God is Love
Download MP3Tonight's passage comes from 1st John 4. We're gonna read, verses 7 through 12. Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love God does not know God because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
Speaker 1:In this is love. Not that we have 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 ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Speaker 1:The word of the lord.
Connor Coskery:Thanks be to God. Let's pray.
Collin Hansen:Father, Son, and Spirit. Lord, we need you. Whether we know it or not, we need you. And Lord, we are thankful that in you, we we find rest, We find forgiveness. We find hope.
Collin Hansen:Lord, so many of these things that we we emphasize during the season of Advent. God, we we're just thankful. We we begin with this this word of of thankfulness that our deepest needs are are met in thee. And so, Lord, I ask that in this time, you would teach us. You give us confidence.
Collin Hansen:You give us faith. And Lord, that you would teach us to love you and to love one another. So, Lord, we dedicate this time, and we ask that you would stir our, our attention, our affections, or that we would hope in you. And we pray these things in and for the name of Jesus here and around the world. Amen.
Collin Hansen:In the nineties, the the psychologist, his name is, Dennis Simons. He he did this study, University of Illinois. And some of you might have seen it, it kind of, it got a little bit of buzz on the old YouTubes. And, it was this it was this video and, and it's, it's 6 people, 3 on 3, 3 people that have white t shirts on, 3 people that have black t shirts on, and they have 2 basketballs. And they are passing the ball, like all the, all the white team passing it to the white team members, all all the black team members, they're passing the ball.
Collin Hansen:And they're kind of weaving in and out, not in any real particular order, but just kind of a mass of, of movement. And the test is count how many times the players in white pass the ball to one another. Alright. And so you you they they begin, they start passing it, you're counting, and then the video ends and it asks how many times. The answer is 16.
Collin Hansen:I've ruined it for you. The second thing I'm going to ruin for you. About halfway through, a person in a gorilla outfit enters into the middle of the chaos, beats his chest and keeps walking. 50% of the people that watch the video don't see the gorilla. 50%.
Collin Hansen:And if you know this going in, you will not believe me. Like you will not but it's not I didn't do the test. But that do you don't believe Simons? But 50% of the people do not see a gorilla walk into the frame, beat his chest, and walk on. And so if you find the video on YouTube, you're just gonna say, surely everyone would see this.
Collin Hansen:Because it's almost like when you know it, you can't help but see it. But if you don't know that it's coming, 50% of the people didn't see the gorilla. It's it's it's called selective attention. And I I think that it's a concept that is helpful for us to remember in in the season of Advent. When there's so much busyness, and there's so many tasks, and so many things that that we have to be attentive to.
Collin Hansen:Like, otherwise your family will hate you or your, you know, something like that. Like, or or your kids will will despise you or something. You have to be attentive to certain things. Like paying attention is a really good term. That we pay attention, borrow attention.
Collin Hansen:And so we get so focused on these certain things, and then a gorilla walks through, and you don't even see it. And this is a this is a caution to us all. It's a caution to me. The first couple weeks of Advent, yeah, they're they're they're busy. But we're we're we're hitting that home stretch.
Collin Hansen:We're we're nearing the end of the Advent season, and then and then Christmas. And I think that it it's really important for us to huddle together one more time, to encourage one another one more time before many of us pack up the cars, or you get on a flight, and and we head to different places, and lots of busyness. And for us to come together to pay our attention to God's word, and to listen. And so that that is what I want us to do tonight. To direct our attention here to God's word found in John's letter.
Collin Hansen:Now this section of scripture, next to first Corinthians 13, the if I speak in tongues of men and angels but have not love. You know, the the wedding verse. Next to that, this is the other wedding verse. You know, you got the which says love a whole lot, so this should probably be in our wedding. I'm sure many of you, photographers have have grown to just hit this or or, you know, the first Corinthians 13.
Collin Hansen:It's it's one or the other that you're hearing just about every weekend. But but there's one section in particular, it's verse 8, that probably gets the most play and that is god is love. And for me, it's kind of awkward. Like it's being a a minister full time is kind of a strange it's kind of a weird thing. At dinner parties or even buy like when I bought my car, After the guy, he asked me, what do you do?
Collin Hansen:And you never wanna lie, especially when you're a minister. Like, you don't wanna lie about what you do. You can't just say I work for a nonprofit. Like, I'm a I'm a minister. I work in a church.
Collin Hansen:And the entire 4 days I got calls from the guy who's trying to sell me the car. Reverend? Really. But this is this is one of the phrases that comes up a lot whenever I talk, I meet someone. It comes up that I'm a minister.
Collin Hansen:They might say something like this, and and I bet that it's probably happened to you too. And it might be a friend or a family member or or a stranger where they say, yeah, I I I believe I believe that God is love. I don't I don't go to church or I mean, I don't I don't really do the kind of organized stuff. I don't really need the details, especially the embarrassing ones. I don't really need the details of theology or anything, but I I believe that God is love.
Collin Hansen:And I think that's enough. And somehow this false structure is set up that there's, there's theology and the details, virgin birth, resurrection, all of these things. There's the theology, but then there's the simplicity that God is love. That somehow these things aren't seriously linked together, inseparably so. A question that can be asked, and and and there are really 2 objectives that I really have, tonight.
Collin Hansen:1, that we would be stirred up to believe these things, to believe God's word, to treasure him, to worship him, and to obey him. There's that, that we would grow in faith. And the other thing is that maybe you will be encountering some of these kinds of conversations in the coming days or weeks, and that we would answer them with conviction and clarity. And so a question that comes up to me whenever someone says, well, I don't really do the whole church thing. I'm not like super Jesus or anything, but but I believe that God is love.
Collin Hansen:And I think a really important question comes up for that individual that this hypothetical individual, but also for us. And that is how do we know that God is a God of love? How do we know that God is love? And and maybe even more than that, that he directs this love to any of us? On what basis?
Collin Hansen:Because that's a pretty big claim. I believe that the the person, the being that that created all things, that holds all these things together, I believe that the fundamental characteristic of his nature is love. And more than that, that he directs it to me. That's a pretty bold statement. Where do we get that?
Collin Hansen:How can we say that with any confidence whatsoever? How do we know that God is a God of love? And I think that in the advent season that this is a very important question to ponder and it's it's a question that we as a church should answer with hope. With joy, with peace, and with love. And so tonight we we answer this question.
Collin Hansen:And I believe that it can be answered like this. We know that God is love and that his love is directed to us because in the incarnation, God's love is revealed. God's gratuitous, never ending, all consuming love is revealed. It's in the Father's sending of Jesus that shows us, it proves to us that God is love. And not only that, but his love is aimed at us, his children.
Collin Hansen:So let's look now at John's letter, chapter 4. Because he declares this truth to us tonight. Look at verse 9. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us. That god sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him.
Collin Hansen:In this, the love of God was revealed among us. John is saying that the love of God was was made manifest, made evident, revealed to us in the sending of his son into the world. This is how we know that God is love. His love was made manifest. It was put on display in the sending of Jesus.
Collin Hansen:It's good for us to remember that God was not obligated to send Jesus into the world. There were no rules or regulations or requirements that he had to send his only son. But when God so willed His love, directed His love at a ransomed people, therein He willed an obligation. At that point, when when he so desired to redeem a people, he had to send his son. And this is how we know that he is loved.
Collin Hansen:Because God so desired to bring salvation, and restoration, and his kingdom to a people, his will created obligation. And out of that desire came the necessity to send Jesus into the world. And at that point when he willed it it had to be. And he had to send him because to effectively remove sin, to deal with it, for salvation to be realized, he had to send the son. And there is a scandal in this sending.
Collin Hansen:God condescending, God humiliating himself, becoming humble, pouring himself out, setting aside his glory and authority in Heaven to become a servant, to become a child. Can we really take this in? Presbyterian theologian, Frederick Boockner, he he said this about the incarnation, the enfleshing of God. It's kind of a fast joke whereby the creator of the ends of the earth comes among us in diapers. Until we too have taken the idea of a god man so seriously enough to be scandalized by it, we have not taken it as seriously as it demands to be taken.
Collin Hansen:Until we see the scandal, until we see the humiliation that God was willing to endure in becoming a child, then maybe we're not taking it as seriously as we ought to. See, John John took this very seriously. And he saw that there was this connection that we have to make. It's not enough to just have this generic love of God, But we need something specific. And when it gets specific, it becomes scandalous.
Collin Hansen:We know that God is love because he revealed this to be true in the precise sending of his son. We cannot take the general concept of God is love and cast aside the exact way in which he has revealed this truth. The manifestation of his love is precisely in that sending of his son. And not just the sending of a a teacher, a great encourager of humanity, it's just a compassionate figure worth honoring and revering? No.
Collin Hansen:He was sent with a precise purpose. And we know that God is love because of the sending and this purpose. Verse 9 again, in this, the love of God was made manifest among us. That God sent his only son into the world, so that we might live through him. The purpose of sending Jesus is our new life through Jesus.
Collin Hansen:New life. This implies something tremendously important. God is love and he displays this love in sending his son, knowing the cruelty and the brokenness of this world. But he does this so that so that we might live through him. In life, why do we the living need life?
Collin Hansen:John uses this word life a number of times throughout his gospel. When he's quoting Jesus is saying. I'm the bread of life when he says that I'm living water. When he promises to those that would come after him those who would come to him in faith that he would give them life. And this life happens because God becomes human.
Collin Hansen:So that we then can live human lives the way that we ought, the way that we were supposed to. Listen to this quote from, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. God becomes human, really human while we endeavor to grow out of humanity to leave our human nature behind us, God becomes human And we must recognize that God wants us also to be human, but really human. See we often use terms like human nature or I'm only human as excuses for depravity selfishness just sin in general. Yet God became human he took on human nature to redeem it to make human nature and I'm only human terms of joy and delight rather than an excuse.
Collin Hansen:See, this is the way that we actually live. He comes that we would have new life through Jesus. Not just better moral lives. See when we do that, when we when we make this whole gospel truth, just a set of moral rules that we can live up to then we make the gospel just a really thing to a really easy thing to achieve. And when we make easy things for us to achieve easy goals, then life becomes like an upwards basketball game.
Collin Hansen:You know. Like it's just this, hey, you're super and I'm super. Right? Like let's just high five it guys. Like we're super.
Collin Hansen:We really are broken and we really need a redeemer And our redeemer comes to us in our humanity, not speaking down to it as a God above us just saying be better, be better, be better. He comes to make us better. He enters into our frailty, our brokenness, our cruelty, And he loves us. You might recognize some of these words that are kind of being said here in in first John chapter 4. And it might remind you of words from John's gospel in chapter 3.
Collin Hansen:Nicodemus and Jesus talking back and forth about what it means to be born again. And in that section, that's that's where that other famous verse comes where, for god so loved that he sent. See, John is remembering these words of Jesus. This isn't just a generic love, A happy liking. This is the deep love of God.
Collin Hansen:And this is repeated in verse 10. And, and in a way he kind of refines. He goes a layer deeper. Look at verse 10. In this is love.
Collin Hansen:Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. John, in refining the statement further, not only is God's love revealed in the sending of God's son, Jesus, and that he was sent with the purpose of giving us life through him. But further than that, God loves us despite us not loving him. So now we've we've arrived there are 2 implications here that I think are really important for us to note. If God sent Jesus that we would have life.
Collin Hansen:We can infer that we did not have life without him. That means that we are dead. Secondly, if God sent Jesus despite us actively not loving him, that means that we hated him. So this manifestation of God's love, this holy, perfect, unending, gratuitous love is revealed it's revealed to us precisely when we are dead and hateful towards God. That's exactly what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 2.
Collin Hansen:When he says that you were dead in your trespasses and sins, and you are by nature children of wrath and hate. And Paul makes this clear again in his letter to the Romans where he says, but God shows his love for us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. God's love is revealed specifically, intentionally, directly, purposefully. And again, John repeats the purpose of that sending. Look at the end of verse 10.
Collin Hansen:He sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Again, John is emphasizing the purpose of God, revealing his love. He sent Jesus. And the purpose of that sending is life and propitiation, which is the forgiveness, the appeasement of God's wrath, satisfaction of God's holy anger. You see because God has a right to be angry and a right to judge us, according to our sins and his love is so true so perfect, so real that it does not neglect our sins, but it deals with it.
Collin Hansen:There is a scandal in this sending. You know, we're we're kind of we're still in that fever pitch of, the war on Christmas. And and one of the things that I saw on on Fox News recently was this guy who was being interviewed about, a nativity scene that was set up in in some town square. And the the interviewer just said, what what is your ultimately, like, what's your problem with that? It's just like it's a it's a little tiny building, and then this little man and woman and little baby, and then these these guys that probably weren't even there, like kings and wise men and all that.
Collin Hansen:So, you know, what what's what's your big problem with that? And he said and the guy responded with this, do you know why Jesus came into the world? He came to die on the cross and save us
Jeffrey Heine:from our sins. Do you
Collin Hansen:have any idea how offensive that is? At least that guy took it seriously. At least when he looked at the manger, he saw that that had to do with sin, and that offended him. And perhaps until we take it that seriously, maybe we're not taking it seriously enough. And God put forth that put forth this propitiation.
Collin Hansen:This means by which his just anger and wrath would be dealt with truly in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. And that we would walk in forgiveness. Not only that, but become his children, and become citizens of the kingdom of God. These two verses, verses 9 and 10, theologian Martin Lloyd Jones said, this this is a perfect and complete synopsis of Christian theology. This this is kind of This is everything in a nutshell.
Collin Hansen:That God loves. He loves in such a way, and we know this. Not because we just value love as the highest virtue that we could share in humanity, and therefore we just wanna project that upon this being. No. We know that he is love because he sent his son.
Collin Hansen:And in Jesus, we have life through him. And that life is rooted in the forgiveness of sins. It's not a result of us loving God enough or winning his favor with our goodness or proposed goodness. It's the greatness and graciousness of God alone. This is the gospel news.
Collin Hansen:This is the good news declared by the angels who preached among men. And as complete as this synopsis is, John goes further. He goes further into the implications of this gospel news in verse 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God.
Collin Hansen:If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. Loving one another, he says. Loving one another reveals our life through Jesus and the accomplishment of God's love in sending Jesus. Our loving one another testifies. It gives evidence to God revealing his love in Jesus.
Collin Hansen:Loving one another is so directly tied to and only tied to the love of God revealed in Jesus. In our loving, which means when we utilize God's love to love one another, we see the perfect completion, the perfect working of God's love. And we proclaim the manifestation, the revelation of love itself, Jesus. Because the love with which we love one another is from God. And that tells us if we know God, and not only tells us, but it tells an unbelieving world around us.
Collin Hansen:God's love is revealed in the sending of Jesus. And the purpose of that sending is new life through Jesus. And new life in Jesus is possible by the forgiveness of sins and we declare all of this gospel truth. We declare this love when we love one another. This also can bring our minds back to Jesus saying I'm the Vine and you are the branches and he says abide in me and I will abide in you.
Collin Hansen:And how will we know that? When we obey him, when we obey his Commandments and when we love one another. And when we love the Lord our God. See we know that God is love And that God loves us because of the incarnation. When God himself took on flesh to dwell among us.
Collin Hansen:God's love is not vague or ambiguous. It is revealed. Made manifest in the baby born in the manger. And we must be very careful not to tame this revelation. And sometimes we want to.
Collin Hansen:Sometimes I want to. Because it's strange and it's wild. But he hear this from Frederick Boettner. Regarding the Christmas story, the incarnation, we have tried to make it habitable. We have roofed it and furnished it.
Collin Hansen:We have reduced it to an occasion we feel at home with. At best, a touching reminder or a touching and beautiful occasion. And at worst, a trite and cloying one. But if the Christmas event in itself is indeed a matter of cold, hard fact, If it's all that it's cracked up to be, then even our best efforts are misleading. The word became flesh.
Collin Hansen:Ultimate mystery born with a skull one could crush. Incarnation. It is not tame. It is uninhabitable terror. It is unthinkable darkness, riven with unbearable light.
Collin Hansen:Time split apart. A wrenching and tearing of the very tendons of reality itself. You can only cover your eyes and shutter before it, before this. God of God, light of light, very God of very God, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven. Came down.
Collin Hansen:Only then do we declare and uncover our eyes and see what we can see. It is the resurrection and the life that Mary holds in her arms, end quote. This is divine love. And divine love, like holiness, is wild, untamed, and completely other. And yet Jesus comes in flesh and blood.
Collin Hansen:He welcomes children. He has them sit on his lap. He feeds the hungry. He loves the unlovable. And then he takes up our cross.
Collin Hansen:He walks our road to judgment, and he lays down his life for people that he calls friend. This is ultimate mystery. An ultimate awe should follow. And so this Christmas, be reminded. Be strengthened because it's true.
Collin Hansen:God is love. And the manifestation of that love is real. And he has a name. A name to call upon. Arms to hold you.
Collin Hansen:Red blood that was spilled for your forgiveness. And he has a kingdom, which we must long for with all hope, peace, joy, and love. Worship him this Christmas. Find your deepest needs met in his love. Because love's name is Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Collin Hansen:Let's pray. Triune God, you have loved us, and your love has redeemed us. Lord, hear near the end of the advent season. Lord, please stir in our hearts, wonder and praise at your immeasurable love. Lord, your breathtaking kindness.
Collin Hansen:Jesus, meet us. Transform us. Give us life that we would love one another with your love. We pray these things in the Christ child's name, Jesus. Amen.
