BiblicalMastery Buddy's bible blog

Lesson 7

True Love on Display

1 John 3:11-24

The one thing that seems to be lacking in our world today is true agape love. Thankfully, there are some major exceptions where you would expect to find it. For example I love my family with all my heart and would do almost anything for them. That love would exclude doing what would be illegal or unethical. In other words I would never condone or do for them what I consider open rebellion to God. The other place that I find genuine agape and brotherly love is in the church. I truly believe that sometimes one becomes closer to those in the body of Christ than his or her own blood relatives.

My brother who is four years younger than I now lives in Arkansas. Growing up, the age difference meant we were pretty much went our separate ways. He had his friends and I was involved in activities with young people my age and he was not included because I considered him too young. We therefore, much to my sorrow and for which much of the blame falls on me, we never became really close. Both of us as Proverbs tells us have found that “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24) and “Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.” (Proverbs 27:10) I know there are those to whom I can go when something goes wrong and they will be there for me. Of course this does not mean that I do not love my brother. I would never want to have the attitude of the men about which John spoke. I always want the very best for him even though I do not find myself a part of what is happening in his life.

Sadly churches today have not heeded the admonition found in John’s letter. We hear of church splits and strife all the time. Leaders are being asked to leave because influential individuals in the church are at odds with what they believe should be happening. It sometime erupts into open warfare that has the possibility totally destroying the body. This is not what Christ intended for His church to be. If those who are called the children can not get along how do we expect the rest of the world to act in kindness towards others. The seeded hatred that has been instilled into the very fabric of many cultures over hundreds and thousands of years is not easily changed. This same kind of hatred has sometimes been built up between members of churches for years. They not only have distain for each other but seeks allies to their way of thinking to the detriment to the expansion of God’s kingdom in the world. John was not going to have anything to do with men who had that kind of attitude toward others. He understood that those people did not have the proper relationship with each other or God. He wrote to bring attention to their failures.

1 John 3:11-12

At the end of verse 10 John wrote to the churches that the person who hates his brother had no relationship with the Father. He then goes on to point out that what he was saying was not a new message but one they had heard from all who had taught them over and over again. They were called to love one another. The perfect example of one who did not follow the command was Cain who killed his brother Abel out hatred brought on by jealousy. God had accepted the sacrifice of Abel but had rejected the one Cain presented. His response showed the kind of behavior of one controlled by satan. As John had said previously Cain took his cue from the devil who had been a murderer from the beginning of his existence. John could have not been clearer in his description of the action of two brothers. Abel was a righteous man and lived accordingly and Cain acted out of a evil mindset and lived a godless life.

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1. What was the important lesson John was trying to convey to the churches? (There is no place for hatred in the life of a believer?

2. What did Cain’s actions say about him?

3. Why did God accept Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s? (Because Abel was a righteous man while Cain was a man of evil thoughts and intent.)

4. What are some of the ways that you find you are like both men?

5. How can we make sure that we have the character of Abel?

1 John 3:13-14

Using the picture of Abel and Cain. Cain would represent the world and therefore could never understand someone like Abel. In the same way the world in which the believer of John’s lived hated them because the followers of Christ lived in the light and not the darkness of evil. The one who truly loved his brother was the person who exemplified the one who had like Colossians 1:13 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transfer us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” Man was once dead but had been made alive because he loved the one who he could see. Again mentioned that to hate was to abide in death.

1. In what way does verse 13 paint a picture of the world in which every believer lives?

2. Why is there such a contrast between the followers of Christ and the world? (One is in the light the other lives in darkness?

3. What has God done for us? (See Colossians 1:13)

4. What is one of the reasons that man is called to love his brother? (We have to get along with those with whom we are in constant contact. If we cannot love them how can we expect to love the One we cannot see?)

5. Why did John continue to emphasize the fact that to hate excludes a person from going to heaven? (It may seem a strange answer, but the one who hates will never be happy in a place where love rules.)

1 John 3:15

John used pretty strong language when describing someone who hates his brother. That was the feelings that Jesus expressed over in Matthew 5:21-22 when he spoke of murder in terms of attitudes toward another person. Jesus said that to destroy someone in one’s mind is just as evil as committing a physical act against the other person. No one who hates someone enough to take their life has no room for God in himself. That person cannot possibility of eternal life with God in his future.

1. Why did John state that to hate was equal with murder?

2. Who is one who would be called a murderer? (See Matthew 5:21-22)

3. What does the future hold for such a person?

4. Why is there no room for God in the life of a person who hates his brother? (To hate is to focus on one’s self and is an attitude of pride. One who hates thinks himself better and the other person as not deserving to live)

1 John 3:16

The answer for what love looks like is wrapped up in what God wrote next to the people. He said to know what love looks like is to look at Jesus. First of all He was willing to lay down His life for us. Then he made the point that if man truly loves the way Jesus did that he should be willing to lay down his life for his brothers in Christ.

1. What does love look like?

2. Who is the source of genuine love?

3. What did Jesus do for us that we should be willing to do for others?

4. In what ways can this be done without actually giving up the physical life?

5. Who might be a person for whom you would sacrifice your life?

6. Why do you feel that way?

7. How do you translate that willingness to others?

1 John 3:17-18

Selflessness is a practical way that one is willing to give of himself to others. Selfishness is an indication that the only one a person cares about is himself. He has no concern for the needs of those around him. This mindset shows clearly that God’s love is not present in them.

The old saying that man is not only suppose to talk the talk but walk the walk reflects what John wrote here. The way that man truly shows his love is by the way he acts toward another. James spoke about the same thing when he wrote about turning away the hungry and those without clothing. (James 2:15-16) In Matthew 25:41-45 Jesus said that the way to show love for Him is to take care of those who were hungry, thirsty, naked, a stranger, sick and in prison. He covered many of the conditions of man for which we have the responsibility to provide in His name.

1. In what ways do we show that we are selfless?

2. What is the attitude of the selfish?

3. What does the saying above say to you?

4. How did John express the same idea?

5. How do the passages in James and Matthew speak to your heart?

6. How do they address the relationship that we have with the Father and Son?

7. What other conditions would you think could be added to the list about of which we need to be aware?

1 John 3:19-21

John continued on with the idea of loving in the way a man acts and according to the teachings found in the gospel of Christ. Man can assured if he practices God’s love that he is living according to the One who is all truth even when he believes that he has failed miserably and disappointed God. God knows the intent and commitment of a man’s heart and therefore sees the genuine love and truth that has taken up residence in his heart. God’s forgiveness and understanding of man is much greater than a person can even comprehend. It is a fact that His love and salvation is not dependent on feelings but the fact of who He is and what He has done for man. It is a guaranteed that cannot be undone.

1. As Pilate asked we must also try to understand, what is truth?

2. How does the realization that we can live in that truth give us assurance before God? (His promise is to all who love Him.)

3. When and in what ways do you sometimes feel that what you are doing or have done brings condemnation to you?

4. What does John tell us about God’s view of those feelings? (He looks beyond the surface to the depth of man’s heart.)

5. What is the difference between the way we view ourselves and God’s viewpoint? (Many times

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we see life through the prism of feelings God deals in facts.)

5. What is our guarantee?

6. How do we know that the guarantee is real?

1 John 3:22

With the relationship with God well established man can now come before God with the request of his heart. John said since that is true that whatever man ask of God he will receive. The man who keeps God’s commandments and lives righteously before God has aligned his heart and mind with the Father and therefore will request those things that are within His purpose for his children.

1. What does it mean to you to know that God answers your prayers?

2. What have been an occasion when you did not receive what you were seeking?

3. What was your response? What did you learn from the experience?

4. Why do we have the privilege to bring our petitions to God?

5. What does it mean to align one’s heart with God’s purposes for man?

6. What are those things that are pleasing in God’s sight?

1 John 3:23-24

Two commands are given here even though sees them as one. In his mind there were linked together in a way that man cannot separate them. If one looks at the summary of the Law which we call the great commandment given in Matthew 22:37-38 it is clear that Jesus saw the two working together in the life of His followers. John wrote first of all “that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ” and then that we are to love one another.”

Everyone who keeps these commandments has that intimate relationship that man truly needs. The way that man knows that he is in God and God is in him is the revealing work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts man of his sin and then draws him to the Father to receive His forgiveness.

1. In what ways are the two commandments really just one?

2. In what ways is this also true in the summary found in Matthew 22:37-38.)

3. How do these two verses summarize what John has said in the first three chapters of this letter?

4. What has been one important lesson that you have learned from what has been studied so far?

5. How do you expect it to change the way you view yourself and others?

6. What gives you the greatest assurance that God is at work in your life?

• Look at the life of Abel and Cain to see what hatred can do to a person.

• Seek to understand the kind of love that John is talking about in his letter.

• Realize that to be a true follower of Christ will often put you at odds with those around you.

• Learn to be generous with others in need.

• Work at not just loving in word but in deed and truth

• Knowing that when you have doubts about your faith know that God sees you through the work that Jesus has done for us.

We are here on this earth to first of all to love and worship God. Out of that love for Him comes the second reason. It is to love those He has created in the same manner as He does. This means that we have to put aside our self-serving approach to life. The world does not revolve around us but the

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Father. He gave us His commands so we can live in relationship to Him and others. Unless we understand this we will lose our credibility with those outside the church. This love must reach across the lines that separate us into denominations. The important commandment for the church today is to believe in Jesus and then as an extension of that love to care for and love one another.