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for our meditation tonight before 
the Lord's Supper, 1 John chapter 4. Our focus will be on verses 7 
to 11, but I'll begin reading in verse 1 and read the entire 
chapter. 1 John 4, beginning in verse 
1. Beloved, do not believe every 
spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because 
many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you 
know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that 
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit 
that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh 
is not of God. And this is the spirit of the 
Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already 
in the world. You are of God, little children, 
and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than 
he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore 
they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are 
of God. He who knows God hears us. He 
who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit 
of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, 
for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and 
knows God. He who does not love does not 
know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was 
manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son 
into the world, that we might live through him. In this is 
love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent 
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God 
so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has 
seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides 
in us and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we 
abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. 
And we have seen and testify that the father has sent the 
son as savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus 
is the son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we 
have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love 
and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Love has 
been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in 
the day of judgment, because as He is, so we are in this world. There is no fear in love, but 
perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. 
But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love 
him because he first loved us. If someone says, I love God and 
hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his 
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not 
seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves 
God must love his brother also. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Holy Father, we thank you for this epistle 
of John. We thank you for the truth communicated to us in this 
wonderful book, but in the Bible as a whole. We acknowledge that 
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is indeed profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction 
in righteousness. And as we study tonight, We pray 
again that our hearts would be encouraged and built up in the 
understanding of your great love for your people, and that love 
demonstrated and manifested supremely at the cross in the work of our 
Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. Again, forgive us for all sin 
and unrighteousness, and guide us now by your Holy Spirit, and 
we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we come 
to this particular section, specifically verses 7 to 11, I want to observe 
or make two observations. First, John declares that God 
is love. He says so in verse 8. And then 
secondly, John demonstrates that God is love, and he does that 
in verses 9 and 10. So there is a declaration that 
God is love, and then there is a demonstration that God is love. So we'll jump right into that 
first point, the declaration that God is love. But I want 
to first observe the context. So notice in chapter 4, verses 
7 to 8a, in terms of the exhortation, so the theology is in verse 8 
at the end, for God is love, and that theology continues in 
verses 9 and 10, the sending of the Son, and then the specific 
work of the Son. But it's couched in a context 
of exhortation. In other words, we're supposed 
to love one another. We're supposed to actually care 
about one another. We're supposed to do so in a 
manner consistent with the revelation of God Most High. So in terms 
of that exhortation, it's quite simple. Notice in verse 7, Beloved, 
let us love one another. Now, in terms of this book as 
a whole, Cam touched on this a little bit this morning in 
our confession study in chapter 27, but the central theme of 
the epistle is found at the end. If you notice in chapter 5 at 
verse 13, John does here what he does in his gospel. At the 
end of his written book, he gives us the purpose for which he writes. 
So notice in 513, these things I have written to you, who believe 
in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have 
eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name 
of the Son of God. John 20, 30, and 31. And truly, Jesus did many other 
signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written 
in this book. But these are written that you 
may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing 
in him, you may have everlasting life. So John writes the gospel 
so that we might be saved. John writes the first epistle 
so that we might know that we're saved. And the way that John 
does that is by giving us sorts of proofs or evidences that we 
truly do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So the central 
theme is found in 1 John 5, 13, but the recurring emphasis in 
the epistle. that you may know. The child 
of God obeys the commandments of God. You see that in chapters 
two and three and five. The child of God loves the truth 
of God. You see that in chapters two 
and four and five. The child of God has the spirit 
of God. You see that here in chapter 
four, verse 13. The child of God loves God. Chapter 
four, verse 19. And then again, chapter five, 
verse two. But then the child of God loves the children of 
God. So this is a means by which we 
may know that we are true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, that 
we have passed from death unto life, and that we are rightly 
connected to God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Look 
at the several emphases in this epistle. Go back to chapter 2 
at verse 9. He who says he is in the light 
and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother 
abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in 
him. And then over in chapter 3, notice 
in verses 13 to 15. Do not marvel, my brethren, if 
the world hates you. We know that we have passed from 
death to life because we love the brethren. We know that we 
have passed from death to life because we now love people we 
didn't formerly love. We didn't love the people of 
God when we were not the people of God. We made fun of them. 
We ridiculed them. We rejected them. We resisted 
them. But we know that we've passed from death unto life now 
because we love the people of God. He goes on to say, he who 
does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother 
is a murderer. And you know that no murderer 
has eternal life abiding in him. And then notice in verses 18 
and 19, My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, 
but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are 
of the truth and shall assure our hearts beforehand. And then 
our section in chapter 4 verses 7 to 11, but then it ends in 
chapter 4 verses 20 and 21. If someone says, I love God and 
hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his 
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not 
seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves 
God must love his brother also. And then drop down to chapter 
5 verses 2 and 3. By this we know that we love 
the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. 
How do we know we love each other? When we obey the commandments 
of God. Paul does the same thing in Romans 
chapter 13. And then he says, for this is 
the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments 
are not burdensome. So going back to our particular 
section in verse 7, beloved, let us love one another. It's 
an exhortation. It is encouragement. It is the 
way the people of God are supposed to live, and it works in the 
context of this entire epistle. You obey God, you love the truth, 
you've got the Spirit of God, you love brethren. This is how 
you may know that you have everlasting life. When you have these fruits, 
when you have this demonstrable proof, when you have this evidence, 
you know that God's work has been operative in your heart. 
And then notice back in verse 7, he confirms this. Notice. For love is of God. If we are communicating that 
one to another, again, there's a good sign, good affirmation 
or confirmation that we have indeed experienced the love of 
God most high. And that's the practical implication 
of the presence of brotherly love. Everyone who loves, and 
I don't think it's generic, I just sort of love, but I think it's 
conditioned by the context, and we should read it this way. Everyone 
who loves his brother is born of God and knows God. And it's 
intriguing because John emphasizes being born of God. I know that 
I've quoted B.B. Warfield with reference to this. 
There's a bit of a difference, but not difference as altogether 
different, but a different way of coming at the same truth. 
The Apostle Paul emphasized adoption as sons by Jesus Christ our Lord. John the Apostle emphasizes being 
born of God. Warfield writes, there is a corresponding 
difference in the use by Paul and John of the conception of 
childship or sonship to God. In accordance with his juridical 
point of view, Paul speaks of sonship conferred by adoption 
and thinks of our acquisition of the rights and the inheritance 
of sons. In accordance with his essential point of view, John 
speaks of childship as conveyed through birth and thinks of growing 
up into the likeness of God. Accordingly, Paul prefers the 
term sons, where adults receive by God's grace into the number 
of his sons. And John prefers the term children 
or even little children. We are born into the family of 
God as the infants of His household. This difference in the use of 
the conception of childship is not a difference of doctrine. 
It is only a difference in the illustrative use of the conception 
of childship in the setting forth of doctrine. So you're not the 
first one that's ever observed this. The apostle emphasizes, 
again, under that juridical understanding, with reference to the legality 
and inheritance of the situation, that we're the adopted sons and 
daughters of God. But John comes at it from this 
having been begotten by God. And so notice what he goes on 
to say in verse 7. Let us love one another, for 
love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God. And 
then notice that next phrase, and knows God. Now, this doesn't 
just mean that you kind of know that there's a God out there. 
Not just some cognitive understanding, but it's experiential in nature. 
The Bible makes this distinction. The Bible enforces this distinction. Man knows that God exists. The 
fool says in his heart, there is no God. But the Apostle Paul 
tells us in Romans 1, it's inescapable. He knows that God exists because 
God has made himself manifest through the created order. The 
effects lead us back to the cause so that man is rendered without 
an excuse. But just because we have this 
cognition that there is a God out there doesn't mean we know 
him. That know or that knowledge is intimate. That know or knowledge 
is encouraged by God to the people of God. We see it in Jeremiah 
chapter 31. We see it as a promise or feature 
of the new covenant. They shall all know me from the 
least of them to the greatest of them. Not just that he's out 
there, but they will know him savingly. That great statement 
in Jeremiah the prophet in chapter 9, let not the wise man boast 
of his wisdom, or the rich man boast of his riches, or the strong 
man boast of his strength, but rather let him who boasts, boasts 
in this, that he knows me. The apostle Paul appeals to that 
passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 30 and 31. In the high priestly 
prayer of our Lord Jesus, he prays that this is eternal life, 
that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
whom thou hast sent. And so the knowledge in verse 
7, again, it's not cognition. There's a God out there, but 
it's experiential. It's experimental. This has become 
a reality and a feature in our lives. We know God. And then 
notice, he ends this particular section with condemnation. So 
verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. 
And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who 
does not love, again, we should supply his brother, because that's 
the context. He who does not love his brother 
does not know God. Pretty simple logic, isn't it? 
If you know God, the God of love, then you will reflect that in 
the way that you deal with one another. If you know this God 
savingly, then you will, albeit imperfectly, love the people 
of God that bear His image and that bear His stamp. It is that 
blessed reality that John is encouraging us to. But now notice 
the way that he appeals with reference to the cultivation 
of this love one for another. He turns to this declaration 
at the end of verse 8. He says, for God is love. Now the for gives us the reason 
or the rationale or the justification for his statement in verses 7 
and 8a. And so he says, for God is love. There is a practical 
emphasis back in chapter 3. You can turn there again. Notice 
in verse 14, we know that we have passed from death to life 
because we love the brethren. That's the practical fruit, the 
practical consequence. practical effect of the result 
of us having passed from death unto life because we love the 
brethren. He does the same thing in chapter 4 verses 20 and 21. If someone says, I love God and 
hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his 
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not 
seen? Well, here the emphasis is theological. He who does not love does not 
know God, for God is love. John is trafficking now in theology. He is pointing us to truth about 
God as the foundation for this exhortation that we love one 
another. Now, it's just here that people 
say, well, you know, theology, that's for pastors, that's for 
seminary students, that's for people that have a little extra 
time on their hands. Brethren, you're all theologians. 
Every single one of you. You're either a good one or you're 
a bad one. And that's the reality that the 
Bible speaks to us. Everybody's a theologian. Everybody has thoughts of God. 
They're either good and proper and biblical thoughts or they're 
not. And so don't say, well, I don't want that theology. I'll 
just listen and do my thing and just sort of sway back and forth 
and love Jesus. We're not going to sway back 
and forth and love Jesus without theology. So notice what John 
says here in terms of who God is. God is love. And I want to suggest that John 
is making a distinction here between God and man. He makes 
a distinction between God and man. The fact of the matter is 
that man has the capacity to love, but man also has a capacity 
not to love. You can never say that man is 
love, can you? You should be shaking your head. 
No, I can't ever say that man is definitionally love. So there's a distinction between 
God the creator and man the creature. Man can love, man does love, 
man should love more, man loves inconsistently, man loves at 
times the best that he can. But with reference to God most 
high, God is love. The fact here is that John asserts 
that God is his perfections. As the older theologians would 
say, all that is in God is God. God's not made up of parts. God's 
not put together of a few sort of elements, and that produces 
God. I heard someone in the past week 
make a very reckless statement concerning who God is. This particular 
individual says God is made up of three parts. That, my brothers 
and sisters, is heresy. First of all, God is not made. He is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the creator. There's nothing 
outside of God that made God. But as well, He's not made up 
of three parts. 33 and a third percent of the 
Father, 33 and a third percent of the Son, and 33 and a third 
percent of the Spirit. That is not the Christian doctrine 
of the Trinity. All that is in God is God. There is one divine and infinite 
being who exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit. What John is alluding to, though 
the theology doesn't get to the particular point, he is referring 
to the fact that God is without parts. In the history of theology, 
that has been known as the doctrine of divine simplicity. By simplicity, 
I don't mean that this is necessarily easy to understand. Simplicity, 
or a simple being, simply means somebody, simply means, ah, there 
you go, Isaac, simply means that they're not composed of parts. They're not put together. If 
that were the case with God, there would be something more 
ultimate than God. It was out there prior, and it 
somehow found itself together, and thus God began. No, God is 
love. God is His perfections. All that is in God is God. Listen 
to our confession of faith at this point. 2nd London Confession, 
chapter 2, paragraph 1. The Lord our God is but one only, 
living and true God, whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite 
in being and perfection, whose essence cannot be comprehended 
by any but himself. That doesn't mean we can't know 
true things about God. We have about 31,000 propositions 
in the Bible that teach us about God. There is this doctrine of 
incomprehensibility, and that simply means that the creature 
can never fully exhaust the creator. And that's what the divines mean 
here. Whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself. 
A most pure spirit. The older theologians refer to 
this as actus purus. That means there's no potential 
in God. There's not becoming in God. There's no growth in 
God. There's no getting better for 
God. Because he's infinitely perfect already. There's no decrease 
in God either. He is a most pure spirit. It 
goes on to say invisible and then without body. Jesus teaches 
us in John 4.24 that God is spirit. The children's catechism says, 
and he does not have a body like men. And then it says without 
parts. This is the doctrine of divine 
simplicity. God is. It's not that God is 
made up of. God is made up of three parts. He's without parts. He's without 
passions. That means there's no fluctuation 
in God. It means He cannot be prevailed 
upon. He doesn't move from one state 
to another. And then it says, who only hath immortality dwelling 
in the light which no man can approach unto, who is immutable, 
that means unchangeable, immense, that means he fills all things, 
eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, 
most wise, most free, most absolute, working all things according 
to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will for his 
own glory. It continues, most loving, gracious, 
merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving 
iniquity, transgression, and sin, the rewarder of them that 
diligently seek him, and with all, most just and terrible in 
his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear 
the guilty. It's a wonderful doctrinal statement concerning 
theology proper or who God is. But that emphasis on most loving, 
Can you describe any man, any creature, any woman that way? 
They're most loving. I mean, in a moment of recklessness 
or perhaps in a metaphorical sense, well, that person is most 
loving. You don't mean by that what the confession and what 
the Bible means concerning God. Most loving. There's no increase. 
He can't get more loving towards you. There's no decrease either. 
He can't get less loving towards you. He is most loving. God is love. Remember when Moses 
said, who shall I say sent me? God says, I am who I am. That 
is profound. He is from everlasting to everlasting. He is without body, without parts, 
without passions. He is great and glorious and 
wondrous. He is most high. He is most loving. He is most wondrous, most excellent, 
and most awesome. So John says you ought to love 
one another because God is love. and reflecting upon that reality 
in a real practical way, brethren, how is it the case that we're 
not loving toward one another? How is it the case that we don't 
express that affection for one another? Now, there's not the 
case where we're all going to be as close as we could possibly 
be to everyone. There ought to be that disposition 
or that characteristic of our hearts wherein we love the people 
of God. And when we look through the 
New Testament, there's all these emphases on one another's, be 
kindly affectionate to one another, be hospitable to one another 
without complaint, love one another. There's all these things wherein 
the people of God are to flesh out their true religion. And 
in the arena or context of the local church, this is a wonderful 
place for us to display that particular attribute, that particular 
virtue, that particular perfection. Now, that's the declaration that 
God is love. He repeats it, incidentally, 
down in verse 16. God is love, and he who abides 
in love abides in God, and God in him. Let's look at the demonstration 
that God is love in verses 9 and 10. And he does two things here. 
First, he highlights the mission of the Son in verse 9, and then 
secondly, the work of the Son in verse 10. But notice, with 
reference to the mission of the Son, So verse nine, it says, 
in this, the love of God was manifested toward us. Now the 
apostles don't just make statements. They don't just sort of supply 
data or information, but they confirm it. They prove it. They demonstrate it. It's kind 
of like the man who says, honey, I love you, and then he's vicious 
to her. He's vile to her, or he's mean 
to her, or the woman, conversely. Women aren't perfect. I don't 
want to burst anybody's bubbles, but they can be quite wretched 
in a marriage relationship, too. Just something to think about. 
She may say, I love you, honey, but then live like a wretch toward 
her man. Talk is cheap, as they say, right? There ought to be a demonstration. There ought to be proof. The 
proof is in the pudding. There ought to be a manifestation, 
and that's what John says here. Notice, God is love. Well, how do we know that? Verse 
9, in this the love of God was manifested toward us. This is 
similar to what John does in his gospel. John 3, 16. For God 
so loved the world that He did what? He gave His only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life. Paul does this in Romans 5, 8. 
God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were 
still sinners, Christ died for us. So whoever asks the question, 
well, what's the proof that God is love? We can look around you. He made this world that displays 
his wisdom, it displays his power, and it displays his goodness. 
So does providence. But in redemption, you see that 
love vividly displayed. And so John tells us it's not 
just the case that God is love, but this is the way that God 
has manifested that love. And then notice he explains in 
further detail. So verse nine, in this, the love 
of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only 
begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Again, 
John 3.16. John isn't doing something brand 
new here. John's gospel, he wants you to 
believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And in 1 John, he wants 
you to know that you've believed that Jesus is the Son of God 
and God is love. And the demonstration or manifestation 
of God's love is that he sent his Son into this world. But 
notice the way that he describes this, that God has sent his only 
begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. The 
Son is only begotten. That underscores what theologians 
call the eternal relation of origin. In this divine and infinite 
being, there are three persons, or subsistences, and they are 
distinguished by these properties. The Father is unbegotten, the 
Son is begotten by the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from 
the Father and the Son. That's what distinguishes the 
persons of the Godhead. Brethren, we are not modalists, 
we are not Sabellians, we are not heretics, at the point of 
the three persons of the Godhead. And so, when we see this language 
of Only Begotten Son, in the first place, we ought to retain 
it in our translations. I'm not going to pick on the 
ESV tonight, but the ESV gets rid of Only Begotten. And this 
is something that the church, I guess I just picked on the 
ESV, sorry about that, but this is language that does theological 
labor. there is distinction between 
the persons of the Godhead in this divine and infinite being. So God is one at the level of 
essence or substance, but with reference to person, there are 
three persons in the Godhead. So one in one sense and three 
in another sense. And so this language of only 
begotten of the Father illustrates biblical Trinitarian truth that 
we should not jettison. We should not get rid of it. 
We should hold onto it tenaciously because it serves to function 
as a distinction between the Father and the Son. You see it 
in John 1. In the beginning was the Word. 
The Word was with God. That's distinction. The Son is 
with the Father and the Word was God. That's the sameness 
in terms of divine essence. And then dropping down to verse 
14 in John 1, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and 
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father, full of grace and truth. And then dropping down to John 
1 18, no one has seen God at any time, but the only begotten 
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. This is language that does theological 
work, and it's language that is precious and ought to be confessed 
and held on to by the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He 
is indeed God from God, light from light, true God from true 
God. And it's typically at this place 
and dealing with only begottenness of the son, I quote Gregory of 
Nazianzus. He says, the begetting of God 
must be honored by silence. It is a great thing for you to 
learn that he was begotten. But the manner of his generation, 
we will not admit that even angels can conceive, much less you. 
So here's the way we approach it. Well, I don't understand. 
Okay, then I guess it must be false. I don't get it. Well, okay, I guess we can toss 
it out. I just can't see it. Well, okay, 
let's just, you know, re-alter and rework the creedal confessional 
foundation of the church because you don't quite get it. Brethren, 
none of us get eternal generation. God from God, light from light, 
true God from true God, from all eternity. The creature can't 
wrap its mind around Creator, remember, whose essence is comprehended 
by himself alone. The finite can't get its mind 
wrapped around the infinite. But what Gregory says is that 
it's taught in Scripture. We confess that it's taught in 
Scripture. We hold on to it because it's 
taught in Scripture, even if we, as the finite, can't fully 
plumb the depths of the infinite. He goes on to say, shall I tell 
you how it was? It was in a manner known to the 
father who begat and to the son who was begotten. Anything more 
than this is hidden by a cloud and escapes your dim sight. I think that's a good place for 
us to land relative to our explanation of the Only Begotten Son. It 
distinguishes him from the Father, maintains the doctrine of the 
Trinity, but in terms of the nuts and bolts and the logistics, 
it's kind of like when they investigate the blind man. Well, how did 
he make you see? I don't know. He put mud on my 
eyes and he told me to go wash at the pool with Siloam and I 
did it and I can see. Well, brethren, as I tried to 
point out, I don't think there was any magical conveyed by the 
mud on his eyes or the pool of Siloam. It was a sign, it was 
a metaphor, it was a representative, it was something for that man 
to do, but it was the power of God Most High working through 
our blessed Savior to give this man physical sight. So then notice 
what it goes on to say in verse nine. In this, the love of God 
was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten 
Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Now this, that 
we might live through him, is a general statement. He's gonna 
get real particular in verse 10 when he talks about propitiation. 
And we're gonna get to there in just a moment. But this general 
statement is that we might live through him. Why does Jesus come 
into this world? So that we might live through 
him. Is that a blessed reality? What's the assumption there? 
We were dead in our trespasses and sins. He uses that language 
in 314. We know that we've passed from 
death to life when we have love for the brethren. Paul in Ephesians 
2 verses 1 to 3 says that you being dead in your trespasses 
and sins, so physically alive but dead spiritually, liable 
to eternal judgment, eternal death, And yet Christ has come 
in order that we, through his life, through his death and resurrection, 
might have everlasting life. It is stupendous, it is glorious, 
it is wondrous. And something else you ought 
to recognize in this particular passage, where he's highlighting 
that God is love, how is that love manifested or demonstrated? 
In the sending of his son. There's this popular notion out 
there in Christianity that comes up once in a while. Kind of like 
this, oh, the Old Testament, you know, the God of wrath and 
judgment and fury and destruction. And now we've got the God in 
the New Testament whose love and kindness and gentleness and 
goodness and all the things that we love. Brethren, the Son did 
not come to procure the love of God. The Son comes as a manifestation 
of the love of God. The Son doesn't come to make 
the Father love us. The Son comes because the Father 
does love us. It's most glorious and wondrous 
and precious. The Son doesn't come to do what 
He does to turn the Father from one place to another relative 
to us. The Son comes as the revelation, 
the grand demonstration, the supreme manifestation that God 
so loved the world. So this is the expression that 
John gives here of that love, that he sent his only begotten 
Son into the world that we might live through him. And again, 
this concept of living through our Lord Jesus Christ. The wages 
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal. What? Life. through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Again, John 3, 16, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life. 2 Corinthians 5, 14, and 15, 
Christ died for all, so that we who lived for ourselves no 
longer live for ourselves, but for him who loved us and who 
died for us. And then in Ephesians 2, verse 
5, he made us alive. through what Christ has accomplished. 
He's made us alive. So that's a general statement 
in terms of the benefits of God's redeeming work with reference 
to the Son of God. Now notice, he goes on specifically 
to detail a given aspect of that work of the Son. Notice in verse 
10. I know that we're kind of walking 
through this. It's a very densely and tightly packed bit of theology 
that I think bears our investigation. I think that hopefully it's an 
encouragement to you to see this and the argument in terms of 
the bigger context. You should love one another. 
You shouldn't be unkind to your brothers and sisters. You shouldn't 
be, you know, a jerk for Jesus. You should be those who love 
the people of God. Why? Because God is love. And that love is demonstrated 
in the mission of the son. He sent his son into this world 
so that we might have life through him. But then that work of the 
son that is particularly revealed here in verse 10. So notice, 
he says, in this is love, not that we love God. He's not talking 
about that right here. He's not talking about that right 
now. In this is love, not that we loved God. That's not the 
amazing thing in Scripture. Okay, we need to disenfranchise 
ourselves of that notion. What an amazing thing that you 
love God the way you do. No, I mean that's great. I'm 
not gonna say don't love God. It's a horrible thing. Don't 
let no, of course It's a it's a great thing, but that's not 
what's celebratory in the scriptures You sometimes hear the gospel 
presented and then people say yeah, okay now now accept Jesus 
into your heart just Just let him in. Just open that door and 
let him in. Accept Jesus into your heart. The glory of the 
gospel is not that sinners accept Jesus into their heart. The glory 
of the gospel is that God is in Christ, reconciling the world 
to himself. The glory of the gospel is not 
that we loved him. The glory of the gospel is that 
he loved us and that he sent his only begotten son into this 
world on a mission to give us life eternal. That's what John's 
celebrating. He's not celebrating the effect. He's not celebrating the consequence. 
He's celebrating the cause in this is love. Not that we love 
God. Again, let's look at the passage. Let's examine. The exhortation 
was for us to love one another, verse 7a. The origin of that 
love is divine, verse 7b. The demonstration of that love 
indicates one is born of God and knows Him, verse 7c. The 
nature of love is rooted in God who is love, 8b. The revelation 
of that love is seen in the mission of the sun, verse 9. And the 
beauty of that love is celebrated in the work of the sun, and we'll 
see that in just a moment in 10b. But look at that one more 
time, in this is love, not that we love God. There's a corresponding 
statement there in verse 19. Look at chapter 4, verse 19. 
We love Him because He first loved us. And if you want to 
put your finger there and turn back to Galatians 4 for just 
a moment, two concepts that John is trafficking in with reference 
to this section is loving God and knowing God. Well, notice 
what Paul does in Galatians 4.9, but now after you have known 
God, or rather are known by God. Again, the celebratory fact isn't 
that you know God. Not that it's a bad thing, and 
again, it's a good thing. The celebratory fact is that God 
has known you. that He chose us in Him before 
the foundation of the world, that He predestinated us unto 
adoption as sons, and in love He did this for His glory. So 
when we go back to 1 John 4, 9, We have this love because 
He first loved us. We have this knowledge of Him 
because He first knew us. Our love to God and our knowledge 
of God are not the cause of His love for us and knowledge of 
us. It is rather His love for us 
and His knowledge of us that is the cause of our love and 
knowledge of Him. Listen to John Gill. Not that 
we loved God. The love of God is antecedent. 
That means it comes before. The love of God is antecedent 
to the love of His people. It was when theirs was not. So you've got to think about 
what he's saying here. You've got to think about what John 
is trafficking at. Not when they were without love 
to him, yea, enemies in their minds, by wicked works, and even 
enmity itself, and therefore was not procured by theirs. But 
on the contrary, their love to him is caused by his love to 
them. Hence his love and a continuance in it do not depend on theirs. 
Nor does it vary according to theirs. Wherefore, there is good 
reason to believe it will continue and never be removed. And this 
shows the sovereignty and freeness of the love of God, and that 
it is surprising and matchless." Oh, that we'd have that surprising 
and matchless approach to the great love of God that is displayed 
in a passage like this. God is love. not just a bare 
statement, a declaration, and then there is proof in the sending 
of the Son, and in particular, the work of the Son, and it's 
that work that we see there in verse 10b. In this is love, not 
that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to 
be the propitiation for our sins. Again, it's at this point that 
people say, you know, I don't know that word. I don't usually 
work with that word. It's not a word that's in my 
vocabulary. So I'm going to tune out for the next three minutes. 
First of all, it's not going to take me three minutes, probably 
more like seven minutes. Second of all, you should really 
want to know what propitiation means. When you look at the redemptive 
passages in the Holy Scriptures, you see all these words used. 
You see words like reconciliation. You see words like redemption. You see propitiation, expiation, 
satisfaction. You see the word atonement. It's 
all looking at the glory of the cross from different angles. It's kind of like having a diamond 
and sort of lifting it up and looking at it in the sunlight 
and giving it a turn here and there. I don't know anybody who 
has diamonds quite like that. We should do that. So you look 
at the diamonds, and it's multifaceted. It's the same diamond, but you 
see the luster and the beauty and the glory of it from different 
angles when the light hits it in such a way. Well, that's what 
the New Testament authors do. That's what the Old Testament 
authors do. They give us the luster of God's work for us, 
or God's grace toward us. They show us, they display it 
for us, and this word, propitiation, is most wonderful. The basic 
meaning is a sacrifice which turns aside God's wrath, taking 
away sin. That's the basic, foundational, 
fundamental meaning. A sacrifice which turns aside 
God's wrath, taking away sin. Now, the assumption with reference 
to propitiation is God's wrath. We wouldn't need propitiation 
if God was not wrathful toward us. But we see in Romans 118, 
for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men. Who do what? They suppress the 
truth of God in unrighteousness. They know God exists, but they 
deny Him. They exchange the glory of the 
Creator God with that which is created. And then in Ephesians 
2, verse 3, the apostle describes men before the cross, or men 
outside of Christ, as children of wrath by nature. And so the assumption behind 
the use of propitiation is that God has wrath toward people because 
of their sin. Now, the necessity of propitiation 
is seen in this. God's wrath must be spent. God's wrath must be expressed. God's wrath doesn't just get 
suspended sort of out there, but enter the surety of a better 
covenant. Enter the God-man, the one who 
assumed our humanity with all the essential properties and 
the common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin. See, we 
need His death on the cross. We need that propitiation. He 
doesn't simply deflect the wrath of God from hitting us, but He 
Himself takes the wrath of God on our behalf. There are several 
other places in the New Testament where the apostles use this language 
of propitiation, as it stands here. There's other forms. For 
instance, Luke 18.13. When that man can't look to heaven 
and he beats his breast, he says, God, be propitious to me. He understands that he's a sinner. 
He understands that God is holy and he understands that God has 
wrath for him. So that's a good petition. We 
translate it, God be merciful to me, the sinner, but it's literally 
God be propitious to me. Now turn to Romans chapter three. 
Romans chapter 3, just to see a couple instances where, or 
the other instances where this word is used, and it's in the 
same sort of context. Wrath of God. Romans 3, and there 
is a contrast between 1 and 3. So in 118, I've already cited 
that, or I've already quoted that. For the wrath of God is 
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of man. So there's the revelation of 
God's wrath according to verse 18 in chapter 1. Why is that? Again, man knows God, but he 
denies Him. The Gentiles in chapter 1, those 
outside the oracles of God, are wretched. They're filthy. They're 
disgusting. They're vile. They transgress 
God's law. But the Jews are no better. When 
he gets to chapter 2, he points his finger at them. He says, 
you're no better. You've received the oracles, 
and yet you still continue to rebel against God. In chapter 
3, he reaches back to the Old Testament to make his case, to 
corroborate. to emphasize that apart from 
God's grace, all man everywhere is liable to God's just wrath 
and fury. So the revelation of God's wrath 
in chapter 118, but then notice the revelation of God's righteousness 
in chapter three, verse 21. But now, he says, here's the 
contrast, wrath revealed, chapter 1, verse 18, now the righteousness 
of God apart from the law is revealed. Now, righteousness 
in the context, I don't want to spend a lot of time here, 
but it's that which God demands and that which God supplies. 
But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, 
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness 
of God, through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who 
believe. But there is no difference, for 
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified 
freely by His grace, now notice, through the redemption that is 
in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth. Remember, Jesus doesn't 
procure the God of love, but Jesus manifests God's love. God set forth Jesus as a propitiation 
by his blood through faith, notice, to demonstrate his righteousness. Not His mercy, His kindness, 
His grace. Oh yeah, those things too. But 
Paul has a specific point in view. Paul wants to show that 
the gospel vindicates God. That in the gospel, God doesn't 
compromise His holiness. God doesn't compromise His righteousness. God doesn't just sort of look 
the other way relative to our sin. No, Christ stands in our 
place. Christ receives in himself the 
penalty that is due for us. We speak of substitutionary atonement. It means just that. Christ took 
our place to satisfy divine justice. And so Paul highlights that, 
to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance God 
had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to 
demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, and then notice 
the endgame in verse 26, that he might be just and the justifier 
of the one who has faith in Jesus. The gospel is airtight. It's 
foolproof. There's no chinks in the armor. 
You can't say, well, you know, if God receives these wretches 
into his own favor, that must mean he compromised his law. 
No, he didn't. Jesus fulfilled that law. That 
must mean that he compromised in this particular... No, he's 
just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Turn 
to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter two, a passage where 
again, we see this emphasis on propitiation. It's a wonderful 
gospel word that we ought to find great encouragement from. 
The Lord God reveals his wrath toward people like us. He's also 
revealed his righteousness through our Lord Jesus Christ and the 
salvation wrought by him. 2.17. Therefore, in all things, 
he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and 
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, notice, to 
make propitiation for the sins of the people. Propitiation. Christ took the wrath and fury 
of God and satisfied divine justice for us. Brethren, this is the 
place where we get an amen here. This is beautiful. You understand 
that, right? This means, you know, when Jesus 
cries on the cross, you know, my God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me? You and I are never gonna have to cry that cry. And 
if we did, there's a billion reasons why He should forsake 
us, because we've transgressed His law ad nauseam. And yet, because of what Christ 
does at the cross, not just deflecting the wrath, but taking the wrath 
and thus satisfying divine justice. I kind of like the older theologians 
and their nomenclature. Instead of atonement, that's 
where we sort of emphasize, and atonement's a good biblical word 
and we should emphasize that, they often spoke of satisfaction. Satisfaction, the satisfaction 
of God's justice. This is the propitiation wrought 
by Jesus. He went to that cross not because 
of his sins, not because of his crimes, not because of his misdeeds. He went there for hours. 2 Corinthians 
5.21, Paul says, God made him Christ, who knew no... not made 
him Christ, but God made him, and I'm defining him there as 
Christ, God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. That doesn't mean he's morally 
compromised, that doesn't mean he actually sins, but it's through 
imputation. Our sin is heaped upon the Savior. God made him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God 
in him. Our sin heaped upon the Savior and punished. His righteousness 
heaped upon the sinner and blessed. It is beautiful. The gospel is 
glorious. It is wondrous. Don't ever say, 
I don't want to hear all these different words. Study these 
words. Fill your heart and mind with 
these words. These words are like freight 
trains carrying good things to your soul. And if we jettison 
that, if we get rid of the theological enterprise, yes, there's goodness 
to be found in Scripture, but we don't get all of the richness. 
We don't get to hold that diamond up and see it from the various 
angles and go, wow, that's amazing. And then again, 1 John 4 we see, 
but go back to 1 John 2, another place where we see propitiation. 1 John 2 specifically in verse, 
well, we'll read verse one. My little children, these things 
I write to you so that you may not sin. That's why John writes, 
he doesn't want you to sin. Great expression of his apostolic 
ministry. I'm writing to you so that you 
may not sin. We need scripture so that we 
may not sin. What does the psalmist say in Psalm 119? I think it's 
verse nine. Thy word I've hidden in my heart. 
Why? Because I get awards at Awana? I'm not saying that's 
bad. Get awards at Awana. But thy 
word I've hidden in my heart that I might not sin against 
thee. Right? We hide the word of God 
in our hearts so that we might not sin against thee. Why does 
John write? So that you may not sin. But 
John knows the doctrine of remaining sin. That's why he says, and 
if anyone sins, which is going to be an inevitability. And if 
anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, 
and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. And by that, 
I do not believe he means all men without exception. He means 
all men without distinction. He means men from every tribe 
and tongue and people and nation. He means various ethnicities, 
various people groups, not for our sins, but for the sins of 
the whole world. If propitiation is applied to 
the entirety of the world, then everybody's going to be saved. 
But the Bible does not teach that. The Bible does not teach 
universalism. John specifically is the theologian 
of the cosmos. Jesus was in the world or Jesus 
made the world. He was in the world and the world 
did not know him. He uses world in John 1, three 
different ways. Revelation 5, I think he has 
the best explanation of what he means by the world. Men from 
every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. John 4, 42, what 
happens when the gospel comes to the Samaritans? They confess 
that Jesus is the Savior of what? The Savior of the world. They 
don't mean all men without exception. They mean Samaritans alongside 
of the Jews. They mean Gentiles alongside 
of the Jews. We've seen that in our studies 
in Ephesians 2 and 3. It's not the case that we have 
two separate peoples of God. We have one people of God, Jew 
and Gentile, that are one new man under Jesus Christ our Lord. 
So in conclusion, with reference to this particular section of 
Scripture, he doesn't just assert that God is love or declare that, 
but he demonstrates it in the sending of the Son and in the 
work of the Son in terms of propitiation. And then to conclude this brief 
section of the Epistle, he says, if God so loved us, we also ought 
to love one another. We also ought to love one another. 
In other words, when we say, I love you, there ought to be 
demonstrable proof of that. It doesn't mean you have to hand 
flowers every single time you say it, or chocolates, or whatever 
it is your other likes. Well, I'm going to bring you 
a goat, and that's really going to demonstrate my love for you. 
That's a good demonstration. But that's not the only way. 
This demonstrable proof that we love the people of God. When 
you look at the love of God for His people, you don't have to 
kind of scratch your head and say, I don't know what he means. 
I don't know what he's talking about. Again, we know specifically what 
he's talking about in the mission of the Son and in the work of 
the Son. And in terms of theological emphasis, 
we see the nature of God here. God is love. But God is righteousness. God is holiness. And again, these 
aren't so many parts that make up our God. God is His perfections. All that is in God is God. That without parts in our confession, 
secures that understanding. The manifestation of the love 
of God, He sends His only begotten Son into the world, and the mission 
of the only begotten Son of God emphasizes that love. He bears 
the punishment that was for us on that cross so that you and 
I not only might have life, but we might have it abundantly. 
Well, brethren, I hope that this has been an encouragement. I 
hope that your hearts are filled with love back to God, and hopefully 
with love toward one another. Because we've got this vertical 
emphasis in Scripture in terms of the supper, but there's a 
horizontal emphasis in terms of the supper as well. We do 
this as a church. As often as you eat this bread 
and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 
And you do it corporately, you do it as the gathered people 
of God, and you do it with love to Him and with love to one another. Well, let us pray. Our gracious 
God and Father, we thank you for your holy word. We thank 
you for this wonderful section of scripture where it tells us 
what you are, who you are. It shows us that this is in fact 
the case and we rejoice in the sending of the only begotten 
son into this world. We thank you that we have life 
through him. We thank you for this doctrine of propitiation 
that we will not taste the wrath and fury and judgment of God 
because Christ already took it on our behalf. May this cause 
us to rejoice and to praise and to worship and to glorify your 
great and awesome name. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. We can turn back in your 
Bibles to Matthew chapter 26.