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Title: Perfect Love, Part One
We have now been in the book of 1st John for 11 months. I preached the first sermon on I John on last November 23rd, just after the Thanksgiving holiday. So after a year in 1st John you may have picked up on the fact that one of the major recurring themes in this book is “Love.”
In fact, chapter four seems to be almost a stream of consciousness about the idea of rightly understanding love. God’s love for us, our love for God, our love for each other, even our love for our enemies.
And today, we find ourselves again dealing with the topic of love. But also today, different from previous lessons on love, John is dealing with what he calls “Perfect Love.” And I think, for the purposes of today’s lesson, I should begin by explaining what I believe “perfect love” is.
I. What is Perfect Love?
- Perfect Love is progressive, not instant.
- Perfect Love is the result of Sanctification (being made more Christ Like) over the course of our walk with Jesus.
- Some of the benefits of Perfect Love are received instantly, others take place over time.
So we are going to spend a couple weeks looking at this concept of “Perfect Love” that we may understand what it is, how it applies to our faith, and what we can expect as a result of perfect love.
- Boldness in the Day of Judgement
The first thing that John tells us about perfect love is that it grants us boldness in the day of judgement. What exactly does this mean?
Any ideas? (take answers)
Simply put, I believe John is talking about having an assurance of our standing with God. We don’t fear judgement because we know that we have been made acceptable before a holy God, not by our own merit or discipline but by our faith, our belief in the Son who’s blood covers our sin.
Now, I want us to be careful to understand that “boldness” is not “brashness”. We are not cocky about our faith, for as Paul teaches us we are to only boast in Christ Jesus and him crucified. But the idea is that we face the inevitability of judgement knowing we will be confirmed.
How many of your, at some point in your lifetime have had a really, really difficult teacher, either in high school or college? (show of hands)
And in that class, how many of you dreaded tests?
I remember talking over the summer with Nick Belanco shortly after he took the MCAT, which is the SAT for Medical School. Essentially, if you don’t do well on the MCAT, you don’t get into Med School, so it’s a pretty big deal. Well Nick was telling me at lunch this past summer, about a week after taking the MCAT that he really wasn’t sure how he did. He felt he did well, but he didn’t know for sure.
Conversely, at Ashland Christian School, we have an online grade book. Even on the day I give tests, I usually have them graded, and the grades posted to the website by 5PM that night. I always know the next day, as the kids are filing into their seats, which kids looked online the night before to check their grades, and which kids did not.
The kids who are twitching and nervous, they didn’t want to see what they got. The kids who have a disappointed, but peaceful look about them, they looked, were disappointed with their performance, but they were not surprised when I handed them back their test. The kids who were as relaxed as could be…they looked, saw they did well, and had nothing to fear coming to class the next day.
Mike Ringler, what does Paul tell us to do in Phillippians 2:12? (Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.)
And what does that mean? It means to confirm your grade. Don’t live in ignorance, not knowing what will happen to you at judgment. Don’t live in arrogance or brashness, assuming you are right with God, but check your grade online. See how you are doing BEFORE you arrive at judgment.
We ought not to fear judgment. There is nothing to be feared.
- Why boldness?
John then goes on to explain why we may have boldness in the day of judgement. He says “because as He is, so are we in this world.”
Well, what exactly, does that mean?
“Though not like Christ in the completeness of our obedience, we are like Him in our basic orientation, and stand out as He did by contrast with the world at large.”
-J.I. Packer
Also consider John 17:16, as Jesus is praying in the garden for his disciples.
“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
(Story of missionary couple returning from Africa on a plane…”we’re not home yet..)
Essentially, John’s point is this: We don’t belong here. This is not our home. We will be going home soon.
We belong to Christ. A time is coming when he will call us home. We have nothing to fear in that moment because our hearts should confirm everything that we’ve confessed about God. Next week we will get into some more reasons why we should be comforted (namely because God chose us in Love before we chose him), but for today, know this: You are allowed to be comfortable with your own mortality. For the world, that is a terrifying end, but for us, it is the greatest of beginnings.