1 John 4:4-8 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 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.
We read last week that every spirit that does not recognize Jesus as coming from God is part of the antichrist spirit. The antichrist spirit is divisive and hurtful and can even lead to the death of others. Sin promotes hatred and willfulness, lack of respect for others. God’s Spirit promotes love and self-sacrifice, kindness toward others. We see the full picture of God’s love in the story of the baby Jesus in the manger. God sent his Son to gather together all those who would believe in God as their Creator and place their faith in his mercy and grace. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Because of the nature of sin that has saturated the will of mankind, a new path to God was made for mankind: the birth of Jesus Christ, his death, and his resurrection. A new way to be right with God came to men and women: the death of God himself on a cross made by the hands of men, depicting mankind’s willingness to kill goodness, a manifestation of the antiGod spirit. This man Jesus, called the Son of Man or the perfect man, came to redeem mankind from the judgment of God on all unrighteousness. Because of Jesus’ works, at death people would no longer have to stand before the Almighty Righteous God in their unclean clothes, but rather in the garments of the PERFECT ONE. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them (those who do not accept Jesus as God), because the one who is IN YOU is greater than the one who is IN THE WORLD. This rightness with God is acquired by placing faith in Jesus’ works and not their own. But for most men, the Good News of Christ’s redemptive act has either been rejected or has gone unnoticed. The history of mankind as chronicled in books reveals the spirit of sin is still thriving in the world: self-interest, self-aggrandizement, hate, killings, and hurt are embedded within the nature of humankind. People still choose to live in the cesspool of sin rather than in a place of peace and quietness before God. People take their own lives rather than serve God. Today, even now, we are under the threat of total annihilation by either nuclear war or by destroying our sustaining planet. Our unrestrained self-will promotes death; however, God’s Spirit of eternal life promotes love in all situations, for God is love!
Of course, men and women will never fully accept the Good News even though they know that what they are espousing is not working. They attempt in every way to persuade people not to be so self-destructive. We see on our televisions the gurus of the self-help method of attaining goodness and cooperation speak with assurance of their panaceas. They tend to say, “If we will only unite the goodness in each of us, then we will live in peace and harmony. All we need to do is mine the gold in each of us, let it come to the forefront of our lives. Then we will have the security of love wrapped around our beings.” This spirit of finding goodness in the core of mankind is usually the foundation of most Eastern religions. The celebrities in our midst flock to these ill-willed, fleshly answers to solve the predicament of sin in people. John says, these people who try to find the answer to man’s wicked behavior are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. Many, if not most people, welcome fleshly answers to the problems of sin and self-destruction. They reject the Good News of Jesus the Christ coming in the flesh to redeem men of their innate godlessness, creating them anew to be with God in a timeless place called heaven. People do not want to be healed by something other than their own wills. As in the Garden, when the serpent deceived Eve. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5) Since the beginning of time, mankind has always thought the answer to life was within themselves. If there was a cure to be had, it must come from the minds and the hands of the created and not the Creator. When dealing with our sickness of sin, we have sought answers within our own communities and societies. Surely, we can manage this thing that is destroying us, our neighbors, and even our world. Surely, the answer must be somewhere within the midst of our human existence. But the answer never has been in us from the beginning. Jesus says very clearly to us today, just as He did to Nicodemus, You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” (John 3:7) Paul talks about a new creature being formed in us—not one made by human hands, but one made by God himself through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. When the Good News is rejected, we know the source is the spirit of the Serpent, the Evil One. The devil knows that the only way to unlock his hold on mankind comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. That is why he willingly makes Christians useless or destroys them, for they have the message of truth, the message of redemption from the bondage to eternal death and destruction.
Love in the secular world and love in the spiritual world are usually considered the antidote to hate, fighting, and killing. Whatever the source, love is a very positive and curative action. John encourages his Christian brethren to love each other: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Love carries a powerful message that can sway people’s actions to do good quite successfully. This message should be preached everywhere. But what is the difference between the two loves: the secular and the Christian love? These two easily and usually overlap in many contexts and situations. We should never fight against the message of love wherever we find it espoused. John says rather emphatically the message of love can be indicative of one who knows God. But the Christian love emulates Christ and his life. He did nothing but good, pronouncing a healing message to the world. Jesus healed many, performed marvelous miracles; yet the world hated him. The religious elite who should have recognized God’s love the most, despised him. Their innate nature revealed the father they served when they wanted Jesus dead. This was not God’s love, but an antichrist spirit. What love did Jesus display: perfect love. When concluding his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the people to be perfect as God is perfect. He said, God sends his rain on those who hate him as well as those who love him. His love needs no reciprocation. Jesus said any barbarian will love his own children, relatives and friends, for that is the nature of man. But He was asking them to love their enemies, those who would want to torture and kill them. Now we see the difference between secular love and God’s love. Now we see why a new creature must be created by God in us, for we are decrepit in sin and self-interests outside of Christ. We cannot view ourselves loving those who hate us. It is not in our carnal nature to be like that. We will love, but our love will end when adversity strikes us from another man’s hand. But Jesus, the baby, was born to be struck by those who hated him and his birth as the King of Kings. They would place him on the cross willingly, with joy. “Crucify him!” would be their mantra. Christ, the Perfect One, would be crucified by the imperfect ones who should have worshipped him. But his love endured as He called out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) This is the love of God; this is the love that Christians must display to the world. This love comes only through a new creature, one founded and birthed in the blood of Jesus. We give our lives not only for our friends but for our enemies too. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:9-12) Christian brethren we are to love others as God loves us. Christ’s commandment is summed up in loving others as we love God. If we fail to love God with our whole being, we will fail to love people in that same way. As you read this breakfast, you might say, I cannot display that much love; I feel condemned, unworthy. Jesus did not come to condemn you, but to save you. Place your rightness with God in Jesus’ hands. Repent where you need to repent, and then count your blessings, for Jesus has come to you in all his glory. Your life is hid in him, BUT STILL DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS LOVE THOSE WHO ARE MOST UNLOVING TO YOU. Be a servant of God, not a servant to the flesh. Amen! Merry Christmas!
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