Quote from Forum Archives on September 2, 2003, 2:16 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

EMOTIONS OF GOD #4/4
DIVINE LOVE
August 31, 2003

Text: 1 John 4:7-21

In this sermon, the last of a series on the emotions of God, I end with
God’s greatest emotion - love. Now, this won’t actually be the last
sermon I ever preach about God’s love; it is much too expansive for that.
But when I look at the three emotions I have already shared - jealousy,
anger, and joy - I discover that throughout Scripture, they are limited.
God can be jealous - sometimes. God can be angry - sometimes. God is even
joyful - sometimes. But when is God not love? In fact, some form of the
word “love,” as recorded in Strong’s Concordance, shows up in 55 out of
the 66 books of the Bible. It is only missing in the book of Acts in the
New Testament, once again according to Strong’s. Maybe someone wants to
take that on as a project and see if a form of the word “love” appears in
Acts. In contrast, jealousy, anger, and joy do not occupy anywhere near
the space in the Scriptures. So “love,” as both emotion and actions, is
important to God and an important part of the nature of God.

Given the evidence of God’s sacrificial nature for His creation, it is
easy for us to see how the emotion of love reveals God’s ongoing
redemptive nature and purpose. God will not do anything that is not
redemptive, and that certainly becomes easy to see when we study love.
Yet, as imperfect human beings, we still have a tendency to
misunderstand, misapply, and misrepresent love. So I refer to some
experts this morning to help us understand more about love.

A group of professionals posed the question, "What does love mean?", to
children ranging in age from 4 to 8. Here are some of the answers. "If
you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you
hate." --Nikka - age 6. "Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt,
then he wears it everyday." --Noelle - age 7. "Love is like a little old
woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know
each other so well." --Tommy - age 6. "During my piano recital, I was on
a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my
daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared
anymore." --Cindy - age 8. "Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece
of chicken." --Elaine - age 6. "Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and
sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." --Chris - age
7. "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone
all day." --Mary Ann - age 4. "I know my older sister loves me because
she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
--Lauren - age 4. "I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she
only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister
because I love her." --Bethany - age 4. "When my grandmother got
arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my
grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got
arthritis too. That's love." --Rebecca - age 8. "Love is what's in the
room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
--Bobby - age 7.

Well, even among these experts, the understanding of love covers a wide
range. From a secular perspective, many cultures and societies go to
great lengths to make love a cornerstone of their existence. But instead
of being enacted as divine love, it becomes warped as self love. Love, as
experienced by many in society today, is defined as successful if it
brings us satisfaction and pleasure. In popular forms, sacrificial love
is usually not rated very high. I think this is highlighted in marital
relationships. There are quite a few reasons why a marriage breaks up.
One that has gained momentum over the years is that the couple just “does
not love each other anymore.” Some, or most, of the self-satisfaction and
self-gratification attached with love is no longer there, so the marriage
does not survive. The thought of being sacrificially committed to one
another falls by the wayside.

The notion of love without sacrifice is foreign to Biblical faith. It is
foreign to God’s divine love. The Biblical text this morning addresses
this particular element of divine love in verse 9: “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.” Of course, we know from the complete
testimony of the New Testament the sacrificial depths to which God went
in order to bring redemption to His people. Jesus lived and suffered
among his people; he taught the way of divine love; he forgave the people
their sins. For this, he was falsely accused, arrested, beaten,
ridiculed, and crucified. But all this is not really the point of divine
love. The point is that Jesus never had to be subjected to all this, yet
he willingly underwent it because of his love for us. Without his
sacrifice, we would all be doomed to an eternity separated from God. We
would all be doomed to satan’s evil tortures. Because it was the only way
for God to redeem us, He willingly took on this sacrifice. Throughout
history, this has been the resounding understanding of divine love.

It is popular for many solid Bible teachers to say something like this:
“Love is not a feeling; it is a command.” I have heard this on several
occasions, and I agree with it - in part. Only in part. In the correct
context, the meaning is that Christians are commanded to love no matter
what the feeling might be. Like all the other emotions, I do not always
feel love. I do not always feel angry; I do not always feel happy; I do
not always feel sad; I do not always feel love. Whether I feel it or not,
though, according to God’s divine purpose, I am to act in loving ways
pleasing to God whether I “feel the love” or not. Scripture makes it
plain that love is a responsibility. When most couples repeat wedding
vows, the element of sacrifice, not self-service, is what is promised.
More marriages would withstand rocky times if the husband and wife would
remember their responsibility to love one another - whether they feel
like it or not.

In spite of the truth it contains, the drawback that I experience with
statements like, “Love is not a feeling; it is a command,” is that it is
made to sound as if there is no emotion in love, and that God does not
experience love as an emotion. I think nothing could be farther from the
truth. In fact, I believe that divine love is the pinnacle of all of
God’s emotions and, subsequently, of human emotions as well. While we
humans may be commanded by God to love, who is there to command God? No
one. God is not compelled by any external force to love His creation.
Yet, He does. In my opinion, the only motivating force compelling God to
love comes from His great compassion. God feels love. There are places in
Scripture where God bares His “soul.” Take Hosea 11. After pronouncing
judgment on Israel, again, God cries out in verse 8, “My heart is changed
within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce
anger, nor devastate Ephraim again. For I am God, and not man - the Holy
One among you. I will not come in wrath.” Who could dare deny that God
does not or cannot experience love emotionally? God feels love for his
people, and He does whatever is necessary to redeem us. That “whatever
necessary” is the completed work of Jesus Christ. To think that God has
done all of that - agonized over our rebellious ways, planned our
salvation, sacrificed His only begotten Son who rose again victorious
over sin and the grave - without any sense of emotional attachment is
ludicrous. Likewise, I believe that God still experiences agony when we
rebel and rejoices when we accept His victory and return home to Him. If
that’s not emotional love, then what is?

So divine love, or God’s love, is both a feeling and a command. I am of
the opinion that a Christian living a life connected with the Savior will
feel that love a lot of the time. The Christian will be aware of God’s
expressions of His feelings of love. And, because Christians practice
experiencing love, then we are also to behave lovingly. “We love because
he first loved us.” I have always marveled at a remarkable truth in this
sentence. Even though every human being tries to appropriate love for
himself or herself, even those who openly deny any testimony of God, none
of us could have or experience love without God. To modify the bumper
sticker: “N-O God, N-O love; K-N-O-W God, K-N-O-W love.” Then John
continues, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a
liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot
love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever
loves God must also love his brother.”

Now I’m going to make the generally accepted application that “brother”
here means fellow Christian believer. We certainly have compassion for
all men and women, Christian or not, but we believe that the apostle was
referring here to those in the fellowship of Christ. Christians, we are
to love one another. I think the application is twofold.

I am open for correction, but I have my doubts that everyone here this
morning feels love for every other Christian here all the time. At some
time, another person in one of these pews just may annoy you. Someone may
annoy me; and I may annoy them. But guess what? Here’s where the command
thing comes in: we are to still love one another. This means that I will
take no action against another person which is not reflective of God’s
purpose. And what is God’s purpose? Let me say it again, as I have in
each sermon in this series: God will not do anything that is not
redemptive. Carrying a grudge against another is not redemptive. Plotting
revenge is not redemptive. Spreading gossip about another Christian is
not redemptive. You think of some more. Whether ideas clash or
personalities clash or life experiences clash, none of us are exempted
from loving our Christian brother and sister.

The second application of John’s instruction is related to the first.
That is, we should be doing everything in our power to help someone else
love us. Haven’t you been around at least one person in your life who
acts like he or she dares you to love or care for him or her? “I want
someone to care about me and love me, but I’m going to make it as
difficult for everyone as I can. I’m going to grumble. I’m going to be
rude. I’m going to be demanding. I’m going to ignore the other person’s
thoughts and feelings. And then, because no one wants to be around me
anymore, I’m going to let everyone know what a so-and-so everyone is.”

As a Christian, we should be a person who someone else wants to help and
love. We should make it as easy as possible for another brother and
sister to love us as God commands. Divine love is not meant to be a
chore; it is meant to be our privilege in God’s kingdom; our response to
God’s love for us.

So, Christian, a healthy dose of self-awareness goes a long way. Like all
of the apostles, we are to be aware of our status before God. In
Philippians 3, Paul writes, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider
loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss
compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish…”
Righteousness, knowledge, zealousness, human confidence - all of these
Paul set aside because he was aware of his status before God. But he also
knew he was saved by God. Paul was humble, but he was also confident in
his salvation. He later wrote, “Join with others in following my example,
brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we
gave you.” His self-awareness gave him the confidence to take God’s Word
to anyone.

Be aware of our actions and attitudes toward others. If you find
Christians are wanting to avoid you instead of being around you, maybe
you need to do a self-check on yourself. Are you acting like one of these
people who just “dares” someone to be helpful and loving. Do you heap
misery on others? You may be able to tell that better than anyone else.
Don’t make it a difficult challenge for your Christian brothers and
sisters to fulfill God’s command: “Whoever loves God must also love his
brother.”

John also writes that “there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives
out fear…” Since I have been asked, I looked carefully at this thought.
Does this mean that if we are afraid of something, then we do not love
God, and He does not love us? No, we can be afraid of many things - some
real and some not. I am not going to become unafraid of snakes and some
other critters. I am not going to become unafraid of being alone in a
room full of felons. You can make your own lists. None of this needs
interrupt God’s love for us or our love for God.

What John and the others tell us is that we no longer need to have a fear
of punishment. God’s judgment was placed on Jesus, who took this burden
for us as our sacrificial Lamb. When we come to God through Christ, then,
we accept His love and can set aside our fear of divine punishment. God
has expressed His love for us and has done this magnificent thing. His
act of love frees us from the burdens of fear to the joyful privilege of
loving our Savior in return. This is God’s emotion of divine love. “God
is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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