1 John 4:9 - Real Living and Eternal Life Are In A Relationship With Jesus.
1 John 4:9 (NIV) 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.
1 John 4:9 (MSG) This is how God showed his
love for us: God sent his only Son into the world
so we might live through him.
INTRODUCTION
Love is evidence of salvation. If you are
born of God through faith in Jesus Christ, you
have His nature within (2 Pet. 1:4). Since "God
is love" (vv. 8, 16), His children who have His
nature should also manifest His love. The children
should be like the Father!
Our love for others makes God's love real
and visible to them (v. 12) so we can better
witness to them about Christ. It also makes God real
and personal to us. Merely reading in the Bible
about God's love is not enough. Seek to experience
that love in your heart by sharing it with
others.
Just as truth is victorious over lies
(vv. 1-6), love is victorious over fear (vv.
17-19). As you mature in your love for God, you
realize that you have nothing to fear, for your
Father has everything under control. You trust
those you love, and faith and love will give
victory over fear. [Chapter by Chapter Bible
Commentary by Warren Wiersbe]
Love explains: (1) why God creates - because
he loves, he creates people to love; (2) why
God cares - because he loves them, he cares for
sinful people; (3) why we are free to choose - God
wants a loving response from us; (4) why Christ
died - his love for us caused him to offer a
solution to the problem of sin; and (5) why we
receive eternal life - God's love expresses itself
to us forever. [Life Application SB]
COMMENTARY PEARL
God's Idea
Someone called you a lost cause ... a
failure ... insignificant. Don't listen to them.
They don't know what they are talking about. A
divine spark indwells you. When you say yes to God,
he blows on that holy ember, and it begins to
flame. It grows day by day within you. Are you
perfect? No. But you are being made perfect. And he
has a wild and inexplicable love for you. His
love for you does not depend on you.
You are God's idea. God's child. Created
in God's image.
You were conceived by God before you were
conceived by your parents. You were loved in heaven
before you were known on earth. You aren't an
accident. You aren't defined by the number of pounds
you weigh, followers you have, car you drive, or
clothes you wear.
You are being made into God's image. You
are a diamond, a rose, and a jewel, purchased by
the blood of Jesus Christ. In the eyes of God
you are worth dying for. Would you let this
truth find its way into your heart? [You Can Count
On God by Max Lucado]
COMMENTARY
The Most Exalted Theme
The plan of redemption, by which the
merciful divine-human Redeemer rescued man from the
thralldom of sin, is beyond the comprehension of men
or of angels. It is indeed a mystery so
surpassing, so grand, so sublime, that we can never hope
fully to understand it.
Christ's sacrifice for fallen man has no
parallel. It is the most exalted, sacred theme on
which we can meditate. Every heart that is
enlightened by the grace of God is constrained to bow
with inexpressible gratitude and adoration before
the Redeemer for His infinite sacrifice.
In His life Jesus of Nazareth differed
from all other men ... He is the only true model
of goodness and perfection. From the beginning
of His ministry men began more clearly to
comprehend the character of God ... Christ's mission on
earth was to reveal to men that God was not a
despot, but a heavenly Father, full of love and
mercy for His children. He spoke of God by the
endearing title of "My Father."....
In all the sufferings and afflictions of
man there is an Eye to pity, a Heart to love.
"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the
Lord pitieth them that fear him" (Psalm 103:13).
God's tenderest care is exercised over us. He
pities us in our weakness and in our sorrow. We may
be despondent, even despairing; the heavy
clouds of affliction may be over us; but there is
light ahead. Beyond the gloom is a sympathetic,
compassionate Friend, One who does not willingly grieve or
afflict the children of men.
In the gracious blessings which our
heavenly Father has bestowed upon us we may discern
innumerable evidences of a love that is infinite, and a
tender pity surpassing a mother's yearning sympathy
for her wayward child. When we study the divine
character in the light of the cross we see mercy,
tenderness, and forgiveness blended with equity and
justice. In the language of John we exclaim: "Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1
John 3:1). {HP 14}
The Greatest Commandment
This heart-cry of God is expressed
throughout the Old Testament. The essence of the New
Testament is the same. Quoting from Deuteronomy, Jesus
said the greatest commandment in the law is:
And you shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your
mind, and with all your strength (Mk 12:30).
Everything depends on this! Everything in your
Christian life, everything about knowing Him and
experiencing Him, everything about knowing His will
depends on the quality of your love relationship to
God. If that is not right, nothing in your life
will be right. Notice what God has to say about a
love relationship:
I call heaven and earth as witnesses
today against you, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing; therefore
choose life, that both you and your descendants may
live; that you may love the LORD your God, that
you may obey His voice, and that you may cling
to Him, for He is your life. (De 30:19"20)
For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes
in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life. (John 3:16)
He who has My commandments and keeps
them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves Me
will be loved by My Father, and I will love him
and manifest Myself to him. (Jn 14:21)
Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
. . . No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us. . . . [Nothing]
shall be able to separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro 8:35, 37,
39)
By this we know love, because He laid
down His life for us. And we also ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren. (1Jn 3:16)
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.
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. . . . We love Him because He
first loved us. (1Jn 4:9"10, 19)
Do you realize that the Lord does not
just give you life"He is your life? He has
drawn you to Himself. He sent His only Son to
provide eternal life for you. Jesus laid down His
life for you. You did not initiate a love
relationship with God. He initiated a love relationship
with you. In fact, God loved you before you came
into the world. He began to demonstrate His love
for you on the cross of Jesus.
Because God has loved you, He wants you
to love Him as well. The Scriptures above
indicate some of the ways you can express your love
for Him. You can choose life, listen to His
voice, hold fast to Him, believe in His only Son,
obey His commands and teachings, and be willing
to lay down your life for your Christian
brothers and sisters.
When you do love God, He promises to
respond with His blessings. You and your children
will live under His blessings. By trusting in
Jesus, you have eternal life. The Father will love
you. God will come to make His home with you. He
will make you more than a conqueror over all
difficulties. You never will be separated from His love.
What is the one thing God wants from you?
He wants you to love Him with all your being.
That is the greatest commandment. Your
experiencing God depends on your having this relationship
of love. A love relationship with God is more
important than any other single factor in your life.
[Experiencing God 15th Edition by Henry and Richard
Blackaby re Mk. 12:30]
The Authentic Christian Mark
Francis Schaeffer describes various
symbols that people have displayed over the
centuries to identify themselves as Christians. We're
well familiar with the wearing of a cross on our
clothing or on a chain around our necks. We put the
fish symbol on cars and notebooks. Yet, Schaeffer
writes, there's a much better sign, the universal
mark that Jesus himself instituted.
The distinguishing mark of the Christian
comes from Jesus' own command found in John
13:34-35: "I am giving you a new commandment: Love
each other. Just as I have loved you, you should
love each other. Your love for one another will
prove to the world that you are my disciples"
(NLT).
Why is love the ultimate identifying
mark? Not only did Jesus command it, he said this
would be the way people could tell whether a
person is one of his disciples. The litmus test is
love for one another.
Schaeffer points out that although
someone may be a Christian without obeying this
command, not showing the love of Christ rejects the
Lord's own description of a disciple's identity.
"If you obey, you will wear the mark
Christ gave," Schaeffer writes. He then expands the
principle to include the other side of Jesus'
teaching, as shown in the parable of the Good
Samaritan: We are to love all persons, for all bear the
image of God.
So how does the world view the way
Christians treat one another? Is the mark Jesus
instituted most often in evidence? Or is its opposite
more common?
Research has shown that most young people
view Christians as judgmental and lacking in
love. Whatever the truth of their perceptions, we
know what our marching orders are. Jesus
commanded, "Love each other as I have loved you" (John
15:12, NIV).
Lord Jesus, you know that sometimes I
don't feel the love you command. Right now I open
my emotions and my will to you. Please give me
the love I lack and show me how I can
demonstrate love to others this day. [The One Year Book
of Encouragement by Harold Myra]
Non-Christians frequently ask believers
to prove God. You cant see Him, or
touch Him, they may say. How can you know God
exists?
On the one hand, you and I might argue
from history. Jesus lived. He died. And His
resurrection is the most thoroughly attested event in the
ancient world! Those events demonstrate Gods
existence, and His active love.
But theres an even better way to
answer. God revealed Himself in the love Jesus
showed in giving Himself for us. And God creates a
Jesus kind of love in the hearts of those who know
Him. Others can know that God is real by seeing
Jesus kind of love expressed by Christians.
Its sometimes possible to reason
another person into faith. But it is usually easier
to love them to a personal trust in Jesus. [The
365-Day Devotional Commentary]
CLOSING THOUGHT
Copycat Faith
Ten cats were in a boat. One jumped out.
How many were left?
None. They were copycats.
That's an old joke. The problem of being
a copycat is nothing new. Nobody likes to be
called a copycat, just like nobody wants to be
copied. We want to be unique. We love to be creative
with the way we look, the way we speak, and even
the way we write.
In school, its important to be unique
in what we write, because if we copy somebody
else's work we could get in trouble. The problem of
plagiarism continues to increase in high schools and
colleges. With so much information on the Internet,
some students cut and paste their papers together
instead of researching and writing things in their
own words.
Plagiarism is obviously wrong. But in
recent years, a popular book asserted that
Christianity was plagiarized. The book was made into a
movie in which one of the characters said,
"Nothing in Christianity is original." The book (and
movie) claims all of Christianity's core beliefs
were copied from other religions and myths.
Instead of believing popular books and
movies, we need to base our beliefs on hard
evidence. Award-winning author and New Testament
historian Michael Licona has studied the evidence. He
speaks around the world and debates people who try
to knock holes in Christianity. Licona has
looked at the myths and religions, some of which
started before Jesus came to earth. Writers have
claimed the Persian god Mithras was born of a
virgin; however, the myth says he was actually born
from a rock. (Yes, a rock.) Solid scholarship
conclusively shows that parallels between Christianity
and other religions aren't accurate.
Then there's the biggest difference
between Christianity and other religions: Jesus
Christ. First John 4:9 tells us, "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." Jesus is the first, and only, God to
sacrifice himself for your sins and rise from the
dead. The consensus among modern scholars -
nearly universal - is that there were no dying and
rising gods that preceded Christianity," Licona
says. Don't be confused. Christianity isn't
copied. Its core beliefs are original, unique, and
true. [Case For Christ For Kids by Les Strobel]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS TOPIC
2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 - Love & Living for
Christ.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2005/20050527-0651.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Steps to Peace by Billy Graham:
https://stepstopeace.org/
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Voice of Prophecy Discover Bible Study
Guides:
https://www.voiceofprophecy.com/study/discover
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio: https://www.awr.org/bible
Panorama of Prophecy with Pastor Doug
Batchelor: https://www.panoramaofprophecy.com/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
Islam and Christianity in Prophecy, The
Third and Final Conflict by Tim Roosenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSJB-fuHLU&list=PLWhQIHGTHlkaGg5Cwe3NDzWtFX8vNSpsE
