How to See an Invisible God

1 John 4:12-13 

Herein lies a terribly awesome knowledge. The world cannot see God. He is invisible. Therefore, the the unbeliever's best view of God will be through your life.  

If you are a loving father, the world will see God as a protector and provider. If you are a loving mother, the world will see God as a nurturer and healer. If you do something nice for someone who has only ever been mean to you, they will see God as forgiving, ready to receive anyone.  

Think of the image unbelievers have of God. They can't see Him. They don't read the Bible. They maybe see Him and His people portrayed in Hollywood, but that's rarely anywhere in the ballpark of who He actually is or who believers should be. They might see picketers with signs that say "God hates fags," which is most certainly not held by a true believer, but they don't know that.  

It's you. The only correct image of God ever to be seen is through you.  

"If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us."  

But this verse is followed by another.  

"By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." 

I think if were to sum up the entire problem with Christians it is this: We have accepted that God abides in us, but we have forgotten entirely that we must also abide in Him. 

What does abide mean? It means to dwell. It refers to a "oneness." Jesus said "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."  (John 15:5) 

The picture Jesus gave us of abiding was literally a branch receiving all of its needed nutrition from the vine. Nothing can come between a branch and a vine or the branch will fall away and die. And remember, these two passages are by the same author.  

The love of God is perfected in us WHEN we love. We know that God abides in us WHEN we are abiding in Him. If we are caught in a web of sin, if we are slow to love and quick to hate, then obviously there is no abiding.  

The branch does not receive poison from the vine. Just the same,  we do not receive addiction to sin from abiding in God.  

But let me end on a good note. Look at the wonderful opportunity Christ has given us. Not only are we privileged with the ability to abide in God and receive His perfect love and have that love perfected in us, BUT we are also sent as messengers to show the world such great love. Think of all the tasks God could have given us to do on this earth. 

He gave us love. 

Loving in Advance

1 John 4:7-11

"Beloved, let us love on another…"

Why is it that Christians are supposed to be known by their love? Why do we carry that burden? Why are believer's held to a higher accountability when it comes to love?

"Love is of God."

That is the answer. God is the one who showed us what real love looks like by sending His Son to pay the bill for a debt that wasn't asked to be paid. He paid the bill when we didn't even know there was a debt. He paid the bill when he was the farthest thing from our mind.

Have you ever liked someone you knew didn't like you back? I have. I would imagine building up the strength to tell her how I felt, her saying the feelings were mutual, and me taking her on a lovely date…probably somewhere cheap (since I was poor). But I never ended up spending a dime on her. Why? Because the feelings were NOT mutual. Or at least I never found out that they were.

Jesus puts me to shame. He made the reservations at the fanciest restaurant, rented a limo with Michael Caine as the driver and bought backstage tickets to a Switchfoot concert. He did all of this before I even knew who He was. He did this while I despised Him. He did this knowing I was the last person on earth who deserved it. He did it in advance.

THAT is what love is.

And when the spirit of God is in you, that same love will pour from you.

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

This doesn't mean, "You know, you should probably be nice to that guy, because…well…Jesus is watching."

It means no matter what a believer says or does to you, no matter how much they irk you, you ought to love them with the same love that Jesus showed you - massive, unconditional love.

How could that not be the automatic response of an individual shown such love?

Christians are not known by their love for their friends or spouses or children. Many God-hating parents love their children. Rather, believers ought to be known by their unconditional love for the least deserving, because that kind of love points not the the self, but to Christ. 

The Spirit of Truth and Error

1 John 3:24 - 4:6

 

3:24 "Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has give us."

 

The gist of the verse above has come up several time throughout the book of 1 John. But as chapter 3 ends and chapter 4 begins, this verse serves as a wonderful bridge between the two. Following the commandments of God surely assures the spirit within us that we are saved, but just as importantly, it serves to warn us against ungodly spirits.

 

When the believer abides in Christ by keeping his commandments and Christ abides in the believer, the believer stands unswayed by the lies of the world.

 

Now, because we have assurance of our faith and are abiding in Christ and He in us, we are ready for 1 John 4:1 ."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."

 

This verse is so extremely applicable to us today, as the world is full of ungodly spirits. This is not referring to spirits as in ghosts or demons, but as the spirit of teaching. John is warning against false teaching, some of which will look nothing like Christianity, but some of which will be awfully close but woefully different.

 

Examples:

 

Mormonism. This claims to be Christianity, and in some ways is close. But this cult is based on a revelation that is not found in Scripture. There will be men and women who prophecy and see visions, but all of these prophecies and visions must be solely based on Scripture truth. Mormonism is clearly not.

 

Prosperity Gospel. They claim the same Gospel story, but with a twist. God's hope is that we all be successful and happy. The storyline may look the same, but the plot is completely different.

 

Take the movie Jaws. True Gospel says that movie is about killing a massive shark. Joel Osteen says that movie is about having a really nice boat ride.

 

 

V.2-3

 

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."

 

This verse does not mean that as long as you believe Jesus literally came to earth, you are good to go. This verse was likely aimed at one or two specific cults who stated that Jesus was either A. Not a physical being or B. Physical, but the "Christ" part of him was a separate spirit.

 

The key to this topic lies in the words of vs. 4-6.

 

V.4 "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."

 

It makes me think of when I was a little kid. When I was with Dad, no one could touch me( like my ever tickling brothers). If I had a question, Dad knew the answer. If Dad was driving the car, I was safe.

 

This is how we are supposed to feel with God — like children. We ought have no fear of the world, and we should not be easily swayed by it. Because we are His children, we know the truth. You know what is right and wrong in your home, because Mom and Dad taught you. They daily teach you. Believers ought to know what is of God and what is not of God, because He has taught them, and teaches them daily as they are in His Word.

 

This is why a daily relationship with Christ is mandatory for the safety of your soul. Even one walk into the woods without Dad would have left me vulnerable to the bears and wolves. I may have been lucky, and the wolves and bears been elsewhere that day. But when you are dealing with the devil, he knows when you have wandered alone, and he will not fail to strike.

 

V.5 "They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them."

 

John has already addressed this idea several times in this book. Those who speak lies may speak persuasively and passionately, because they speak what they believe. They have either been deceived into thinking what they speak is A. True or B. Beneficial to them.

 

They will not be swayed by Scripture to show their error, but they will use Scripture incorrectly to prove their beliefs. This is because they belong to the world. A Vikings fan may argue to the death that the Green Bay Packers are the worst football team, even though the record shows otherwise. This is because he is loyal to his team no matter what the statistics may show. Such is the case for the worldly man. Do not listen to him.

 

V.6 "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."

 

The man of God will not be swayed by the enticement of worldly messages, by doctrines which lift him up high, instead of lifting up Christ.

 

John the Baptizer said, "He must increase, and I must decrease." There is an inevitable lowering of self when one raises Christ. The true believer protects his heart from the message that claims Christ's desire for us to be praised by men. He has no such desire.

 

Note here the absolute necessity of communing with believers on a regular basis. This does NOT mean "going to church." This means having close friends who are true believers of Christ, walking with Him and talking with Him. The man who does not have a relationship with such believers is doomed to follow the next best thing, his unbelieving friends, or possibly worse, culture he finds on television.

 

It does not matter if you clash with the individuals in your church body, or in every church body. You must develop close relationships with them. How could you not? How could you not have everything in common with such men and women, whose main goal in life is following hard after Christ? When you have heaven-bound eyes, when you set your affections on things above, and when you truly seek to stay on the straight and narrow, avoiding the convincing worldly spirits of today, then FIND BELIEVERS. Throw away your prideful spirit that says you cannot be friends with them and TRY.

 

You would not walk across a desert without drinking provided water. Do not try to live for Christ on your own when there is so much provision so close by. 

The Assurance of Love

1 John 3:18-23

 

Here again John brings us to the topic of assurance, though, this time adding a few notes about false condemnation.

 

We just touched on the outworking of love - how we ought to love because of His love for us. This passage describes personal results of this sort of love. At the heart of every sinner lies the question, "What's in it for me?" Well, the following passage is the answer to that question.

 

Verse 19 says that "by this" we know that we are of the truth and assure our hearts before God.

 

So paraphrased, this says that by loving others unconditionally and refusing to bad-mouth fellow believers, we are assured of our salvation.

 

But wait a second. I thought placing our trust in the work of Christ was the means of salvation?

 

It most certainly is. The lie John is breaking down in this passage is that a 30-second prayer is what saves you. When an individual attends a gospel seminar and is moved emotionally enough by the message and music that he prays the sinner's prayer, it is unconditional love toward others that assures him of the sincerity of his prayer, not the words of the prayer.

 

Unconditional love is not something that is natural on this cursed planet. Therefore, when you possess it, you know that is did not come from yourself. There is only One who has the ability to give it to you and therefore you are assured that you are His child.

 

This is, of course, best case scenario.

 

But there are plenty of true believers who go through dark phases of life. I do not mean that we suddenly begin rampantly sinning. I mean we become discouraged. We begin to understand the holiness of God so rightly that when we look in the mirror we are aghast at what we see. And suddenly, we begin to see ourselves as unworthy of the work of the  cross. As John puts it, "our heart condemns us."

 

This is not a sign of unbelief. It is not a sign that you do not understand the love and mercy of God. In fact, God may even put us through a trial that leads us into this line of thinking, especially if we have come to think that we somehow deserve the grace of God. But God does not lead us into trials without reason.

 

You see, when you get to the point that your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart. What an amazing thought. Think of how powerful your heart is. Broken hearts have made people hike across the U.S., watch Netflix for twenty days, eat ice cream by the bucket-load and even take their own life. God is more powerful.

 

When we judge ourselves, we take into account only our own thoughts and actions. When God judges us, He takes into consideration, first and foremost, the work of His Son. Your conscience, tainted with sin and constantly under attack by Satan's lies, cannot rightly judge your heart.

 

Note, this does not mean that when your heart condemns you for being addicted to pornography or killing someone, that God is in your heart telling you, "No no no, don't fret about it. That's just your heart condemning you, not me. You're good. Just try to tone it down a notch."

 

That's not what John is talking about. He is referring to the man who, though showing the signs of a saved individual - loving others unconditionally and obeying the commandments of God - recognizes that no matter what he does, he cannot measure up to the standard of love of God. He feels insecure and out of place even approaching the throne of God. To this man, whose heart is under attack by condemnation, God reaches out a hand and says, "Do not fret. You did not measure up, but because of the work of my Son, you have crossed the chasm of sin and darkness. Rest in peaceful assurance.