In week one of our study through 1 John, we discovered that God is the source of love and He has lavished that amazing love on us through Jesus Christ. This past weekend, we explored what our response to the love of God through Christ should be. In this study of 1 John 2:3–17, Pastor Doug explained the importance of trust and obedience in our relationship with Jesus, how love reveals who we truly are, how our love for God and others grows in the family of faith, and how to fight for real love.

Watch the video below to see a few highlights from the teaching and share it with your friends via social media. To watch the message in its entirety, click here.

For the Note Takers

Love Requires a Response (1 John 2:3–6): John makes it clear that our trust and obedience in Jesus, in His commandments and His ways, is the evidence of our love for Him. If we love Him, we’ll obey Him. We can know for certain in our hearts and show the world clearly with our walk that we are in Christ . . . by being obedient sons and daughters who listen to our Father and imitate our Lord and Savior.

As we learned last week, this doesn’t not mean we’ll be perfect and never fall short, never sin, never make mistakes. We will; God knows this and so does John. That’s why he said, “if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1 NIV). But it does mean that we strive to consistently, daily live in obedience and not live in a lifestyle of sin and disobedience.

Keeping God’s commands is a response, not a duty. It should be our response to His love, grace, wisdom, power, peace, and forgiveness being poured into us by the Holy Spirit every single day. It should be our response to the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and the transforming work of Christ in our hearts.

Love Reveals the Real You (1 John 2:7–11): Here, the apostle John tells us that everything he has been explaining up to this point is not based on some new and unfamiliar commandment, yet at the same time, it is new. How is that possible? The old and new commandment is labeled as such by John for a reason. It’s an old and ancient commandment found in Leviticus 19:18 (NIV): “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But here’s the thing . . . this ancient commandment has taken on a new form and substance since the coming of Christ. In John 13:34 (NIV) Jesus tells us, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

The way we love—or fail to love—reveals the truth found in the depths of our souls. It reveals where we are in our walk with the Lord. If we harbor ill-will, apathy, or hatred in the various forms it may take, towards someone, particularly a fellow believer, then where is the love of God in us? When we write off, hate, or harbor hateful feelings for whatever reason (politics, race, gender, philosophy, culture, etc.), John says we are walking in darkness.

Love Grows Us in God’s Family (1 John 2:12–14): John lays out three different seasons of life for believers and the amazing roles they play, characteristics they demonstrate, and how they all work together to build the body of Christ and grow in His grace and truth. These three seasons are 1) little children, 2) young men, and 3) fathers.

• Little Children: Those who are new to the faith. Little children generally have no doctrinal foundation yet, nor do they have experience in walking with Jesus. But what they do have is an abundance of awe, faith, love, and zeal. And they are generally sponges who desire to soak up as much as they can as they begin to grow, develop, and mature in their faith. This stage is critical for building a strong, solid foundation, and requires young men and fathers to pour into and invest in the little children.
   
• Young Men: This refers to those who have grown up in the faith and have reached a good age of strength and understanding. It would be like early adulthood, those who have been schooled and sent into the workforce or the armed forces. Notice that we don’t send little children or the elderly to battle; it’s always the young, strong, fast, and trained young men and women. Why? Because they have energy and passion; they are mature enough to stand on their own, but still require the guidance and wisdom of those who have lived through the triumphs and tragedies of that stage and can help lead them into full maturity.
   
• Fathers: This refers to those who men and women who have been walking with the Lord long enough to be able to take others under their wing and raise them up to become fully devoted, strong, mature, and reproducing followers of Jesus. As Paul was to Timothy, as Eli was to Samuel, as Moses was to Joshua, and Elijah was to Elisha, the fathers are mentors, teachers, loving parents in the faith.

Real Love Has to Be Fought For (1 John 2:15–17): John lays it out in the first chapter and a half of this letter how God loves us, how we are to love God, how we know that we know God, how we can see evidence of our love for God. Now, he flips the script and implores us to NOT love the world. This is the battle for your life and the battle of your life. He instructs us to not love the world or the things the world offers us. These things are the lust of the flesh (cravings for physical gratification, which always costs more than you’re led to believe), the lust of the eyes (a craving for everything we see, even if it’s not good for us, even if it’s against what God has said), and the pride of life (pride in ourselves, our achievements and successes). These things will lead to ruin and devastation, they will not lead to a life or joy, satisfaction, and contentment, despite what they try to sell you

Quote to Remember: Would you trade something permanent for something temporary?—Pastor Doug Sauder

HOST PEOPLE THIS THANKSGIVING!

Are you willing to open your home to your neighbors, church family, and friends for Thanksgiving? Make new friends as you enjoy a great meal and show the love and generosity of Jesus during this season of thanks! To open your home, click here!

LOVE SOUTH FLORIDA THANKSGIVING OUTREACH

Saturday, November 17, 9am–1pm
Make this Thanksgiving special for hundreds of struggling families all over our community by taking part in our Thanksgiving outreach. Together we’ll deliver food boxes with all the makings of a Thanksgiving meal, spend time with those we’re serving, showing them the love of Jesus and praying with them, and giving them a special gift: a copy of the Gospel of Luke!

Click here to register.

A LOOK AHEAD

Join us on Wednesday night as we kick off our in-depth look at 1 John. Pastor Stephan Tchividjian and Church United Director Eddie Copeland will be joining us for an examination of the themes and concepts in 1 John 1 as well as some vision casting for Love South Florida.

Then on the weekend, we’ll continue our study through 1 John as Pastor Doug shares from 1 John 2:18–29. In this message, we’ll examine how we can experience a genuine, real loving relationship with Jesus and how we can embrace the anointing God has for us.