I teach an Adult Bible Community at Thomas Road Baptist Church called the G.A.P. (for Graduates and Professionals), and each week I post the outlines and discussion questions from my lessons on the G.A.P. page on Facebook. A while back I started posting these notes on the blog too. So, here is the outline for our meetings on May 1-8, 2011. A while back we started a new series on 1 John entitled "Theology Matters." This lesson looks at 1 John 4:16b-21 and discusses the idea that Christians need to live in and live out the love of God, a love that is louder than fear. This love manifests itself in three aspects: it is confident, it is mature, and it is honest. As we grow in and learn to live out of this love, Christians will find themselves loving God and others in the way that Jesus did. In fact, they will find that their relationships may be less characterized by fear and more characterized by the presence and love of God. When we love others, we give a living example of the love Jesus showed in the cross. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!
A Love Louder than Fear
1 John 4:16b-21
Theology Matters Series
Introduction
When I was a kid, I had a few fears
I was afraid of the dark
I was afraid of death
I was even afraid of not being perfect
People all across this city are afraid
They struggle with fear of acceptance
Fear of strangers
Fear of being rejected
Fear of being alone
Many of you probably suffer from similar fears
Recently, the singer Pink made a comment: “Love is louder than fear”
She was speaking of the fear that some in the homosexual community feel
She was speaking out against the actions of bullies
In our passage today, John offers a continuation of his message about God’s love for us
He describes for us a love that will cast out fear, a love that will outgrow and work through fear and find itself in a place of peace
John describes a love that is louder than fear, and that love exhibits three characteristics. It is:
Mature
Confident
Honest
Love that is louder than fear is found only in Jesus Christ
1. This Love is Mature
1 John 4:16b-17a—John reminds his readers that God is love; abiding in that love is abiding in God; and this abiding is revealed in a process of growth
“Abiding” means to take up residence, to camp, to dwell in—it means to take up habitat and to live there—it is a process and an ongoing action
As we stated regarding 1 John 4:8, the statement that “God is love” is a reference to God’s character
God’s character is revealed in God’s acts
God loved us (and the world) by giving Jesus as our atoning sacrifice
God’s love is expressed in what he gives
The idea is that a Christ follower is changed by the love of God and begins to live a life defined by that love (cf. Gal. 2:20)—Love grows and matures
If God’s love and God’s Spirit dwell in us, then how we live our lives should exhibit their presence
God’s love changes things, and that is the love that John wants to see “perfected” in us
The word “perfected” in verse 17 carries the idea of “mature” or “complete”
John is not necessarily referring to the idea of “flawlessness”
Certainly God’s love is flawless/perfect
But the love that God works in and through us progresses and grows
John indicates here that love must grow in us
As we abide in God and his love, his love works in and through us
As we grow in our relationship with God, our ability to love should grow as well
This kind of growth and maturity takes dedication (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Peter 3:11, 17-18)
Think of a musician or an athlete
Practice makes perfect—the more we do something, the more we grow in our ability to do it
We must practice love if we hope to be mature in love
This means we must spend time with the objects of our love
We must spend time loving God
We must spend time loving others
What does this look like?
Love that is louder than fear is mature—it takes time to grow
It matures/grows in us as we practice it
It matures/grows us as we live in it
2. This Love is Confident
1 John 4:17b-19—speaks of the confidence that we can have in our relationship with Jesus Christ and the assurance that we are children of God (3:1) as we experience change in our hearts and lives through God abiding and living within us (4:16). (Ray Bentley)
In this passage John introduces two new words—fear and punishment/torment
Remember, these words are written to believers
John is trying to convey some message to those of us who are Christ followers
The idea of “fear” and “torment” here speaks of an eschatological event—the day of judgment—but the words have specific meanings
Matthew 25:46 mentions this torment, punishment, or correction as the state of unbelievers eternally
The words used here are typically related to slaves and servants—these are people who live in fear of torment or punishment
Sons and daughters do not relate to their Father in that way—they have reverence or respect for their parents, and they experience discipline but not torment
John is saying that as children of God we have no reason to fear as slaves fear
Because of God’s love we can have confidence
“Confidence” here means “boldness” or “freedom of speech”
When we live in fear, we are not mature in love and we lose confidence
Many Christians live in fear of being known or of being exposed
a. We fear being transparent or vulnerable because we think that no one can accept us as we “really” are
b. Some folks live in fear because of something in their past that haunts them, or something in their present that upsets them, or something in their future by which they feel threatened (Warren Wiersbe)
c. When we live in that fear, we are not walking in God’s love—we are not maturing in love
As we grow/mature in love, we should find fear losing ground
Think of the mother of a sick child—she is not afraid of the sickness, her love simply drives her to one end—the care and cure of her child
As we grow in God’s love, we quickly realize that this love is secure and safe
If God loved us when we were his enemies (Romans 5:6-10), then how more will he love us now that we are his children?
God loves us as we are and accepts us—that is the source of our confidence
Romans 8:36-39—Nothing separates us from God’s love
As we are connected to the Light of Life, that Life drives out our fear
The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer from the movie on his life (Bruce Goettsche)
Bonhoeffer tries to pray for a fellow inmate who claims that he does not believe in God. Bonhoeffer encourages him to place his hands on the cell wall as he is doing, and then Bonhoeffer prays, ""Lord, it's dark in me; in you is day. I am alone, but you will stay. I am afraid; you never cease. I am at war; in you is peace." The man in the other cell slowly places his hands on the wall. Bonhoeffer's confidence flowed from God's light of love in his horrible situation, and that confidence produced a sense of peace in his fellow inmate. This is the love to which we are called! Does our love create confidence and peace in others?
John 3:16-21
God loves us more than we can imagine
He loved us enough to send Jesus to die for us
He loves as he loves Jesus
That love is the love he wants in us
In his Gospel account (John 3:16-21), John reminds us that God loves even those who reject him—in these verses he reminds us that judgment comes by rejecting God’s Light/Love
When we choose to hide our works, we are living in the darkness
When we hide our deeds for fear of exposure, we are not walking in the light. When we bring our deeds to the light, Satan is disarmed.
When we bring our deeds to the light, we are learning to bask in God’s love, and that requires effort on our part
It requires transparency and honesty
"There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are." Brennan Manning
“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable.” Mother Teresa
Love that is louder than fear is confident before God and others
A Quote from Warren Wiersbe
“The perfecting of God’s love in our lives is usually a matter of several stages. When we were lost, we lived in fear and knew nothing of God’s love. After we trusted Christ, we found a perplexing mixture of both fear and love in our hearts. But as we grew in fellowship with the Father, gradually the fear vanished and our hearts were controlled by his love alone. . . . A growing confidence in the presence of God is one of the first evidences that our love for God is maturing.” Bible Exposition Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 522
3. This Love is Honest
1 John 4:20-21—Here John reminds his readers that God’s love for us is reflected through our love for others. As we grow in love, our confidence leads us to live God’s love towards others, but to do that requires us to be honest
“If someone says”—John uses this phrase some seven times in his letter to warn his readers against the danger of pretending to be something that they are not
Fear and pretense often go together
Think of Adam and Eve
No sooner had they sinned than they hid
They refused to even take responsibility for their own acts
A Christian who lacks confidence before God will lack confidence with God’s people (W. Wiersbe)
When our hearts are confident before God, we do not need to pretend
When we lack that confidence we tend to worry—”What will they think if they knew?”
God’s love produces the confidence to be honest and transparent
We do not need to pretend at spirituality
We know that God accepts us and his children should too
We can be ourselves, warts and all, because of God’s love
When we pretend to be what we aren’t, we become liars
Who is the father of lies?
Satan
Remember Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)
Spiritual honesty can bring peace and power to the one who practices it
Because he lives in open honesty with the Father, he can live honestly with other people
But this transparency and honesty comes at a risk, doesn’t it?
We risk exposure, we risk being vulnerable, we risk rejection by those who don’t “get us”
But truth and love go together—you really can’t have one without the other
If we are going to be the people of God, then we must love others (John says so)
And loving others means both accepting them and being honest with them
We must tell the truth in love (Ephesians 4:14-16)
As Christians, we cannot grow up or mature in Christ if we do not love each other
And we cannot truly love each other if we do not speak honestly
Many of us avoid love because we are afraid
Look at the example of Christ--he loved others and was rejected, mistreated, falsely accused, and even killed for it--Yet Jesus loved anyway
Our goal is to be like Christ in this world (1 John 4:17)
We must love each other as he loved
Love that is louder than fear is honest
Conclusion
As “children of God” we are being transformed into his image (the image of Christ), becoming more like him in our thoughts, actions, and love for other people, especially other believers
Love sums up Christ’s teaching. The standard of love to which we are called is literally not of this world. The love that comes from God is sacrificial and manifests itself in action on behalf of others. It meets the needs of others in a variety of ways. As Christians genuinely exhibit this level of love, they in some ways incarnate the very character of God and reveal him to the world
This sacrificial love requires us to be honest before God and others, and it requires us to find ways to get rid of fear
We must sacrifice our desire to be respected or to be exalted and be willing to humble ourselves to serve
This humility will also result in transparency and honesty
How do we do this?
Some ideas for this week:
1. Be honest about your fears—be honest to yourself and to God. If possible, be honest and accountable with another Christian. What is hindering you from growing in confidence in God’s love? What will you do to rid yourself of it?
Consider fear a spiritual problem—develop your walk with God with an eye toward growing in confidence with what he has accomplished. Pray and spend time with him until fear begins to abate
2. Memorize verses that deal with fear and that deal with love: Psalm 23, Isaiah 43:5, John 3, 1 John 4. Take time this week to commit some verses to memory that deal with your area of need. Spend 10 minutes a day hiding God’s Word in your heart
3. Find ways to practice love so that love may grow in you. Make some time to show sacrificial love this week—remember that sometimes the people who cause the most fear in you are also afraid. Love them. Show forgiveness to those who have wronged you. Love those who hate you. Encourage someone who is discouraged. Listen with love when a brother or sister shares honestly and transparently with you. Accept them and pray with and for them.
Love that is louder than fear is only found in Jesus Christ and should be found in his followers
Will we risk it?
Thanks for reading!
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