Latest / Mount Eaton Church / 1 John 3:1-3 - The Kind Of Love Only God Can Give - 8.30.2026

Transcript

1 John 3:1-3 - The Kind Of Love Only God Can Give - 8.30.2026 · Mount Eaton Church

0:06
So, today's message is the kind of love that
0:10
only God can give. We will read three verses.
0:14
I was going to do more, but honestly, to do justice
0:23
and rightness to the Word of God, these three
0:27
verses. should impact us in a very deep way.
0:32
And so we're going to focus on these three verses,
0:35
and then we'll pick up in verse 4 through 10
0:38
next week, and then we'll deal with verses 11
0:40
through the end of the chapter the week after
0:45
that. So we're going to take a little bit longer
0:47
in chapter 3, only because of this one verse.
0:50
So let us read chapter 3, verse 1, 1 John. It
0:56
says, that we should be called children of God.
1:03
And so we are. The reason why the world does
1:06
not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved,
1:11
we are God's children now. And what we will be
1:14
has not yet appeared. But we know that when he
1:20
appears, we shall be like him because we shall
1:23
see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes.
1:27
In him purifies himself as he is pure. May the
1:31
Lord bless the reading of his word. So this is
1:35
going to be a topic I think we have a tendency
1:37
to look at. But we really, we read this verse
1:40
and it's like one of those verses you want to
1:41
put on your computer as a wallpaper. Or on your
1:45
phone as part of your screen. Because it's one
1:50
of those Bible verses everybody loves. But do
1:55
they understand why? Why is... Verse 1, so important.
2:01
And so we're going to be talking about that now.
2:04
Because I want us to walk away understanding
2:07
how the love of God should move us to live rightly.
2:13
So in order to do that, we need to understand
2:15
the manner, the means, the matter, and the method
2:17
of God's love, which is his son. Because of his
2:22
work of salvation, those who believe are given
2:24
the right to be called children of God. Because
2:29
of Christ, you've been given the right through
2:32
adoption to be called children. It's a right
2:37
given to you. It's not something you can earn.
2:40
It's not something that you have because you're
2:43
in the right line of the right bloodline. It
2:46
is specifically given by God to his people. I
2:50
want you to think about that. In John chapter
2:53
1, verse 12 through 13, this is what he says.
2:57
did receive him who believed in his name. He
3:00
gave the right to become children of God who
3:04
were born not of blood nor of the will of the
3:06
flesh nor of the will of man but of God. I want
3:12
us to grasp that. This is something that no man
3:17
can give. It is God alone and he has bestowed
3:21
upon you the right as his child. So in 1 John
3:27
3, 1, we see this bestowment of the reality of
3:31
us being children of God and his love for us.
3:35
See what kind of love the Father has given, what
3:40
means of love, what manner in some translations.
3:46
But the means of his love is, this word means,
3:51
as we're going to learn in a minute, means something
3:53
much more deeper than... Figuring out, is it
3:57
gentle and is it kind and is it humble? It's
4:04
more than that. So much more than that. See what
4:09
kind of love the means the Father has given the
4:13
manner to us. So that we should be called children
4:17
of God. The matter, the direct result of his
4:22
means and his manner of his love. And so we are.
4:27
Now, I like that statement that John puts here.
4:30
He emphasizes what you are now, not where you're
4:35
going to be when you get to heaven. It's what
4:37
you are now, a child of God, a son and daughter.
4:46
The reason why the world does not know us, it
4:48
did not know him. It's absolutely true. How can
4:54
the world know us if it does not know him? Who
4:59
is the creator of all things? They don't want
5:01
to know him. They don't want to know about him.
5:04
It doesn't matter if they have an inkling of
5:08
that there must be a God. The question is, do
5:11
you know him? Do you personally know him like
5:17
we know him? No, you don't. And so if they don't
5:22
know him, how are they going to know us? To us,
5:26
we are aliens. We are strangers. We are strange.
5:30
We are different. We are weird. What in the world
5:34
would cause a government, a state government,
5:39
to keep people from praying outside of a clinic?
5:47
They're not burning any clinics like they just
5:50
did in Stroudsburg. We're not a bunch of teenage
5:53
mobs burning and destroying things. You know
5:56
why? Because they don't know us. That is a hatred
6:00
toward God. They don't know us because they don't
6:05
know him. So what kind of love? It's not a question
6:12
used to make us think of what God's love is like.
6:16
It's actually a question that is telling us the
6:20
quality of God's love. What is the quality of
6:25
God's love? Think about that. So when we read
6:30
what kind of love the Father has given, to us.
6:34
It's the quality of love the father has given
6:36
to us. Have you thought about that? Like the
6:41
quality, like it's the purest of love. If you
6:46
were to take a diamond and the purest of diamonds,
6:50
like with almost zero speck of coal or black
6:55
inside of the diamond, that kind of purity, it's
7:00
like no mistakes. So what's the quality of God's
7:06
love? The manner, the means, the matter, and
7:09
the method of his love, which is Christ, the
7:11
complete and perfect expression of the Father's
7:14
love. He is the quality of his love. And we're
7:20
going to learn today what the manner, the means,
7:25
the matter, and the method are. In Hebrews 1
7:29
.3, he says it this way. How do we know the perfect
7:32
quality of God's love? Expressed in his son,
7:36
he is the radiance of the glory of God in the
7:39
exact imprint of his nature. He is love. And
7:46
he upholds the universe by the words of his power.
7:50
Oh, what kind of love the Father has given to
7:54
us. The manner of God's love. The manner, the
7:57
way, the style, or the method in which something
8:00
is done or happens. Think about that. How do
8:09
we know the manner of God's love? But God showed
8:12
his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
8:15
Christ died for us. That's the manner. He has
8:21
openly shown his love by killing his son. And
8:29
not only that, the scripture says that Jesus
8:31
says, no one takes my life from me, but I lay
8:35
it down of my own will. Why? If the father offers
8:41
the son, the son is the exact imprint of the
8:44
father. He willingly dies because he knows the
8:48
quality of his love. What a beautiful thing.
8:55
The means of God's love. The means, a method
8:59
or instrument or process used to achieve a goal.
9:02
We know what the goal was. To save a people for
9:05
his own. John 3, 16. For God so loved the world
9:11
that he gave. There's the method. One and only
9:14
son. There's the instrument. And that whoever
9:17
believes. There's the process. In him shall not
9:20
perish but have eternal life. That is the end
9:22
result. And then we have the matter of God's
9:29
love. Matter. A situation or subject. A level
9:33
of importance. It's an interesting word. It's
9:38
an idiom. And I'll show you that in a minute.
9:39
But for example. In Romans 5 .19. For as by one
9:44
man's disobedience. The many were made sinners,
9:48
so by one man's obedience, the many will be made
9:52
righteous. So what is the situation? A subject,
9:57
a problem, or an event of concern. What is the
10:02
event of concern? One man's disobedience. That's
10:05
the problem. What's the subject? Here's the idiom.
10:13
It's not what is matter. We know what matter
10:16
is. Anything you see, this is what is the matter.
10:22
What's the problem here? Because of one man's
10:28
disobedience, what happened? All were made sinners.
10:36
And what's the importance of this massive global
10:41
event to be of significance or value? One man's
10:48
obedience made many righteous. One man's obedience
10:57
to many will be made righteous. What's that?
11:00
Salvation. So we know what the importance is.
11:03
The reality of Christ's sacrifice, his obedience
11:06
was that we are now his children. What's the
11:10
method of God's love? What is the planned, logical,
11:14
and systematic way of doing God's love? How did
11:17
he do it? In 1 Corinthians 3, 4, 15, 3 through
11:23
4. 1 Corinthians 15, 3 through 4. For I have
11:26
delivered to you as of first importance. Do you
11:29
hear that? Listen, out of all that God has ever
11:34
given to us, next to Christ, which the first
11:41
importance is Jesus, because that's what he says
11:42
here, I've delivered to you as of first importance,
11:46
the most important thing that any preacher in
11:49
a pulpit, any teacher of the scripture, any evangelist
11:53
could give, the very thing that the apostles
11:57
have laid before our feet and the prophets have
12:01
spoken of of old, is the gospel. The first importance,
12:10
what I also received, that Christ died for our
12:13
sins in accordance with the scripture, and he
12:15
was buried, and he was raised on the third day
12:17
in accordance with the scriptures. There is your
12:19
answer. That is the importance. See, God must
12:26
come in the flesh, which he promised before the
12:29
foundation of the world. How do we know that
12:32
this grand plan of God was before anything was
12:36
created? Because he tells us that. That Christ
12:39
was crucified before the foundation of the world.
12:43
For who? For his people. How do we know that?
12:46
Because your name is written in the Lamb's book
12:49
of life before the foundation of the world. You
12:52
may not like election. Election is not the issue
12:56
here. It's your rejection of the truth of God's
12:59
word. He has picked you, chosen you, provided
13:03
for you salvation. And when you go, I don't want
13:06
it if it's not my own choice. You're avoiding
13:09
hell because God is graceful and loving and kind.
13:15
But what do we know? That this grand plan was
13:19
before the foundation of the world. He made a
13:21
promise. And we know he made a promise because
13:23
when Eve was deceived and Adam disobeyed, what
13:27
did he say to the serpent? I will put an enmity
13:30
between you and the woman, between your seeds
13:32
and her seed. He will crush you, but you will
13:35
bruise him. God had made a way before the way
13:42
was needed. He is the way maker. What else do
13:51
we know about this promised one before the foundation
13:54
of the world? He lived a perfect life which we
13:56
cannot live. Willing to pay the penalty of death
14:00
due to our sin which we could not pay. Received
14:05
upon himself the wrath of God as the object of
14:07
God's wrath on our behalf. Was buried and resurrected
14:14
from the dead on the third day fulfilling what
14:17
he promised. Displaying his By doing this, displaying
14:26
he has authority and victory over sin, death,
14:29
and the grave, that all who are in Christ will
14:32
live in newness of life and live eternally with
14:35
him by the resurrection from the dead. That's
14:39
a perfect plan. It's interesting how perfect
14:44
it was. Not only did he ensure that the plan
14:47
would be successful, he then fulfills the plan
14:51
and does something for us. Ephesians chapter
14:56
1. You can turn there. Turn to Ephesians chapter
15:02
1 if you would. What's interesting about this
15:07
amazing manner means matter and method of God's
15:14
love is it is expressed succinctly in Ephesians
15:21
chapter 1. The Father set the plan. Go to verse
15:28
9 first. I know I put 11. 11 was the end of what
15:35
I was trying to say. It was supposed to be 9
15:37
through 11. Look what it says. Making known to
15:40
us the mystery of his will according to his purpose
15:44
which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the
15:48
fullness of time to unite all things in him.
15:52
Things in heaven and things on earth. There's
15:54
the authority. In him we have obtained an inheritance
16:00
having been predestined according to the purpose
16:04
of him who works all things according to the
16:06
counsel of his will. Very important. So we know
16:12
that God the Father has set the plan. We also
16:15
know that God the Son has fulfilled the plan,
16:18
Ephesians 1, 7 through 10. In him we have redemption
16:22
through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.
16:25
according to the riches of his grace, which he
16:28
lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making
16:30
known to us the mysteries of his will, according
16:33
to his purpose, which he had set forth in Christ
16:35
as a plan. So we know because Jesus fulfilled
16:40
the plan, which he set forth in Christ. Verse
16:45
13a. In him you also, when you heard the word
16:51
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed
16:56
in him. It's interesting, isn't it? So we see
17:04
that the Son has fulfilled the plan. And now
17:07
we see the God, the Spirit seals the plan. The
17:10
rest of verse 13, look what it says. You, those
17:16
who believed in him, were sealed with the promised
17:19
Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance
17:21
until we acquire possession of it to the praise
17:24
of his glory. God the Father set the plan. God
17:27
the Son fulfilled the plan. God the Holy Spirit
17:30
seals and guarantees the plan. Why is this important?
17:34
Because without the triune God, salvation is
17:36
an impossibility. All these things must be in
17:44
place. And the capstone, the complete work hinged
17:51
on Christ and Christ alone. See, if God the Father
17:57
set a plan and God the Son didn't come to fulfill
17:59
it, then there is no guarantee or any seal of
18:02
the plan. Without Jesus, there is no plan. But
18:09
because Jesus fulfilled it and is the plan, God
18:14
the Father set it beforehand to accomplish it
18:18
for us now. So as a result of becoming children
18:24
of God, we shall be like him. If we hope in him,
18:29
we do not practice sin, but purify ourselves
18:32
as Christ is pure. How should you live knowing?
18:37
The manner, the means, the matter, and the method
18:41
of God's love for you. And this is the perfect
18:45
plan of God. How should you live now? Leviticus
18:50
20, 26. He says in the Old Testament of his people.
18:56
Forget about the W before four. I forgot to delete
18:58
that. It's not woofer. You shall be holy to me.
19:06
For I, the Lord, am holy and have separated you
19:10
from the peoples that you. should be mine. Even
19:14
though he's talking to Israel here, it is the
19:18
same for those who are in the church. God has
19:22
set you apart for himself that you will be his.
19:25
That's why you're children of God. In 1 Thessalonians
19:30
4, 7, for God has not called us for impurity,
19:33
but in holiness. And if he has set us aside for
19:38
himself because he's holy, we too should be holy
19:42
in all we do. Look what it says in 1 John 3,
19:47
2 -3. Beloved, we are. Again, you know what he
19:53
says in the first part of that, in John 3, 1.
19:59
Which you are. Do you see? Again, John reminds
20:04
us. And so we are. And he says it again in verse
20:09
2. Beloved, we are God's children now. We're
20:14
not going to be God's children when we get to
20:15
heaven. You're a child of the living God now,
20:18
not tomorrow. And what we will be has not yet
20:25
appeared. What you're going to be like, what
20:30
you live with today, the body you walk with today
20:33
is not even in comparison to what you will be
20:36
like when he appears. It is so gloriously beautiful
20:41
and so vastly different that Mary didn't even
20:45
recognize him when he was resurrected. She thought
20:48
he was the gardener. Imagine with me for a minute.
20:56
What will that be like? And what we will be has
21:04
not yet appeared, meaning him. But we know that
21:09
when he appears, when he appears, not if, he
21:14
is coming. We shall be like him. Why? Because
21:23
we shall see him as he is. When we see him, you'll
21:27
know what you're going to be like. A glorified,
21:30
resurrected body. And everyone who thus hopes
21:44
in him purifies himself as he is pure. So why
21:48
does John give us these three verses here? Because
21:52
he's building a very important drive for the
21:57
people. He is driving them to an attitude and
22:01
a heart of abiding in him by living rightly.
22:06
That if you abide in him, you will live holy.
22:09
If you abide in him, you will reflect him in
22:12
all you do. That's what he's trying to build
22:15
here. And he's trying to get you to understand
22:16
the quality of the love of God, which he's given
22:19
to us, and the reality of our being like him
22:23
when he comes, should drive us to live lives
22:27
that reflect him in every way possible. Knowing
22:34
you are a child of God now, how must you live
22:38
now? What do others see and experience with you?
22:46
How do people, when you're around them, how do
22:48
they experience you? How do you act? What is
22:51
your reflection of Christ to them? And most importantly,
22:55
do you remind yourselves that Christ sees and
22:59
knows everything about you? In other words, if
23:02
I'm going to be around people and I'm reflecting
23:04
Christ to people, what happens when I'm not?
23:09
Or what happens if I don't do this at all and
23:13
I still think that I'm a believer? I live a life
23:17
in disobedience, but still think I'm a believer.
23:21
I live a life of sin, still think I'm a believer.
23:26
Remember, Christ sees everything and he knows
23:29
everything. You can't hide a single thing. You
23:32
can't even hide the intentions of your heart.
23:34
He knows that too. And we know that because even
23:37
when he was on the earth, he says he knew what
23:40
was in their heart. The scripture says, what
23:44
you know of and about God will determine how
23:47
you live in public and private. What you know
23:53
of and about God will determine how you live
23:58
in public and in private. You want to change?
24:05
Change here. Let the word of God do its work
24:09
in your heart and mind. Do not be conformed to
24:11
the pattern of this world, but be transformed
24:13
by the renewing of your mind so you can test
24:16
and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing,
24:18
and perfect will. Romans 12 .2. So what we do,
24:26
what we know about God is going to be seen. in
24:30
our public and private life. If we know very
24:32
little, people will know. You can't hide. What
24:39
is the importance? How do we maintain? How do
24:43
we keep ourselves in the mindset or as some would
24:48
say, on the narrow road? How do we set our minds
24:52
and keep ourselves from being tossed and thrown
24:57
by every wind of doctrine or by emotions and
25:00
all the other things that go with our sinful
25:02
nature? reminding yourself of the matter, the
25:05
means, the matter, and the method of God's work,
25:08
mighty work of salvation, and is a means to help
25:14
you live in purity. The reminder, and that's
25:18
exactly what John's doing here, don't forget
25:21
in the quality of God's love for you, the means
25:25
by which God has provided your salvation to you,
25:28
the matter in which God has remedied the issue
25:34
of your... rejection and your sin and the method
25:39
by which God has given his son. As Jesus stated
25:46
concerning the woman with the alabaster jar in
25:49
Luke 7 47. This is he was invited to go to a
25:54
Pharisee's house and he's sitting down and eating.
25:57
This woman comes in with an alabaster jar and
26:01
anoints him. And they're like why are you doing
26:08
that? She's a sinner. And this is what he says
26:13
to them. Therefore I tell you Her sins, which
26:17
are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But
26:22
he who is forgiven little loves little. If you
26:26
think you don't have issues, you can't love God
26:29
fully. If you think I'm okay, the minute you're
26:36
not okay. But look what he says to her after
26:42
they say what they say, and he says what he has
26:45
to say to them. And the reason why he says to
26:48
them, those who are forgiven little love littles,
26:50
because they don't think they have any issues.
26:52
And there's a lot of people in Christian churches
26:54
today think, I'm good. I grew up in the church.
26:57
I'm okay. No, you're not. Well, none of us are.
27:03
Look what he says to her. He tells her, your
27:08
sins are forgiven. And you know what they said?
27:14
Only God can forgive sins. How dare you? Then
27:22
look what he says, what I say here. Are you living?
27:26
as ones whose sins have been forgiven. Are you
27:30
living your life for Christ knowing that you
27:34
are forgiven? Knowing that all he has done for
27:39
you through his gospel? Or are you living as
27:42
if he doesn't matter and Sunday is just a day
27:46
to do your religious duty? Being and living as
27:54
a Christian, a child of God, is every day, not
27:57
just a weekend duty. Are you doing it every day?
28:04
We're not talking about perfectly. We're talking
28:07
about consistently. Why? Because the quality
28:10
of God's love is perfect. And he calls us to
28:14
be perfect as he's perfect or pure as he's pure.
28:17
That we should be walking and continually to
28:20
renew our minds every day. That we would live
28:22
rightly before him because we want to please
28:25
our father. We want to serve our father and we
28:28
want to give to him all that we have to give.
28:33
Continually. remind yourself of the cost of Christ,
28:37
that which he paid for you and the life he has
28:41
given through his resurrection. That's what we're
28:46
talking about here. That's the reality of the
28:52
manner, the means, the matter, and the method
28:55
of God's love. How should we live?