Sunday,
October 6, 2013
LET US LOVE ONE
ANOTHER (Part 2)
"Love Is
Our Nature"
(I John)
Let's suppose that one of you young
ones is invited to spend the summer with a cousin in another state. After much consideration, your parents decide
to let you do it. You are thrilled
because you know that they have all kinds of animals, and you dearly love
animals. After you arrive on the farm,
there is one particular farm animal that steals your heart. Of all things, it's a pig. You just adore the twinkle in the eye of that
pig, when you come near. Sometimes when
you run, the pig will chase you, as if the two of you were playmates.
There is only one thing that bothers
you about that pig -- he's always dirty.
And no wonder, he rolls around in the mud. After getting permission from your uncle, you
decide that you are going to make a true pet out of that little pig. The first thing you do is give her a name --
Penny. You let Penny chase you up toward
the house and you catch her. By now, she
is pretty friendly and doesn't mind hanging around with you. It takes you all day, but you are able to
build her a little pen, where she stays when you aren't playing with her. Above all, you give Penny a bath and clean
her up. You are amazed at how beautiful
and shiny she looks, after you have finished.
To top it all off, you tie a little pink bow in her tail.
Everything is fine until you decide
to take her for a walk one morning. The
rain from the night before has given the countryside a fresh smell. You and Penny are on top of the world. Then it happens. You don't give it a second thought, as you
pass by a big mud puddle. Neither does
Penny give it a second thought. You
suddenly see what is going to happen and you shout, "No, Penny," but
it does not good. Before you can say
"Penny the pig," she is happily rooting around in that mud
puddle. What a mess. You don't understand. Why would she prefer the mud puddle to the
better life you had given her?
So why did Penny run for the mud
puddle at the first opportunity? Because
that is her nature; that's what pigs do.
Pigs and puddles go together like peaches and cream, like peanut butter
and Karo syrup. No matter how clean you
get the pig, no matter how many ribbons you tie on the tail, you can't take the
pig out of Penny. She may be a thing of
beauty on the outside, but she is still a pig on the inside, and she will
always be looking for puddles. That's
her nature.
So what do pigs and puddles have to
do with the theme "Let us love one another?" A great deal.
Trying to get a group of human beings to love one another as Christ
loved them is similar to trying to keep a pig out of a mud puddle. Consider one vivid example. Cain and Abel were brothers. As a matter of fact, they were the first
brothers on the planet. Unless there were already some sisters we don't know
about, the entire world population consisted of Cain, Abel, and their parents
Adam and Eve. So there was no bad
environment upon which to blame any lack of love. No peer pressure could cause them to hate or
despise one another. But listen to what
John says about Cain in I John 3:11-12, "For this is
the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did
he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous." We might have expected Cain and Abel to love
one another, but that was not the case.
In the very early beginnings of the human race we find jealousy, hatred,
and murder.
Now let's read from Tit.
3:1-3...
Remind
them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every
good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all
humility to all men. 3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful and hating one another.
Paul
freely confesses that he, along with Timothy, was foolish, disobedient,
deceived, etc. Among the qualities he
and other believers once possessed is "hating one another." Paul is simply saying that there was a time
when it was perfectly natural for them to hate one another. Compare this passage with Eph.
2:1-3...
And you
He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom
also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
just as the others.
Notice
especially those words in verse 3, "and were by nature children of wrath,
just as the others." Paul is
clearly saying that there was a time when he was of a different nature, when he
was by nature under the wrath of God. Yes,
it was his nature to hate others.
Let's be clear. The natural state of human beings is to hate
one another. We are quick to point out
that even unbelievers do nice things for one another. Yes, but when it comes to the godly love of I
Cor. 13 and I John, unbelievers know nothing of it. That is why both Paul and John speak of this
lack of love in terms of hatred. It is
not the nature of human beings to love one another, but rather to hate one
another.
Last week we stressed that as
followers of Jesus, love is our duty.
Let's read it again: . 3:11, "For this is the message
that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." 3:16, "By this we know love,
because He laid down His life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." 4:7, "Beloved, let us love one
another." 4:11, "Beloved, if
God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 4:21, "And this commandment we
have from Him: that he who loves God
must love his brother also."
The other truth we considered last
week from I John was this: Love Is Our
Heritage. "We love Him, because He
first loved us" (I John 4:19). John does not simply command love and
leave us there. He reminds us that we
have a Father who loves us. "In
this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the pro-pitation for our sins" (4:10).
Not only has God the Father loved us with an unspeakable love,
but so has His Son Jesus. We read it in 3:16,
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." We have been adopted into this family of
love. Love is our heritage. We have inherited this love from our Father
and have seen it demonstrated by our older brother Jesus.
This morning we are going to go one
step further. Though this truth is
related to the fact that love is our heritage from a loving heavenly Father, we
are going to let it stand alone. The
truth to which I refer is simply this...
III.
Love Is Our Nature
Come to chapter 4. Let's read I John 4:7-11...
Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of
God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is
love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to
love one another.
The foundational truth is this: God is love (vs. 8). It is God's nature to love. If he failed to love, He would no longer be
God, because God is love. There is only
one way to accurately define love, and that is to look at God. Again in verse 16 we see this truth repeated,
"God is love." God does not
choose to love; God is love. Everything
He does is loving, because He is love.
Now look again at verse
7, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of
God." Here again is the command to
love one another; it is our duty. But
following the command, John gives the reason we are able to obey the
command. It is because God is love. But what does that have to do with us? He tells us in the rest of verse 7 and in
verse 8, "And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for
God is love." Notice that phrase
"born of God." That is
key. For the believer, God is not only
our Father through adoption, but also through birth. We have been born of God. Then why were we adopted into His
family? I guess you could say that we
are doubly His.
Remember what Jesus said to
Nicodemus: "You must be born
again" (John 3:7). That is true
for every human being. We will never see
the kingdom of God unless we are born again, unless we are born from above
through the Spirit of God. The new birth
is both a necessity and a miracle.
Though we can't see that miracle take place, Jesus said that we can see
the evidence of the new birth, just as we can't see the wind, but we see the
evidence of it. And what is the evidence
of the new birth? One of the greatest
evidences is the presence of this love which is of God. "Everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God.." If you have been born
of God, you will love. The converse is
just as true: "He who does not love
does not know God, for God is love."
Do you see it? With the new birth comes the new nature. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new" (II Cor. 5:17). Before
we were born of the Spirit, we could not love with God's love. Such love was foreign to our nature. But now in Christ, our nature is to love, to
love God, to love one another, and to love our neighbor. We can and will demonstrate this love. If we don't, then we have not been born of
God.
We find the same truth back in I
John 3. I John 3:7-10...
Little
children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous,
just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has
sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that
He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does
not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been
born of God. 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are
manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who
does not love his brother.
Notice that phrase "born of
God" in verse 9. When John says
"whoever has been born of God does not sin," he does not mean to say
that the believer will never commit a single sin. Remember 1:8, "If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." But the person who has been born of God does
not live a lifestyle of sin. Why
not? Because God's seed remains in
him. It is not possible for him to live
that lifestyle of sin, because he has been born of God. It is in that context that John then tells
us, "Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who
does not love his brother." Failure
to love the brethren is a demonstration that a person's nature has not been
changed; he has not been born of God.
We have seen this change of nature
and its relation to love in both chapters 3 and 4. Now come to chapter 5. I John 5:1-3...
Whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him
who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love
the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is
the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not
burdensome.
"Whoever believes that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God."
Obviously, the belief of which John speaks is far more than intellectual
acceptance. There are many who profess
belief in Jesus as the Messiah, but who will hear Jesus say, "Depart from
me; I never knew you." John is
speaking about true genuine trust in the Lord Jesus, the kind of trust Thomas
demonstrated when he cried out, "My Lord and my God." The possession of this genuine faith is
evidence that he has been born of God.
Now look at the statement that
immediately follows: "And everyone
who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him." Notice that true belief in Jesus as the
Messiah translates into love for God. He
assumes that the one who believes in Jesus will love God. But that is not all -- everyone who loves Him
who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. What does that mean? It means that if you love God, you will love
all the children of God. This echoes
what Jesus taught: "If God were
your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God" (John
8:42). Bear in mind that Jesus
spoke these words to religious Jews who claimed to love God with all their
hearts, but Jesus said it wasn't true. Just
as it is impossible to love God and not love Jesus, it is impossible to love
God and not love His children.
Don't miss the fact that such love
for God and His children is our very nature.
Notice that in verse 1 directly between belief in Jesus and love for
God's children are the words "born of God." Just as surely as the new birth produces
faith in Jesus and love for God, it also results in love for the children of
God.
In verses 2 and 3 John connects this
love that comes from our nature with the command to love. Remember, love is our duty. Verse 2, "By this we know that
we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His
commandments." As love for God's
children flows out of love for God, so love for God is evidence that we truly
love His children. In other words, you
can't separate love for God from love for His children. They go hand in hand, as do love and the
keeping of God's commandments. Remember
again what Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my command-ments" (John
14:15).
Then in verse 3 John closes the
loop even more tightly. "For this
is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." And what is the most important commandment of
all? Love. Belief, love for God, love for others, and
keeping God's commandments are woven together so tightly in this passage that
they cannot be pried apart. If you love
God, then keep His commandments. He
commands us to love. If you love, you
will keep His commandments.
And finally, John tells us that His
commandments are not burdensome. Why
not? Because it is our nature to love
God and love one another. It isn't a
burden for a young girl to act like her mother.
That is her very nature. Nor is it
a burden for the child of God to love like His Father loves; that is his
nature.
Conclusion
The nature of the pig includes
longing for the mud. Pigs are made for
mud holes, and mud holes are made for pigs.
You can take the pig out of the mud, but you can't take the mud out of
the pig. If you don't want the pig to
head for the mud, then you better work to make it something other than a pig.
That was a rather discouraging
illustration, because we don't think of lounging in mud as a very uplifting
thing. So let's conclude with a much
more edifying example of someone who always acts according to His nature. I am now thinking about the Lord God
Himself. He always acts according to His
nature. And it is a part of His nature
to love, for God is love. Every single
thing He does is out of love. Every
thought He thinks is loving. There are
no exceptions. The Lord God always acts
according to His loving nature, and He always will. The only way that could ever change is if He
ceases to be God, and there is not a chance.
So how do those truths affect
us? God made the pig in such a way that
it will always be a pig. No man is
capable of making a pig to be anything else.
God also made man, but man is not like a pig. The difference is not just in the fact that
we only have two legs and enjoy a cleaner lifestyle. Man is actually much dirtier than the pig;
it's just that the dirt is on the inside instead of the outside. Man is a sinner by nature. We must say with David, "Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps.
51:5). We were all dead in our
trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). And no
matter how hard we tried, we could not escape that death. We were slaves to sin and Satan, and no human
being has ever been able to break those chains.
In short, man is not able to change his own sinful nature.
Here is the good news -- God did
what no man could do. God is able to
change the nature of any man or woman. "Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new" (II Cor. 5:17). This is what happens to every person
who is born again by the Spirit of God.
Let's read it in Eph. 2:8-10, "For by grace you
have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we
should walk in them." Our old
nature could accomplish nothing but filthy rags in God's sight, but now, since
we have been created in Christ Jesus, we are able to live a life full of good
works. This change is radical. It is like the difference between night and
day, between death and life. It is
the difference. Rom. 5:19, "For as
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience
many will be made righteous."
Understand that the root of this new nature is the work of our Lord
Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection.
His obedience to the will of the Father makes it possible for us to be
born of the Spirit and become a new person in Jesus.
Please hear me. If you have not been born of the Spirit, if
you have not been made new in Jesus Christ, it is impossible to love with this
love we find in I Cor. 13 and I John. No
amount of striving and hard work will enable you to love like this. And he who does not love does not know God,
because God is love (I John 4:8). If you
have not received this new life in Christ, the issue for you is not loving
others, but being reconciled to God. You
are the enemy of God and are under the wrath of God. But praise God that through the death and
resurrection of His Son, you can be forgiven, cleansed, and made new. I urge you to repent and believe. Give up on yourself and throw yourself on the
Lord Jesus.
But if you have indeed become a new
creation in Christ, not only can you love like this, but this love is both your
heritage and your nature. You were
created anew to live this kind of love.
This is your destiny for all eternity, and it begins now.
Since it the nature of true believers
to love God and love one another, what should we do? Abide in Christ. Set your minds on things above. Realize that our "outward man is
perishing, but our inward man is being renewed day by day... as we look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen. For
the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are
eternal" (II Cor. 4:16,18). The
more we cultivate fellowship with our Lord, the more this love will flow
through us to one another. This love is
not worked up, but this "love of God has been poured out in our hearts by
the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Rom. 5:6).
No comments:
Post a Comment