We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John 4:19-21

If I asked you “Do you love Jesus”? Many of you might say “Yes” or if I ask you “Are you a Christian”? Many of you would say “Yes”, but why? Why do you love Jesus? Why are you a Christian at all? Well the scripture is clear, we love Jesus because He loved us first! This is the amazing love of God, that he pursued us first , before we had any care for God whatsoever. It’s by the love of Christ you are saved, not by ourselves.

As the Apostle Paul said “God demonstrated His love towards us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) I want you to really meditate upon what was just said there, while we still hated God, while we were still dead in our sins, Christ already willingly laid down his life to pay for our sins, God demonstrated His love towards us, He loved us first before we could even possibly have loved Him. That’s the amazing love and grace of God!

Now Jesus summed up The Law by saying “Love God and Love Your Neighbor”this is the fulfillment of The Law(Matthew 22, Mark 12) If you truly love God, because He loved you first, you must also love your neighbor as yourself, otherwise you are a liar and a hypocrite. Notice what the Apostle John says here “If a man says I love God, and hates his brother, he is liar” You can’t say you are a Christian and hate the Church, you can’t say you love Christ and hate this person and that person, the Holy Spirit is not within you.

Your question is “Why should I love my neighbor”? Your neighbor might not “love” you, in fact your neighbor might hate and persecute you. But remember we love because Christ loved us first. We don’t deserve the love of God but He loves us anyway, we don’t deserve the grace and mercy of God, but he gave it to us anyway. The same, your neighbor might not deserve to be loved, but love them anyway because Christ has loved us first. As Jesus said “Love your enemies and bless those who curse you” (Matthew 5:44)

As the Apostle John said “He who loves God, must love his brother also” Did you forget that you were dead in your sins when Christ brought you back to life? Did you forget you were the prodigal son living with the pigs, until the Father called you home? We love because Christ has loved us first, Amen!

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:17-18

The world wants you to live in a constant state of fear! If you don’t believe me just turn on the news, read the articles that are being posted by the media, look at what is being said on social media, what is the common theme? Fear! Why does Satan want to world to live in fear? Because people are more easily controlled and manipulated when they are in a constant state of fear. The world will have you live in fear about everything, your health, your family, your finances, your freedoms, ect. Anything that you value the world will go after because you are in a spiritual warfare whether you realize it or not

But as Christians , even though we are in this fallen world, even though we are primary targets by Satan, we can live in peace because the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. As the Apostle Paul said “The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7) While the world is in a state of fear, as a Born Again believer we are at peace, because Christ has already overcome the world (John 16:33)

The real issue that the world should be worried about is the judgment day of God. Majority of the world dismisses this event or doesn’t even think about it, but one day everyone is going to stand before The Lord and give an account for your life! Everyone that is unsaved will pay for the consequences of their sins. As the Bible tells us “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus”(Romans 3:23) We as Christians can boldly stand in the presence of God with love, because we have been redeemed and justified by our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have been Born Again by the Holy Spirit. 

That’s why the Apostle John says “Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have the boldness in the day of judgment” We as children of God don’t need to live in fear as the world because we have been redeemed by God in Christ. There is actually nothing a true Christian needs to fear. Even in illness, persecution, or death, we already have victory in Jesus Christ , The Lord has already overcome the world, including sin and death

That’s why the scripture says “Perfect love casts out all fear” The perfect love is Jesus Christ, as God is love and is perfect. If you abide in Christ, Christ will abide in you, there is nothing in this world you need to fear. You can have the peace of God knowing that your soul is saved, that you have been reborn, redeemed, and justified in the presence of God through our Lord Jesus Christ , Amen!

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:14-16

How do you get saved? Will religion save you? No , Will doing good works save you? No, Will being a “good person” save you? No, its only by faith in Christ that you can be saved, period. Many people believe they can “earn their salvation” or they can obtain salvation in some way, these are misunderstandings of the grace of God. If there was anyway we could earn our salvation, then there would have been no need for Christ to come into the world and die for our sins. But because we are completely unable to save ourselves, Christ came to save us!

Let’s see what the Apostle John says here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit “The Father sent the Son (Jesus) to be the Savior of the world” Christ was sent into the world to save us, without Christ there is no hope for your salvation. I think it’s important for people to realize their state of depravity and their total inability to save themselves. We must put our full and true faith in Christ, meaning total reliance and allegiance to The Lord as our God and Savior

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God” There’s alot going on with this statement, first we must truly have faith in Christ, to publicly confess Jesus Christ is our Lord and not the world. But another important aspect of this is the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle John says “God dwells in us”, God is living inside of us, the Holy Spirit will seal us in God, He will convict us of our sin, He will be our teacher and advocate, He will help us to pray to the Father and Son, The Triune God is united within us as a Child of God

The last point I want to bring with this text is you can’t have true love without God. As the Apostle John says “God is love, and he the dwells in love dwells in God and God in Him” Have you ever noticed the majority of non-believers, especially atheists are always very angry and combative. Why? Because there is no love within them, there is no peace of God which surpasses all understanding. They are at war with God for their soul, and they in a constant state of turmoil. They will never find real love or peace without Christ as their Lord. 

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and not from yourselves, its a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8) Salvation is found in only Jesus Christ alone, submit to The Lord and obtain the love and peace of God, Amen!

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:12-13

The Apostle John makes an interesting statement “Nobody has seen God at anytime”, he makes this same statement in the gospel of John also (John 1:18) Seems like a pretty straightforward statement, however when we understand this statement more deeply , we understand more how much we need Jesus Christ!

As Jesus said “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9) Christ is the express image or exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3) the only way to get to God is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6, Acts 4:12) there is no other way to “see God” or to become saved. Christ is the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5)

A couple things we need to understand, our sinful nature and Gods holiness. We could never expect to “see God” or stand before God in our sinful state, the only way we could be in the presence of God is through Christ. As the Apostle Paul said “He who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:8) The only “good” thing about us is Jesus Christ, without Christ we are to be consumed for our depravity.

Think back to the tabernacle in the Exodus or the temple, nobody was able to cross the holy of holies, the viel, unless they were purified of their sin. The levitical priests used to wear bells on their garments so people knew if they were struck dead or not by the “presence of God” The holiness of God is far beyond our comprehension,  a perfect love that can’t be changed

Another perspective I want us to think about this verse, many people try to comprehend God, they try to simplify the Trinity, some go to extremes that eventually deny the deity of Christ and make the Holy Spirit just an “active force” Another way to look at this statement by the Apostle John “Nobody has seen God” meaning Nobody could possibly comprehend God, as John Wesley once said “show me a worm that can comprehend a man, and I’ll show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God” I know some will say this an excuse, however you need to humble yourself, can you possibly understand the One who spoke the Heavens and Earth into existence?

Here’s the amazing thing, we can be reconciled back to God through The Lord Jesus Christ, also as the Apostle John says here “God dwells in us” wow! The Triune God that nobody can see or comprehend is living inside of us by the Holy Spirit, do you understand how radical this is? Don’t be fooled by false religion who tells you anyone can come to God, I will end with the words of Christ “I am the way, the truth, and the life, Nobody comes to The Father except through Me “ (John 14:6)