Third Week of Advent (Love) - Part 1

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Good morning. Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to the book of 1 John. 1 John chapter 2, and as you know, this is the third week of Advent.

The theme for the first week was hope, and then peace. So the theme for this week is love. Now, very few people need to be convinced that God is love or that God loves mankind. In fact, the most well-known verse in all of the scripture is what?

John 3, 16, which says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So God so loved the world. There it is, right?

Well, now let's look at 1 John chapter 2, 15, which says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So the title of this morning's message is Love and the Great Reset.

Love and the Great Reset. Now, don't get too nervous when you hear about the Great Reset, at least for what we're going to be talking about this morning. You know, it might be good for some people to reset on a few things.

When it comes to the subject of love, some people need a reset. Why? Because love can be misunderstood and it can be misapplied. The fact of the matter is, listen, love is not always good. Love is not always good.

Do you need some convincing of that? Well, exhibit A. In these two statements, John 3, 16, in 1 John 2, 15, we see that it is good to love the world. God so loves the world. That's good. But then the scripture tells us, do not love the world.

So how do we explain this? Let's start out. How do we explain this? Is loving the world good or is it not good? First off, might come into someone's mind. Well, is this a different Greek word for love?

You know, there's there's Eros, which is like a sensual love. And Phileo is like a brotherly love. And then Agape, which is the the type of love that God loves with. You've all heard that before. Maybe it's a different Greek word.

Maybe that would make a difference. No, it's the same Greek word in both both verses. John 3, 16, 1 John 2, 15. The Greek word is Agapeo. And you've heard of Agape. So same Greek word for love. Someone might think, well, maybe it's a different Greek word for world.

Maybe that would make a difference. But no, it's the same Greek word cosmos in both places. So what is the answer? It's good to love the world. It's not good. How do we reconcile that? Well, simply put, John in his gospel is talking about how God so loved the people of this world.

God so loved mankind. In his first epistle, however, John is saying, do not love the world system. Do not love the ways of the world. And then he continues in verse 16. For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

And he says it is not of the father, but is of the world. So again, just put it out there. Love is not always good. It depends on the object of your love. So with that said, what are you loving? What do you love?

We just read a very clear command. Do not love the world. So love can be good and love can be bad. You see that, right? Okay. So love can be good. Love can be bad. Loving God is good. Loving Satan is bad.

Loving sinners can be good. Loving their sinful behavior is not good. Now, why preach a sermon like this? Again, because I think some people need a reset. Some need a reset. I would argue that evangelical Christianity needs a great reset.

Because many times it's a sorry state of affairs. So considering, why do I say that? Well, when you consider the word love, how it is misused and abused. Considering how love is often used to justify the unjustifiable, we need a reset.

And this is good around this time of year, especially to kind of reset things and to recalibrate. What does it mean to recalibrate? When something starts to stray off course, when things get a little out of whack, you need to check it.

You need to examine it. You need to test it against the standard. And what's the standard for born-again Bible-believing Christians? What's the standard? God's word. Yes, God's word is the standard.

Love as the Standard of God’s Word

Now, at this point, let's turn to the gospel of John chapter 17. John chapter 17. And as you may be aware, the apostle John historically has been known as the apostle of love. He not only refers to himself in the gospel of John as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

If you read the epistle of 1 John, love is emphasized heavily. I did a word search. It's just verse after verse after verse. Love, love, love, love. So John emphasizes, it seems, more than all the other apostles, he emphasizes the subject of love.

And we already briefly compared John 3 .16 to 1 John 2 .15. So now let's look at John 17. Where does love come from? Where did it originate? This will tell us. John 17, starting in verse 1. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your son, that your son also may glorify you. As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I have glorified you on the earth, and I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

So this is the most intimate conversation between Jesus the Son and God the Father. Skip down to verse 24. Jesus says, Father, I desire that they also, whom you gave me, may be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory, which you have given me.

And listen to this, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. That's significant. Here's why. These are the things we can glean from this. Number one, love is from God. Amen. Love is from God.

It originated in the Godhead. Love originated in the Godhead. That's number one. Therefore, number two, love is holy. It came from God. It is holy. And number three, love is eternal. It was from the foundation of the world.

So as long as God has been in existence, love has been in existence. Love is eternal. It is holy. It is from God. It is part of his nature. It is not only what God does, it is who he is. It is who he is.

We have a hard time grasping the fullness of what that means. It has always been in the nature of God. You know, some people have asked this question. Maybe you've thought about this at some point years ago, perhaps.

People, I've heard people ask, before God created the heavens and the earth, before God created the angels, wasn't God kind of lonely up there all by himself? Or if his love is eternal and God is love, what was he loving from all eternity?

Was he just loving himself? That doesn't seem like a very noble attribute or so people would think. But what do we read? Jesus, in praying to his heavenly father, he acknowledged that he had glory with the father before the world was.

That's such a great thought. So the father wasn't lonely, okay? He had fellowship with the son from all eternity. The son had fellowship with the father from all eternity. And then the Holy Spirit, the three members of the Godhead had perfect harmony and fellowship and love from all eternity.

And it appears to me that in order to love, there must be an object of that love. You have to love something. Something has to exist to love it. So from all eternity, the father loved the son. The son loved the father.

What does this show us? The other thing we learn is that God is a relational being, is he not? There is a love relationship within the Trinity. And Jesus says in John 17, 24, that the father loved me before the foundation of the world.

So love is from God. It is holy. It is eternal. And love is relational. That's important. Love is relational. Now turn back to 1 John chapter 2. So God's love is the standard. Whatever we love or think about love, we need to test it, maybe reset, against the standard, which is the word of God.

God had an object of his love, which is the son. And I would argue that is why he created the world, because of his love for the son and giving his son authority over the creation. But love is relational.

God doesn't love a thing, okay? God does not love a thing. He loves a person. What's the great commandment of the law? To love the Lord thy God with all your mind and body and soul and strength. And then the second commandment, like it, is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Those are people. Those are relationships, right? When it comes to loving things or the ways of this world, loving material, temporal things, we are told what? Do not love those things. And if you do love those things, that's bad, right?

Love is not always good. It depends on the object. Loving some things is bad. So hopefully this is giving us a better idea of what love is, what it's all about, what it isn't. Now, some of you might think to yourself, or maybe someone would say, well, I love chocolate cake.

I love chocolate cake. You know, Christians, we know better than to say certain things. Not that, evidently. No, but we know if somebody says, I love money, the first thought in your head is, wait a minute.

The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. So we kind of know better than to say that. So we wouldn't say that. But many people would say, I love chocolate cake. I love classic cars. Or I love football.

Or I love all of these different things. And while we understand that may be a figure of speech, there are people who really do love football and some of these things. So it's not good to truly love a thing.

You can like a thing. You can really like a thing. But loving it, that's something else. So what is love? What does it look like? What is the standard? Well, we've seen love is from God. It is eternal.

It is relational. God, the Father, loved the Son. The Son loved the Father. So at this point, you can just think to yourself. You don't have to answer. You just think to yourself, what do you love? What are the things you love the most?

Just take a moment and think about that. What do you love? What comes to mind? What are the objects of your love? Are they objects? Or are they people? Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, with the grace of God, be with you.