God
and others.
it means
we stay
in our old life
and have not been
born again
in the kingdom
and family of God.
It means
we are not
experiencing
the full intention
of what God
has made us to be
because God
made us
to glorify
and to enjoy
him forever.
And the consequences
of not meeting up
to God's expectation,
of not completing
what God
has set out
for us to achieve
will be
the diminishing
in our confidence
before God
and we grow
in fear.
And God
knows that as well.
God knows
we feel this way too.
So he tells us
from chapter 3,
verse 19,
this is how we know
that we belong
to the truth
and how we set
our hearts
at rest
in his presence.
If our heart
condemns us,
we know that God
is greater
than our heart
and he knows
everything.
God tells us
that he is
greater than our heart
and he knows
everything.
He knows
we will fail him
and disobey him
and treat him
with hostility.
But he still
addresses us
as friends,
not as enemy.
In verse 21,
chapter 3,
verse 21,
dear friends,
if our heart
do not condemn us,
we have confidence
before God
and receive from him
anything we ask
because we keep
his commands
and do what
pleases him.
The key
to have confidence
before God
is to keep
his commands
and do what
pleases him.
God is encouraging
us to keep
our focus
on pleasing him
with everything
that we do
and how we live
our life.
that is the key
to our confidence
before him.
And then again
in chapter 4,
verse 16 to 17,
and so we know
and rely on
the love
that God
has for us.
God is love.
Whoever lives
in love
lives in God
and God
in them.
And this is how
love is made
complete among us
so that we will
have confidence
on the day
of the judgment.
is in this world
we are like Jesus.
Jesus is our best
example of someone
who keeps God's
commands
and does everything
that pleases God.
And more than an example,
Jesus is our substitute
when coming to
fulfillment of God's
command,
of all God's
command,
to be made
complete in the
love of God
and have confidence
before him
at any time,
there's one question
we should keep
asking ourselves.
Who am I like
in this world?
How do you speak?
How do you
entertain yourself?
Who do you like?
Do you like to build
your joy
on others' pain?
Do you enjoy
bantering
and picking
on others?
In how you
organize your
priority
in life?
What career
are you pursuing?
Where are you
sending your kids
to school?
In your
interaction
with others?
In how you
spend your
money,
time,
and energy?
It's all those
things that you
live out,
living like Jesus.
And particularly,
in how you
love your
brothers and
sisters.
In how you
deal with
conflict and
disagreement with
others in God's
family.
How do you react
when someone
challenges you
or hurts you?
God knows that
it's not easy
for us to be
Christ-like
24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
And he knows
if he leaves us
alone
and does not
violate our freedom
to intervene,
we will fail
and fail badly.
So he
reminds us
twice,
from chapter
3, 24
and chapter
4, 12
to 13,
that we
are not
alone.
Chapter
3, 24,
the one who
keeps God's
command lives
in him
and he
in them.
And this is
how we know
that he
lives in us.
We know it
by the spirit
he gives us.
And chapter
4, verse 12
to 13,
No one
has ever
seen God
but if we
love one
another,
God lives
in us
and his
love is
made complete
in us.
This is how
we know
that we
live in him
and he
in us.
He has
given us
his spirit.
God has
given us
his spirit
to ensure
we remain
and live
in him,
to follow
Jesus
and to
lift out
his command
in our
life.
The
Father,
Son,
and the
Holy Spirit
all work
together
to ensure
we stay
within God's
love.
So the
question
remaining
is,
who do
you love?
We have
been told
repeatedly
from today's
passages
that God
is love
and he has
demonstrated
his love
for us
by sending
Jesus,
his only
son,
to atone
our sins.
in
response,
we should
and ought
to love
one
and the
other
by laying
down
our
life
for our
brothers
and
sisters.
Chapter
4,
verse 20
says,
by loving
one another,
we get
to know
God
and see
God.
Whoever
claims
to love
God
yet hates
a brother
or sister
is a liar.
For whoever
does not
love their
brothers and
sisters
whom they
have seen
cannot love
God
whom they
have not
seen.
Our
relationship
with
others
reflects
our
experience
with
God
yet
to also
affect
our
experience
with
God.
Tony
Evans'
book,
Horizontal
Jesus,
also used
this line
as his
subtitle,
our
relationship
with others
affects
our
experience
with
God.
He
has
written
this
book
to explain
the
correlation
between
our
relationship
with
others
and
our
relationship
with
God.
He
shares
that
outside
Christ
the
King
Church
in
San
Diego,
there
is a
statue
of
Jesus
with
both
hands
missing.
Friend
was broke
off in
the mid
1980s.
Rather
have the
statue
repaired,
the
pastor
chose
to put
a
plaque
at the
base
of
it
that
reads,
I
have
no
hands
but
yours.
This
plaque
declared
that
because
Jesus
has
ascended
to
his
rightful
place
in
heaven
and
is
not
physically
present
on
earth,
we,
his
body,
are to
be his
hands
to one
another.
We
are to
be his
feet
to one
another.
We
are to
offer
his
love
and
assistance
to one
another.
We
are to
live out
our
horizontal
relationship
with one
another in
light of
our vertical
relationship
with Christ.
We
are to
be the
manifestation
of Jesus
to one
another.
That is
our ultimate
calling as
his
disciples.
That is
our highest
aim and
the most
authentic
reflection
of the
two
greatest
commandments
identified
by Jesus
to command
to love
God
and love
our
neighbors.
The
believer's
responsibility
to show
Christ's
life
sacrificial
love to
others
is not
optional.
God
commands it
as a way
of displaying
his love
to the
world.
When it
comes to
love,
it's a
full-body
exercise.
It requires
our head
to decide
to love,
our heart
to be
motivated by
God's
spirit to
love.
It requires
us to
open up
our eyes
and hear
to notice
others'
needs and
move our
hands and
feet to
take action
to meet
those needs,
to show
God's love
to the
world.
John
reminded us
in chapter
3, 16
to 18
that this
is how we
know what
love is.
Jesus Christ
laid down
his life
for us
and we
ought to
lay down
our lives
for our
brothers and
sisters.
If anyone
has material
possession
and sees
a brother
or sister
in need
but has
no pity
on them,
how can
the love
of God
be in
that person?
Be
children,
lest not
love with
words or
speech,
but with
actions
and in
truth.
Love
is not
an abstract
concept.
It
concerns
the
outworking
of the
believer's
faith in
ordinary
day-to-day
interaction
with others.
The love
that God
wants us
to exhibit
is not
any random
act of
kindness
that make
us feel
good about
ourselves.
It's a
kind of
love that
we need
to decide
whether we
put other
person's
needs above
our comfort
as we do
it to
glorify and
honor God.
God
remember
Mary and
her son
at the
beginning of
this sermon.
I'm like
Mary when
I come to
loving God
and others.
There are a
lot of
calculation
going on
in my
mind.
Can I
do it
well?
Because I
don't want
to be seen
as someone
that starts
something that
I can't
complete.
What will
I get in
return if
I make
myself
vulnerable
in this
situation?
What if
the other
person does
not love
me back?
Will I
be
short
changed?
Are they
all going
end up
hating me?
Or what
if the
other person
becomes so
attached to
me that
I lose
my freedom
and I
can't keep
up with
their demands?
All these
questions
are telling me
and us
that we
love ourselves
more.
Instead of
God,
we listen
to ourselves.
We have
not tapped
into the
fountain of
love,
our living
God.
I know
the right
answer to
the question,
who do
you love?
And I
know also
the real
answer to
that question
is, I
love myself
and we
love ourselves,
not God
or others.
When I
come to
the topic
of love,
what is
the initial
emotional
reaction that
whirls up
deep in
you?
Are you
glad that
God knows
you and
has given
his spirit
our assurance
and helper
to fulfill
his commands
and keep us
in him?
In this
world,
are you
like Jesus?
Or will
you be
found wanting
when it
comes to
magnifying
Jesus to
one another?
God
knows where
we are at.
he knows
we are
like a
wounded
soldier,
handicapped
regarding
loving him
and others.
He made
the best
arrangement
for us
to heal
and learn
how to
love by
sending
his son,
Jesus.
Jesus
said,
all things
have been
committed
to me
by my
father.
No one
knows a
son except
the father
and no one
knows a
father except
the son
and those
to whom
he chooses
to refill
him.
Come to
me,
all you
who are
weary and
burdened,
and I
will give
you rest.
Take my
yoke upon
you and
learn from
me,
for I am
gentle and
humble in
heart,
and you
will find
rest for
your soul,
for my
yoke is
easy,
my burden
is light.
Today is a
day for you
to come to
Jesus and
be united
with God,
and God
will give
you rest
and his
spirit to
help you
love those
you can
see,
and so
that you
are genuinely
following him.
And as you
experience God's
love for you,
we are called
to go and
show this world
God's love for
them with the
help of his
spirit, to
love with
action and
in truth.
set
and
let's
create—