Resource Detail

Christmas 2023, Lesson 3: Love

1 John 7:7-12

Key Verse: 4:9, “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.”

1.  How does John address his audience, what does he say we should do, and why (7–8)?

2.  Note how John repeats “God is love” (8,16); what does this statement mean, and why is it so important?

3.  Read verse 9. What does this tell us about Jesus’ birth? What do the words “made manifest” mean (see also 1:1–2)? How does Jesus’ birth prove God’s love for us and for all people?

4.  What does “God sent his only Son” show about his love? What was his goal in sending him, and what does this mean (9b; see also verse 16)?

5.  How else did God love us (10), and what does it reveal about the nature of his love? How does this show us how to love (11)?

6.  Why is it so important to express God’s love for one another (12)? Summarize what these verses teach us about God’s love. How can we practice his love this Christmas?

Merry Christmas! The Advent season is just four weeks of the year when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. Each week we light a candle. In week one, we thought about the hope Jesus gives. In week two, it was the peace he brings. Today we’re reflecting on the love he’s shown. Next Sunday, on Christmas Eve, we’ll be thinking about the joy of his birth.

Yet you may be wondering why we’re suddenly studying 1 John 4; it’s not a common Christmas Bible passage. But its message of love is one of the deepest and clearest in all the Bible. Today the Apostle John is inviting each of us to receive Jesus the Son and live through him. We especially want to think about the fact that through Jesus’ coming, God’s love is “made manifest among us.” What does it mean? And what does God want us to do with this love? May God speak to us through his word today.

To understand, let’s look at the context. 1 John was a letter written by one of Jesus’ closest disciples, John, to believers in the early church. In only five chapters, the word love in some form is repeated 52 times. And today’s passage is the only place in the Bible where it says “God is love”––twice (4:8,16). So, in learning about God’s love, 1 John may be one of the best books to turn to.

The Greek word for love here is agape. Before the New Testament was written, the noun agape was rarely used in ancient Greek writing; only the verb was used, and it meant “to be content,” “to like,” or “to prefer.” Sounds rather cool and reserved, right? But when Hebrew scribes began translating the Old Testament into ancient Greek, they used this Greek word agape to refer to God’s love for human beings, and our love for God. And after Jesus came, the authors of the New Testament used agape with even more intense meaning.^[1] In the Bible, agape is contrasted with phileo, which means “to love as friends.”² And agape became best defined by what Jesus did. 1 John 3:16 says: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” Based on this verse, agape now means “self-sacrificing love.” In this one deed, laying down his life for sinners, our Lord Jesus expressed the highest form of love the world has ever seen.

1 John has some crucially important Christian teachings. But what stands out most is that three times in the letter John tells us to “love one another.” The first time, he says that those who obey this new command are walking in the light (2:7–11).^[2] The second time, he says loving each other is clear evidence that we are children of God (3:10–24). Now, the third time he goes deeper and explains why we need to love (4:7–21). So today’s passage is the climax of the letter. To John, we need to love simply because of who God is.

Read verses 7–8. “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.” There’s a great praise song based on these words.^[3] When we’re born again through repentance and faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit works in us, and we come to know God. As we get to know God, we learn how to love like he does. It’s so simple. If we don’t know how to love, it’s a sign we don’t know God very well.

But why is John stressing who knows God and who doesn’t? He’s writing to Christian communities where many people had recently left. John says, “they were not of us” (2:19). It’s not just that life took them in a different direction, or that they had personality conflicts or differing methods of ministry. John says that they did not have genuine faith. Here in verse 7 he suggests that they had not “been born of God.” Back in chapter 1, he said they’d been claiming to have fellowship with God but were insisting they had no sin.^[4] They were claiming to “know” God but were not keeping his commands or walking the way Jesus did (2:4–6). In chapter 3 he said they just kept on sinning (3:4–8). Worst of all, they were denying that Jesus is the Christ (2:22) and were trying to deceive the other believers (2:26). Five times in this letter John suggests these people “hated” the brothers.^[5] He even says they had “the spirit of the antichrist” and calls them “liars” and “false prophets.”^[6] Strong words, coming from “John the Apostle of Love”! He doesn’t tell the believers to go chasing after them. He’s fighting a spiritual battle with the devil, who’s always trying to poison the Christian community.⁸ So he turns the believers’ attention to God (1:5), to one another, and to those who have not yet had fellowship with Jesus (1:3).

It’s with this backdrop of conflict that John says “God is love.”^[7] It’s such a profound statement. But it’s easily misunderstood. John is not denying that God is a person. And he’s not making a mushy statement, that all that seems to be love in the world is God. He’s simply saying that God himself, in his essential nature, is love. God’s love does not cancel out his other traits: his holiness or his justice or his wrath or his faithfulness or his sovereignty. But his love is behind them all. We see God’s love in the Trinity––the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father.^[8] We see it in God’s care for all life. We especially see

God’s love in his desire to save people, who are all sinful. This is the point of the

Bible––God patiently working out his redemptive love for lost human beings.^[9]

But how do we know that God is love? In a way, it’s similar to getting to know people. The closer we get to somebody, the more we discover his or her nature. We may not have guessed it, but we find that someone is shy, or really nerdy, or so kind. Sadly, the closer we get, we also get to know their sinful nature. We’re disappointed when we find a person to be self-righteous and critical, or arrogant and self-absorbed. But the closer we get to God, the more we find that he is love. So how do we get closer to him? The Bible says it’s only through Jesus. It’s through Jesus the Son that God has chosen to make himself known (John 1:18). The closer we get to Jesus, the more we get to know God.

As we draw closer to him, we also begin to grasp the real nature of his love. His love is not in mere words or concepts; it’s seen in what he’s done. What has God done? Read verse 9. “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.” God didn’t just “feel” love for us, or just say, “I love you.” Verse 9 says he made his love manifest among us. The word manifest is not so familiar, but it’s a really good word. In the Bible the Greek word appears often and is translated as revealed, displayed, shown, or became plain.^[10]For example, when Jesus turned water into wine, the Bible says he manifested his glory (John 2:11). After he had risen, he also manifested himself to his disciples three times.¹³ Manifest means to “make actual and visual,” “plainly recognized and thoroughly understood.” Basically, manifest is like our English word obvious.

God made his love obvious when he sent his only Son into the world. But how is it obvious? John wrote at the beginning of this letter: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and 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…” (1:1–2). He’s writing about Jesus, whom he and the other apostles had shared life with for over three years. Apostle Paul said something similar: “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Tim.3:16). Here, verse 9 is telling us that God’s love was made manifest when he sent his only Son into the world. Okay, but why is this so amazing? It’s because Jesus is God the Son, who enjoyed glory in the Father’s presence before the world existed (John 17:5). But God loved us enough to send his only Son in person to be present with us. He loved us so much, he “showed up.” He showed up in this sin-sick, cursed world.

People work hard on their facade and put on a good show, but the reality underneath isn’t pretty. This world is all messed up. Why? Because people are living in rebellion against God, in unbelief and darkness. People can be so wounded––so sick, harsh and violent, so hard to be around. But God sent his Son into such a world as this. He came to be present with us. This one fact, that he came to be with us proves that God loves us. God so loved us, despite all our sins, that he risked it all and came in person.

Sometimes we meet people who talk well, but when there’s a need, they often don’t show up. We say such a person is “all hot air.” Tragically, we hear stories in our society of absent fathers or absent mothers, and their children get wounded for life. Another tragedy is the elderly abandoned in nursing homes. Sometimes people really need us, and when we don’t show up, they ask, “Where were you?” Was I present when I needed to be? This is so important in life.

How God sent his only Son into the world is also important. He didn’t show up in full body armor and a helmet, or a bullet proof vest, or in a safety tent to protect himself from infection and contamination. Luke tells us that he was born as a baby in a manger, among all the filth and the smells, so helpless and vulnerable. In fact, he came as a nobody (Php.2:7). Very few people even knew he came. But there he was, quietly present as a newborn baby. He came so humbly. He became flesh and blood just like us (Heb.2:14). He knew what it is to be tired and thirsty (John 4:26; 19:28). He knew sorrows and grief (Isa.53:3). He came, fully human, to understand us. For our sake he even became poor (2 Cor.8:9). He was tempted in every way, just as we are, to empathize with our weaknesses (Heb.4:15). In his Gospel, John tells us that Jesus “dwelt among us” (John 1:14), or “made his residence” among us. He didn’t stay at a safe distance; he came to be right there with us, in all our mess, as close to us as possible.

Present with us, he “took up our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Matt.8:17).

So, one of his names is “Immanuel”––God with us (Matt.1:23). In this, the love of God was made manifest among us (9a): he showed up in person.

In the famous musical “My Fair Lady,” a woman is taken out of the gutter in London and taught to speak like a refined, aristocratic lady. And a nice young man shows up and starts hanging around outside on the street where she lives. When he tries to tell her his feelings for her, she is just done. She can’t listen to any more words. So she sings a song called “Show Me!” We’re all like her. We don’t want to just listen to ideas and theories and words. “Show me what you’re talking about!” If it’s God’s love, then show me (3:17–18). And God did.

Look at verse 10. John again begins by saying “In this.” Now he mentions that we did not love God; God, who is love, loved us first (4:19). It’s another “manifestation” of his love––God took the initiative in loving us. The ultimate manifestation of God’s love is that he sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. In this, God made it obvious that his love is not only self-sacrificing, but also holy. God loved us in a way that would solve our problem of sin and reunite us with the Holy God. To do that, he sacrificed his only Son on the cross for us. Propitiation is hard to pronounce and to understand. But it means simply that God removed our guilt by placing all our sins on Jesus.^[11]Because of Jesus’ death on the cross and his shed blood, we can be forgiven.^[12] It’s the most vivid manifestation of how much God loves us. As Paul writes: “…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom.5:8).

Let’s read verse 9 again. “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” [emphasis added]. God loves us so much, he wants us to live, not die. He’s not just talking about physical life; he means a real, authentic, spiritual life. How do we come alive spiritually? The Bible says we were dead in our sin, but God, by his grace, unites us with Christ (Eph.2:4–5). Union with Christ is like a branch being grafted into a living vine (John 15:5). It means dying to our old sinful nature and experiencing a death like his; then, God gives us a life like Christ’s, and we can walk in newness of life (Rom.6:3–12). Without union with Christ, we are like withered branches thrown away and burned (John 15:6).

1 John explains that “living through Christ” means “abiding” in him, walking as he did, living in his light (2:6,10). In this letter the word “abide” is repeated 21 times. But it doesn’t “just happen”; John challenges us to abide in Jesus.¹⁶ It begins when we confess that Jesus is the Son of God (4:15). Abiding in Jesus breaks sin’s hold on our lives (3:6,9). We abide in him as we keep feeding on his flesh broken and his blood shed for our sin (John 6:56). But we continue to abide in him as we let his word abide in us (2:14b,24)^[13] and as we keep listening to the Spirit’s anointing that he’s given us (2:27; 4:13). We abide in him as we keep his commands (3:24a) and abide in his love.¹⁸

Read verses 11–12. “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.” Here John says plainly that we shouldn’t try to hoard God’s love for ourselves. We’ve got to start sharing his love with the real, flesh and blood people all around us. Here, “one another” and “us” especially refers to fellow believers. It also includes literally everyone. It needs to start in our own families. If we can’t love those closest to us, how can we love people at church, not to mention all the people of the world? People need to see God among us, in the Christ-like love we practice each day.

There’s a couple, friends of mine at church, who’ve been living with young people in their home, praying with them, studying the word and bearing with their failings (Rom.15.1). Recently, the wife confided that she’s exhausted. But when she came to Jesus again, God renewed his love in her heart. Because of God’s love, the young people are growing as God’s servants among us. Many others in our communities are serving like this, and God has been renewing his love in them and working through them. It’s obviously not them, but Christ living in them.

Loving others is easier said than done, especially with certain individuals. Loving like God all the time seems too hard! None of us can do it with our own strength or ability. But through Jesus, God, who is love, abides in us. John points us to this solution in verse 7: “…for love is from God.” God, who is love, gives us his love. This is how his love is perfected in us. It’s another key point in 1 John.¹⁹ It means that through his love, God transforms us into people who can actually love like he does. Many despair over their inability to love. They know it creates problems, but they just don’t know how to do it. But we don’t have to do it on our own. We just need to receive the great love that God has made obvious in Jesus. And then, we just need to show up in people’s lives; not withdraw, not hide, not avoid, but show up. It’s always how people can tell we genuinely love them.

This Christmas, may God open our hearts to the great love he manifested to us in the birth of Jesus, who “showed up” for us, even in all our sin. May we learn how to abide in Jesus daily so that we can be empowered and transformed by God’s love to love one another. May God help us this Christmas, with his love within us, to “show up” for those who really need his love.

[1] C.H. Dodd, Johannine Epistles, pp.111–112. ² See especially John 21:15–17.
[2] Cf. John 13:34–35.
[3] Love (One Another) by Janice Detweiler, Maranatha! Music, 1973.
[4] 1:5,8,10.
[5] 2:9,11; 3:13,15; 4:20.
[6] 1:10; 2:4,20,22; 4:1,3,20; 5:10. ⁸ 2:13–14; 3:12; 5:18–19.
[7] John has taught that God is spirit (John 4:24) and God is light (1 John 1:5), and now he says God is love (4:8,16).
[8] John 3:35; 5:20; 10:17; 14:31.
[9] See D. A. Carson, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God, Crossway: Wheaton, IL, 2000, pp.16–17.
[10] For example, see John 1:31; 7:4; 9:3; 14:21–22; 17:6;; 1 John 2:19. ¹³ John 21:1,14; “revealed” in the ESV is literally “manifested.”
[11] Rom.3:25; 1 Pet.2:24; 2 Cor.5:21.
[12] Matt.26:28; Eph.1:7; Col.1:14; Heb.9:22. ¹⁶ 2:24, 27–28; cf. John 15:4.
[13] Cf. John 8:31; 15:7. ¹⁸ 3:17; John 15:9–10 ¹⁹ 2:5; 4:12,17–18.