“Holiness can be described as His inherent and absolute greatness in which He is perfectly distinct above everything outside of Himself.” (Pastor Rod Hutton)
“God’s power is not even on our scale…He is infinitely powerful in comparison to anything else.” (Pastor Rod Hutton)
I. God Is Love
A. God’s love is self-giving
“God’s love means that [He] eternally gives of himself to others.” (MacArthur, “Biblical Doctrine”; Grudem, Systematic Theology, 237)
John 14:31 - …but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.
1 John 4:10 - In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
II. Only Christians Can Imitate God’s Love
A. By loving one another
1 John 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
B. Loving one another proves that we are born of God and know God
1 John 4:8 - The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
III. Loving One Another Proves That We See God's Love
A. God's love is seen in one supreme act: He sent His Son
1 John 4:9 - By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
B. God's way of saving man
1 John 4:10 - In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
IV. The Conclusion
A. We should, therefore, love one another
1 John 4:11 - Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
B. Loving one another proves that God's Spirit is within us
1 John 4:12-13 - No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
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