The Manifestation of Love

Transcript

GR 1091
12/5/1982

1 John 2:7-11
Gil Rugh


We're looking into the second chapter in our study together this evening. I John chapter 2. Remember what John is doing in the Book. He sets down for us the character of God and then he tells us that we can know for sure that we have eternal life by looking and seeing the character of God being produced and manifest in and through our lives.

So that the issue is God's children partake of His character and as His character is seen in our lives, that is a reflection that we belong to Him that we have been born into His family. Does not mean we are better than anyone else. That's the difference. It's not my character that's being seen. It's the character of God that's being seen in me as a result of His work.

We looked in our last study at verses, down through verse 6. In verse 3 he said "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. So keeping His commandments was an indication that we belong to Him. Now, note you cannot reverse the order. You do not belong to God because you keep His commandments. You keep His commandments because you belong to Him. You have been born into His family. Therefore you do certain things.

One of those is you are obedient to His Word. Also, we walk as He walks. The end of verse 5 says "By this we know that we are in Him. The one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. We noted that the word "abide". Favorite word of John, means to dwell in and every believer abides. We looked at some of the passages that stress the mutuality of abiding. By that we mean that not only do I abide in Him, but He abides in me. God Himself indwells me. The Spirit of God lives within me and so He indwells me and I in effect dwell in Him. I abide in Him and He abides in me. So those two evidences. You keep His commandments and you walk as He walked. Our lives in effect are patterned after the life of Christ.

Now there was a heretical teaching, more popular perhaps in bygone years, was that Jesus Christ was the example for us. That's not what He is saying here. Saying that as a result of being born into the family of God the character of God is being produced in me so that my life is like the life of Christ. Because I in effect have the character of God being produced in me even as he revealed the character of God in his life.

Now in verses 7 to 11 where we are going to focus our attention this evening he continues this same thought but he zeroes in on a crucial basic central issue, the issue of love. You talk about keeping His commandments, obeying His teaching. We talk about walking as He walked. We can boil everything down to this point—the manifestation of love. Talked about this in our consideration of Philippians this morning. Amazing how much repetition there is in Scripture. How often God takes the same subject, the same theme and approaches it from different directions.

Verse 7. We’re going to talk about the commandment that is given and it's not a new one. It's an old one, but it's not only an old one, it's a new one. Note what he says in verse 7. "Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the commandment is the word which you have heard. So, he's going to talk about the commandment here. He says this isn't new. It's an old commandment which you have had from the beginning and I take it that the commandment that we have had from the beginning refers from the beginning of the gospel. That wasn't the beginning of the commandment but they have had it from that time. All the way back to when we first heard the gospel, we had this commandment. It's not something new and it goes back beyond that, all the way back into the Old Testament.

Note the, read verse 8 and then we'll go back and look at this, the rest of this. "On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light.." See the issue here is love and the obedience that he has talked about is inseparable from the love that is manifested here.
So I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old commandment and it is the commandment to love. All the commandments of God are summed up in this one commandment. That we manifest love toward one another. Brings everything together.

Back up to Mark chapter 12. Verse 28. "And one of the scribes came and heard them arguing and recognizing that he had answered them well ask Him, 'What commandment is the foremost of all?'
Jesus answered, 'The foremost is hear 0 Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. The second is this—you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

So, two commandments. Love God and love your neighbor. Jesus says they supersede all the other commandments. The commandment to love, love God, and love our neighbors.

Look over in Romans chapter 13. Verse 8. "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." Note that. If you are manifesting love you have fulfilled the law. All the commandments of the law, 621 or so, commandments of the Law fulfilled if you love. For this you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment it is summed up in this saying, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the Law. If you are manifesting love, you won't commit adultery. The excuses that are often used. You won't murder. You won't steal. You won't covet because you will be desiring the good, the best for the other person. The person who gets into an adulterous relationship is functioning selfishly. To fulfill his desires and passions, not functioning out of what is best or good for someone else.

So if you are functioning in love, all of the other commandments will be taken care of. You will carry them out.

So when you come back to I John this new commandment is the old commandment which we have heard. They go together. It's an old commandment. It's the one that carries over from the Old Testament. Jesus spoke of it, summarizes the entire law. It's new, though, in verse 8. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining."

This commandment to love has taken on a new dimension, a fuller and richer meaning as a result of becoming believers in Jesus Christ. So it's a new commandment in that it takes on new expression. A new dimension. It's true in Him. It's related to Jesus Christ. Our relationship to Him and what He has done. God's love is most clearly seen in Christ. So even though the commandment to love has been present throughout the Old Testament the fullest manifestation of God's love, the fullest display of God's love for us and to us, was presented in Jesus Christ.
Turn over to Romans chapter 5 on the verses that many of you have learned. Romans chapter 5. Verse 8. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Here is God's demonstration of love. We were sinners and yet God had His Son die for us. Fact we might put it as we would today. What was in it for Him? You see, He was functioning out of our best, what we needed. Not what He needed. He didn't need any wretched sinners but we needed salvation and He demonstrated His love. Remember, Agape love. We talked about this morning. It's self- sacrificing. It is doing what is best for someone else regardless of the personal cost or consequences. So God demonstrated His love. He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us and that while we were sinners.

Look over in I John chapter 4. I John chapter 4. Verse 10. "In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation, satisfaction, for our sins." We could have read verse 9. "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him."

So this is a new commandment. It takes on a new dimension and a new meaning. I see God's love displayed in Christ and self-sacrificing love takes on a significance that it never had before.

Now in I John 2:8 John says "this is true in Him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." This commandment is true in Him and in you. What he is saying here is in effect is it is brought to full fruition. All of God's character and attributes would have been unveiled to one degree or another in the Old Testament but they are sharpened in the coming of Christ.

Remember John chapter 1 verse 17. "The Law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. Now was not grace present in the Old Testament? Was not truth present in the Old Testament? Well, yes, it had to be. The Word of God had been revealed. The truth of God was proclaimed.

We studied in Jeremiah. Truth was revealed. God's grace was presented. He offered salvation. Individuals like Abraham and many others experienced God's salvation were they saved by other than grace? No. There was grace present in the Old Testament. There was truth present in the Old Testament but grace and truth are manifested and fully realized in the Person of Jesus Christ. They reach their height, their full unveiling in Christ and that's the way it is with love. That's the way it is with all the characteristics for attributes of God. They are fully realized in Christ.

Turn back to John. John's Gospel. While you are there you might as well look at verse 17 of chapter 1. "The Law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." And, of course, it's true that the grace and truth that are revealed in the Old Testament were founded upon the fact that Jesus Christ is going to come. But they have reached their full realization and demonstration in His coming to earth.

Look in John chapter 14. John chapter 14 verse 8. "Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father and it is enough.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me,
Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father." How do you say, show us the Father? Now He is not the Father. They are distinct Persons. But He is Deity. He has all the attributes, all the characteristics of God the Father so that when you see Jesus Christ you have seen God. They are of the same essence and being, the same character. So you want to see the love of God? It is manifested most fully in Christ.

Turn over to the Book of Colossians. Chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 15. Speaking of Christ. "He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation." He is the image of the invisible God. He reveals God. He is the exact representation of what God the Father is like. Stated another way down in verse 19. "It was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him." All the fullness to dwell in Him, all the fullness of Deity. All of the character.
All of the attributes of God resided in Christ.

Down in chapter 2 of Colossians. Verse 9. "For all the fullness of Deity indwells in bodily form. And in Him you have been made full." That’s a remarkable statement. That all the fullness of Deity, everything that God is, dwelt in that physical body of Jesus Christ because He was the God Man and it is out of that fullness that we have been made full. Verse 10 goes on.

So we are manifesting love but where have we drawn that from? The fullness of Christ and our relationship with Him. So that's the point that John is making.

Have to take you back to the Gospel of John. I should have done this while we were there. John chapter 13. You see how he elevates and gives a new dimension and a new meaning to love in John chapter 13 verse 34. "A new commandment I give to you." Note, Jesus calls it a new commandment. It's new because it takes on a new dimension. That's why John can pick up and say, this is a new commandment. Even though it's the old one. "I give you this commandment that you love one another." That wouldn't be new. We already saw that, "even as I loved you that you love one another." Now you see what has happened? The Old Testament says you should love your neighbor as yourself. Here Jesus says you should love one another as I have loved you. Love takes on an added dimension and significance. Love is made tangible, if you will.

How did God love me? How did Jesus Christ love me? He loved me to the point of being willing to sacrifice His own life for my benefit. Now that's the standard and criteria of my love as it's to be manifested to others. There is no limit. I said, well, look. You don't know how long I have put up with this. Well, you're here breathing. You obviously haven't followed the pattern of Christ. You haven't given your life in love for that other person so you don't know the suffering I have gone through. No, I don't know the suffering you have gone through. But I know what the scripture revealed about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ and He is the pattern for my love. So it is a new commandment. It takes on new breadth and new depth. Verse 35. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples if you have love one toward another."

Come back to John, I John. So when He says, a new commandment I am writing you which is true in Him and in you. You see, it's taken on new dimension. The truth that is revealed here. It's true in Him and in you because the darkness is passing away. The true light is already shining. What he is talking about here is the defeat of darkness was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Darkness has been defeated by Christ.

Now there is the process of the realization of that victory as well. As he calls out His church and builds it to maturity. Not the ultimate defeat or realization of the annihilation of darkness will be at the Second Coming of Christ. The victory has been won by Christ in His death and resurrection. Now He is in the process of accomplishing or carrying out that victory in the lives of believers as He draws them salvation by faith in Himself. Builds them up to be shining lights in the midst of darkness. Now the ultimate annihilation of darkness though won't take place until the Second Coming. But you see how he puts it. "The darkness is passing away. The true light is already shining. That has happened. Jesus Christ has come. He is the light of the world. John's Gospel, the first chapter begins on that note.

"In Him was life and the life was the light of men." So He is the light. The darkness has been defeated. In John chapter 12 and verse 31 you remember Jesus anticipated this as He was going to the cross. "Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world shall be cast out." Satan's defeat occurs at the cross. The subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ demonstrates that. He is a conquered defeated foe. So the darkness is on the midst of passing away. We are closer now to the full dawning of that light than we were 1500, 2000 years ago. The darkness is passing away. The true light is already shining in Christ.
I John 2:7-11 Page Nine

Now that's all nice. That's great. Say, I agree with everything that John has said to this point. This old commandment has taken on a fresh and new dimension. And I really do not believe that a person can really appreciate or understand love apart from a relationship to Jesus Christ. He lives it out. He presents it in bodily form and that's why it's so tragic that it not be displayed in fullness in our lives and that's where he comes to next.

That's fine. But the new commandment—it takes on added dimension, that's great. Therefore, verse 9. Here's the application. "The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is" where? "In the darkness until now." Now what has he done? He has talked about in effect another characteristic of God.

Chapter 1 we talked about God is light and in Him is no darkness. Now he talks about the demonstration of love, the commandment of God as it is realized in believers. So having established that He says, "The one who says he is in the light." Here's a person who claims to be in the light. And yet he hates his brother. He hates fellow believers. Where is he? He is in the darkness until now.

I take it to say that he is in the darkness until now is to say that he is an unbeliever. He does not belong to Christ. Read on and then look at a couple of parallel passages. He is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother. The other side of this—the one who loves his brother, abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. So one is in the darkness. One abides in the light. That's his dwelling place. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Now my understanding is that's descriptive of an unbeliever. Your attitude towards other Christians, toward believers, is a reflection of whether you belong to God or not.

Look over in I Thessalonians, look at several passages together. I Thessalonians chapter 5. You see this issue of light and darkness which we were in when we were in chapter 1. It is important that we understand it. I Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 4. "Brethren, you are not in darkness that the day should overtake you like a thief." The Day of the Lord. It's going to overtake the unbeliever like a thief. He's not expecting it. Believers are looking for their blessed hope. Now they're not going to be overtaken by the Day of the Lord. They are looking for the coming of Jesus Christ.

"For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but be sober, be on the alert." Now note that. We are NOT of night nor of darkness so let's be alert as we are supposed to be. See no issue here. The lines are clearly drawn. There's light and there's darkness. Those who are in the darkness have no sensitivity and awareness of God's program and working. Those who are in the light do and so they are to function accordingly. So the implication here obviously is that we don't always. Otherwise he wouldn't have to tell us not to sleep. But he doesn't say we are in the darkness. Some people sleep in the light. Some of you are living testimonies to that. I'm only kidding. I don't see anybody sleeping tonight.

Okay. We're in the light. Note the contrast. Over in Colossians chapter 1. Verse 12. We are to be giving thanks to the Father. Note, "who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints, where? in light. For He delivered us from the dam in of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son in whom we have redemption. So we have been taken out of the realm of darkness and placed into the realm of light. So when you talk about somebody living in the darkness, dwelling in the darkness, what are you talking about? You are talking about an unbeliever who has never left that realm—that kingdom. God does something with everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as personal Savior. He takes them out of the domain of darkness and puts them over in the domain of light. Then He expects them to function accordingly.

Look over in Ephesians. Just before Philippians. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8. Ephesians 5 verse 8. "For you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth." We were darkness. Now you are light. Now function accordingly. No question. I can't be darkness any more. I am light. Now the obligation upon me is the live accordingly. Now cone back to John. When we read this in light of these statements. And He says the one who says he is in the light. Note. He just makes a claim to be in the light. He claims to be a believer and he hates his brother. He is in the darkness until now. He never left the darkness. He continues in the darkness where he has always been. The one who loves his brother is the one who dwells in the light who has been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. The one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness. He doesn't know where he is going.
He has no spiritual perception.

The natural man cannot know the things of God. He is in spiritual darkness unable to perceive, unable to know. That's the issue here with light and darkness, the ability to perceive and know truth as well as the issue of holiness and character. I'm going to give you all I can.

Close your eyes. Everybody. Everybody got your eyes closed, It's the only time I do this. Now what do you see? Nothing. Open them up— Everybody. Easier to get you to close them than it is to open them. Now you see and see what happens with our eyes closed. With the darkness, the blindness, we don't perceive any of the details here. It's all reality but we don't see any of it. That's the way the unbeliever is.
He does not see and know the spiritual realities of God. They are true. They are genuine but he doesn't know them. So one in darkness is no relationship to God.

All right turn over to chapter 4 of I John. Just a couple of passages and then we'll conclude. I John 4 verse 7. "Beloved let us love one another for love is from God." That's where the love comes from and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Now again. You don't come into a relationship with God by loving. But one who is born of God loves. The order is crucial. Again let's say well I'm going to make an effort to be a more loving person and then I'll know God. No, you can't do it. We're talking about qualities that are a result of birth. Not a result of doing. But those who have experienced the birth will manifest the qualities. The one who does not love does not know God for God is love. See how firm and fixed the issue is. Without love you are demonstrating you don't have God's character. Therefore you do not know Him.

Jump down to verse 16. "And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love. Note—this is His character. His being. The one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. We looked at this verse with the mutual abiding. That's why a believer cannot cease to abide in God because if he did, God would cease to abide in him as well and there would be no salvation. So God is love. The one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. What is he saying? The characteristic of one who has a relationship with God is love because in that mutual abiding God is producing His character and God is love.

Now here you have a person who claims to be abiding in God. Claims to be one who is in the light, not the darkness and he hates the Christian. Do I believe his testimony? John says, NO. John says, No. But he is in the darkness. He walks in the darkness. That's where he dwells. So it is very simple.

Come back to I John just to tie it together. Verses 7 and 8. The commandments that he is talking about center in on the commandment to love which connect with what he had talked about up in verses 3 to 6. We know we have come to know Him by keeping His commandments, being obedient to Him.
The central issue of obedience to Him is loving.

Now, one who says that he belongs to God but hates, doesn't belong to God at all. And if hates his brother. The crucial issue in the manifestation of love is manifestation of love to other believers. It's the family love that is the demonstration. It's "by this shall all men know you are My disciples if you have love toward one another." So it's our dealings with one another that present the testimony to the world. And that's the crucial issue.

So here's another test. What do I think of other believers? Some people who would come to church regularly are very uncomfortable being with Christians. The fact that they were honest and say, I just plain don't like them. And for others, they would be more strong. What do they manifest? They manifest the character of an unbeliever. I must say that on this test there are some who have professed to be believers who have evidenced some fantastic doctrinal knowledge, but in their attitude in dealing with believers, I'd have to say according to what John says, they live and dwell in the darkness. That's what John says. They hate their brother. They live and dwell in darkness.
No matter what they say. So it's a test for us to evaluate ourselves.

Now I realize not all of us—we're not perfect. And we don't love every Christian in the same way. And we don't always love one another the way we should. But I take it without the presence of this characteristic of God you're manifesting the fact that you don't belong to Him at all.
Now important to understand the way this characteristic is produced in your life is by coming into a personal relationship with God. You recognize and believe that He is the One who died for your sins. You believe in Him. God takes up residence within you. You abide in Him and His character begins
to be produced.

Now as believers it's important that His character is produced. Love is a fruit of the Spirit and that says that it can and must be there regardless of what the people are like. That's the exciting thing. God tells me here that this could be the quality of my life and I can love anyone here because it doesn't depend upon you. It depends upon the work that God is doing in my life. So it becomes a matter of my relationship with God and you just become the object or the recipient of my love. But you are not the cause of it. You are not the stimulator of it in the one sense. It's a result of my relationship with God. That's why it's a test, an evidence, a manifestation of a true relationship with Him.

Let's pray together