1 João 3
Leon Morris · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 3:2
Morris writes that "The reference comes from Is 64:4, but Paul has interpreted "wait for Him" as "love Him." The glories of "the new heavens and the new earth" (Is 6:22) are beyond human imagination, for they are being "prepared" for us by Christ Himself (Jn 14:2,3). Now in fairness while I love this thought, in context this refers primarily to the things revealed to the apostles as noted in 1Co 2:10. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that the things our eyes will see will be beyond our wildest imagination, so I think it is fair to apply the passage with that sense. Paul latter adds that… now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face (when we see Him just as He is); now I know in part, but then I will know fully (for then we will be like Him) just as I also have been fully known. (1Cor 13:12+) Has not yet appeared (phaneroo) - It is not yet been made manifest. What the child of God's future will bring has not yet received open, visible display. The aorist tense emphasizes that it has never been previously manifested on any occasion. This statement stands in marked contrast with the opponents of Christianity who have been revealed (now) as antichrists! (See 1Jn 2:18, 22, 4:3 cp 2Jn 1:7) Appeared (5319) (phaneroo from phanerós = manifest, visible, conspicuous in turn from phaino = give light; become visible in turn from phos = light) is literally "to bring to light" and primarily means "to make visible" or to cause to become visible. The basic meaning of phaneroo is to make known, to clearly reveal, to manifest (see Vine's elaboration of "to be manifest" below), to cause to be seen or to make clear or known. Vine summarizes phaneroo "in the active voice, “to manifest”; in the passive voice, “to be manifested”… To be manifested, in the Scriptural sense of the word, is more than to “appear.” A person may “appear” in a false guise or without a disclosure of what he truly is; to be manifested is to be revealed in one’s true character; this is especially the meaning of phaneroo, see, e.g., John 3:21; 1Co 4:5; 2Cor 5:10, 11; Ep 5:13+.(Vine's Expository Dictionary) (Bolding added) Phaneroo - 49x in 44v - Mark 4:22; 16:12, 14; John 1:31; 2:11; 3:21; 7:4; 9:3; 17:6; 21:1, 14; Rom 1:19; 3:21; 16:26; 1 Cor 4:5; 2 Cor 2:14; 3:3; 4:10f; 5:10f; 7:12; 11:6; Eph 5:13f; Col 1:26; 3:4+; Col 4:4; 1 Tim 3:16; 2 Tim 1:10; Titus 1:3; Heb 9:8, 26; 1 Pet 1:20; 5:4; 1 John 1:2; 2:19, 28; 3:2, 5, 8; 4:9; Rev 3:18; 15:4. NAS = appear(1), appeared(6), appears(3), become visible(1), becomes visible(1), disclose(1), disclosed(1), displayed(1), made… evident(2), made known(1), made manifest(2), make… clear(1), manifested(18), manifests(1), revealed(7), show(1), shown(1). What we will be (2071) (esometha) describes a future event. This is the promise of future glory, of that moment in time when this natural will put on supernatural, or as Paul said… A T
1 João 3:16
Morris comments "As bondslaves to Christ, we owe Him many debts. As Paul says, "I am debtor… to preach the gospel" (Ro 1:14,15+). No longer "to live after the flesh" is also a debt we owe (Ro 8:13+). We "ought to bear the infirmities of the weak" (Ro 15:1+), "to love one another" (1Jn 4:11), "to be teachers" (Heb 5:12+), and "to walk as He walked" (1Jn 2:6+). Ultimately, to lay down our lives for the brethren, is the supreme proof that we love them. John described this in his Gospel (quoted earlier) and Peter had to learn a hard lesson about what it meant (and that it could only be accomplished in the supernatural strength of the Spirit and not the natural strength of a man - and so it was not until Peter received power from on high [Lk 24:49], the power of the Holy Spirit [Acts 1:8], that he was willing to lay down his life for Christ - see Acts 5:29-32, 33, 40-41!)… Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You. Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow, until you deny Me three times. (Jn 13:37-38) Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (Jn 15:13) For some of John's readers this may have indeed meant laying down their physical lives and it may still be true of many followers of Christ today, especially if they are living in areas known for intense Christian persecution. (You may be unaware of ongoing persecution. If you are click on the various countries marked on The Voice of the Martyrs Prayer Map). And then pray for your persecuted brothers and sisters, which surely is one form of laying down one's life for the brethren. "Christ died for those who hated Him and the Christian must confront… the world with a love that is ready to die even for the haters." (cp Stephen in Acts 7:54-60) I gave My life for thee, My precious blood I shed, That thou might’st ransomed be, And quickened from the dead; I gave, I gave My life for thee; What hast thou given for Me? -- Frances R. Havergal John Stott sums up this section -- Hatred characterizes the world, whose prototype is Cain. It originates in the devil, issues in murder and is evidence of spiritual death. Love characterizes the Church, whose prototype is Christ. It originates in God, issues in self-sacrifice, and is evidence of eternal life. (Borrow The Letters of John page 148) David Allen on laying down one's life for another - I remember when I first read about Boris Kornfeld. I have never forgotten his story. I was in my second year as pastor of my first church in 1983. Chuck Colson’s book Loving God had just been published the previous year. Colson told the riveting story of the Jewish doctor in a Russian concentration camp known as a gulag. What crime against the state he had committed no one knows. Kornfeld met a fellow prisoner, a committed Christian whose name we don’t know, who engaged him in conversation about Jesus. He often heard the prisoner recite the Lord’s Prayer and found himself strangely drawn to the words. While carrying on his medical duties amidst filth and squalor day after day, Kornfeld began to see the parallels in the Jewish people who had suffered so much as a nation and the suffering of Jesus. He became a Christian. When Kornfeld discovered an orderly stealing food from his patients, he reported him to the commandant. Though there had been a rash of murders in the camp, with each victim being a stoolie who had ratted someone else out and then paid for it with his life, Kornfeld didn’t care. He knew his life would be in danger as soon as the orderly was released from his cellblock. Kornfeld felt a sense of newfound freedom in Christ. He wanted to tell someone about it, but the prisoner who had spoken to him about Christ had been transferred to another camp. One gray afternoon he examined a patient who had just been operated on for intestinal cancer. The man’s eyes were sorrowful and suspicious, thought Kornfeld, and his face reflected the depth of his spiritual and physical misery. So the doctor began to talk to the patient, describing what had happened to him to change his life. Drifting in and out of the anesthesia’s influence and shaking with fever, the patient heard the doctor’s testimony about Christ and how all of our suffering is in one sense deserved on this earth for our sins. He hung on the doctor’s words until he finally fell asleep. The next morning he was awakened by a commotion in the area. He wondered where his doctor friend was. Then a fellow patient told him of Kornfeld’s fate. During the night, as Kornfeld slept in the infirmary, someone dealt him fatal blows to his skull with a mallet. Kornfeld died, but his testimony did not. The patient pondered the doctor’s last, impassioned words about Christ, suffering, and salvation. He too became a Christian. He survived the prison camp and went on to tell the world what he had learned there. His name was Alexander Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970 for his major work The Gulag Archipelago, which brought international exposure to the Soviet Union’s labor camp system. He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974. (See 1–3 John: Fellowship in God's Family) To illustrate 1 John 3:16, which says "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters," you could depict scenarios where someone makes a significant sacrifice for another person, like: A lifeguard jumping into the water to save a drowning child: This visually represents the act of putting oneself in harm's way to protect another, mirroring Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. A soldier shielding a comrade from gunfire: This highlights the idea of putting another's life before your own, even in a dangerous situation, showcasing the ultimate act of selfless love. A parent donating a kidney to their sick child: This illustrates the immense love and commitment one can have for a family member, signifying a willingness to give a part of oneself for their well-being. A volunteer working tirelessly at a homeless shelter: This portrays the concept of actively serving others with no expectation of reward, reflecting the selfless nature of Christian love. A person offering their last piece of food to someone in need: This simple act demonstrates the idea of sharing what you have with others, even when it means sacrificing something yourself. Key points to emphasize in these illustrations: The act of giving: The focus should be on the person actively taking action to help another, not just thinking about it. Selflessness: The illustration should convey that the sacrifice is made without expecting anything in return. Personal connection: Depicting a recognizable relationship between the individuals can further emphasize the depth of love involved Mahan - He Laid Down His Life For Us 1 John 3:16 Here is the most profound, sublime, and glorious truth that human tongue can speak, proclaimed in seven simple, one-syllable words. There is not a long, complicated word in the entire sentence! Great thoughts can always be expressed in simple words, such as “Thank you,” or “I love you.” But feeble thoughts need to be dressed up in rhetoric and fine language. Someone said, “Today’s intellectuals need Latin words and confusing sentences to express their feeble ideas, but God’s servants are always content to preach the gospel in the Spirit and with the understanding!” We do not preach for admiration but for edification. We do not preach to impress men but to instruct them. ILLUSTRATION OF LAYING DOWN LIFE FOR BRETHREN - A young mother admitted, in a testimony meeting, that she never seemed to find time for her own personal devotions. She had several little children to care for, and the hours melted away. Imagine her surprise when two of the ladies from the church appeared at her front door. “We’ve come to take over,” they explained. “You go into the bedroom and get started on your devotions.” After several days of this kind of help, the young mother was able to develop her devotional life so that the daily demands on her time no longer upset her. GOLFERS HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART When you willingly give Jesus all that you are and all that you have, you receive so much more in return. I heard a story once about a group of guys who were returning from playing golf in rural Georgia. As they drove down a two-lane road they came up on a smoldering house. It was obvious it had burned during the night. Standing in front of the smoldering ashes was a distraught woman with a small child. The men were Christians, so they stopped the car and asked if she was okay. She said nobody was hurt but she had lost all she had. The men each pulled a few dollars out of their pockets and handed it to the woman and said, "God bless you." They drove off in silence. After a couple of miles the driver stopped the car and took off his golf hat. He turned to his buddies and said, "Okay, take out your wallets and give me all the money you have and we’re going to go back and give it to her." They emptied their wallets and one man even wrote a large check. The amount in the hat totaled over $1,000. When they returned, they found the woman standing in the same place. The driver got out and said to the woman, "We just gave you some money, but we made a mistake. Would you be willing to give me all that money back?" The woman looked at him as if he was crazy, but without complaining she gave him the few dollars they had given her. The driver then added that money to that inside his hat and handed her the whole hat. Then he said, "We’ll be sending you more." What a great picture of the fulfillment of this parable. God asks us to give Him all we have—and we don’t have that much—and what we have He gave to us in the first place. But when we willingly surrender everything to Him, He pours out so much blessing we can’t even contain it all! (From a sermon by David Dykes, Sell Out and Buy Up! 8/17/2012) Scriptures: 1 John 3:16-20, 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Brennan Manning By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. 1 JOHN 3:16 NKJV My own glimpse of Jesus moved from obscurity to increasing clarity on a winter’s night in the Zaragoza desert in Spain. The world was asleep, but my heart was awake to God. During prayer I heard Jesus say, “For love of you I left my Father’s side. I came to you who ran from me, who fled me, who did not want to hear my name. For love of you I was covered with spit, punched and beaten, and fixed to the wood of the cross.” Although it was many years ago, this morning in an hour of quiet time, I realized that those words still burned on my life. Whether I am in a state of grace or disgrace, the words impose themselves with the stark realism of objective truth. That night in the cave I stared at a crucifix for hours, figuratively seeing the blood streaming from every wound and pore in Christ’s body. The longer I looked, the more I realized that no man has ever loved me and no woman could ever love me as he does. I cried out in the darkness, “Jesus, are you crazy—are you out of your mind to have loved me so much?” I learned that night what a wise old Franciscan told me: “Once you come to know the love of Jesus Christ, nothing else in the world will seem beautiful or desirable.” Is any love more attractive than Jesus’? Lord, thank you for letting love move you to save me. Amen. Jerry Bridges - EVERYTHING FOR US (1 JOHN 3:16) Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts The Law of God set forth in Scripture is a transcript of God’s own moral nature. It’s the law that was fully imprinted on Adam’s heart as part of his being created in God’s image. It’s the same law that the apostle Paul said is still written on people’s hearts regardless of how obscured it may now be (Romans 2:12–16). It’s a universal law applicable to all people of all times. The apostle Paul was referring to this universal moral will of God when he wrote that Christ was “born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus was born under the Law because He came to perfectly obey it in our place. He came to do what we, because of our sinful nature, could not do. There is, however, another significant dimension to Jesus’ obedience. As our representative, He not only was obligated to obey the precepts of the Law, but also to suffer its penalty for our violation of it. This obligation He freely assumed in obedience to the Father’s will. So Jesus not only obeyed the Father’s universal moral will, which we call the Law of God; He also obeyed the Father’s specific will for Him, namely to suffer the penalty for our sin. The writer of Hebrews referred to this specific will of God for Jesus when he wrote, “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10, NIV). In recent years Christians have tended to focus on the death of Christ almost to the neglect of His sinless life. Jesus’ life of perfect obedience has been seen mostly as a necessary precondition to His death. However, Jesus not only died for us; He also lived for us. All that Christ did in both His life and death, He did in our place as our substitute. “For My Daddy Showed Me So …” This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. “For My Daddy Showed Me So …”— 1 JOHN 3:16 Pearls of Great Price: 366 Daily Devotional Readings - Page 14 Several years ago Nancy wrote to tell me the deep struggles she and her husband wrestled with over placing their severely handicapped son, Brad, in a residential facility. Should they bring him home? Did the family have enough support? I tried to give the family some tools to make those critical decisions, and she recently wrote back to express her appreciation. They’d made their decision; Brad was home again. “Joni,” she wrote, “incredible fruit has resulted in our lives from that decision. God used Brad to change my husband and me, helping us see the Lord in a way we never could have had Brad not lived in our midst.” Nancy also enclosed a beautiful three-page tribute to her husband, written from Brad’s point of view. Every paragraph was a powerful testimony to a father’s flexibility, integrity, love, and devotion to his disabled child. Little Brad “wrote,” “Dad, I can’t give anything back to you except my smiles when I hear your voice, or my giggles when you whistle. I can’t even say, ‘I love you.’ ” But I think the best part of the tribute is the close: “Maybe I can’t read the Bible, but I can ‘say’ Jesus loves me, this I know, for my daddy showed me so.” Greeting card makers employ countless poets and writers to come up with clever, funny, poignant, or romantic ways to say, “I love you; I’m thinking about you.” But God didn’t send a greeting card to show his love — he came himself. He didn’t just tell us he loved us — he gave up his own life on our behalf. You can talk and sing about love until the cows come home. But at the end of the day, real love means sacrifice. How can you show the love of Jesus today by what you sacrifice for another? Thank you, God, for those who have showed me the true love of Christ by what they gave up to teach, encourage, help, and support me. REAL LOVE Embracing Eternity: Living Each Day with a Heart Toward Heaven . 1 John 3:16 “There’s no doubt in my mind that nothing can separate you from God and his love.” Desecration, 21 A YOUNG BOY was sitting in the waiting room of a hospital worried about his sick sister when a doctor sat down beside him. The boy’s parents sat on the other side. The doctor explained to the boy that his sister needed a blood transfusion and that he was one of the few people with the kind of blood that she needed. Both he and his sister had very rare blood types, the doctor explained. And unless his sister received this transfusion, she would probably die. “Would you give your blood to Mary?” the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated and bit his lip to keep it from quivering. “Sure, for my sister,” he said, smiling to hide his fear. Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room. Mary was pale and thin. Johnny was robust and healthy. Neither spoke as the nurse inserted the needles into their arms, beginning the transfusion. Johnny’s smile faded as he saw the blood flow through the tubes. He laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. His face never changed. When the procedure was almost done, he looked up at the doctor and with a slightly shaken voice asked, “Doctor, when do I die?” I hope someone was quick to hug the selfless child! Jesus says, “I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends” (John 15:12–13). If you want to know the depth of people’s love, just look at how much they are willing to sacrifice for you. If you wonder what people think of you, look at what they’re willing to do for you. When people are willing to pay the ultimate price, you no longer have to wonder if their love is genuine. You and I may never be called on to give up our life for someone we love. But people will know just the same, because how we live says as much about us as how we’re willing to die. REFLECTION According to today’s reading, how will we know what real love is? Can you say honestly that you display the love of Christ to those around you? Can you give examples of how you do that? Societies Best of All, God is with Us: Heartwarming Devotions from the ... We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.—1 John 3:16, NLT When John Wesley returned to England from his failed American mission, he noted what happened to his old friend George Whitefield in the ensuing years. Whitefield, like Wesley, drew huge crowds and many were saved, but there was something critical missing, and Wesley saw what it was. Here’s his report: They did repent and believe the gospel. And by his ministry a line of communication was formed, quite from Georgia to New-England. But the last journey he made, he acknowledged to some of his friends, that he had much sorrow and heaviness in his heart, on account of multitudes who for a time ran well, but afterwards “drew back unto perdition.…” … Those who were more or less affected by Mr. Whitefield’s preaching had no discipline at all. They had no shadow of discipline; nothing of the kind. They were formed into no societies: They had no Christian connection with each other, nor were ever taught to watch over each other’s souls. So that if any fell into lukewarmness, or even into sin, he had none to lift him up: He might fall lower and lower, yea, into hell, if he would, for who regarded it? John Wesley found a remedy to the problem of the Whitefield converts who were falling away: Two of our Preachers willingly offered themselves to go to America. They laboured first in Philadelphia and New York; afterwards in many other places: And everywhere God was eminently with them, and gave them to see much fruit of their labour. What was wanting before was now supplied: Those who were desirous to save their souls were no longer a rope of sand, but clave to one another, and began to watch over each other in love. Societies were formed, and Christian discipline introduced in all its branches. The work of God then not only spread wider, particularly in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Jerseys, but sunk abundantly deeper than ever it had done before. —from “The Late Work of God in North America” There is no one lonelier than the troubled Christian who has no one to help him through deep waters. One role of the church is to express the love of Christ toward other believers in practical ways. When someone hurts, we are to be our brother’s keeper. Let me ask you: is there someone who watches diligently over your soul? Do they know your deepest hurts? Your greatest victories? And then, let’s turn the question around: are you there for your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you “connected together” effectively? You may be the answer to the prayers of someone you know. Build relationships with other believers and watch the church grow stronger. Love Rules! What is it like to live in the light of Jesus’ love, as 1 John 3:16 emphasizes? Have you ever entered a dark room or an abandoned apartment, turned on the light, and watched the cockroaches scurry away? Living in the light means we do not have to run away when Jesus shines the truth of His Word on our lives. It means we welcome His inspections. According to the apostle John, it means letting the Savior’s love guide our conduct. That’s a tough assignment and sometimes we fail to make the grade. But Jesus forgives us when we confess our sins. He pardons our transgressions. That’s why it’s so important to stay close to Him, whatever our circumstances. Jesus not only tells us how to be compassionate, but also helps us to display kindness when we rely on Him. Love Comes First. American pastor, author, and sociologist, Tony Campolo, tells the story of a 13-year-old hydrocephalic girl living in a Haitian missionary hospital. The girl, brain-damaged and deformed from an accumulation of fluid in her head, rocked nervously on her bed, day after day, year after year. The Haitian nurses, though very busy with more hopeful cases, lovingly tended this girl, feeding her, changing her diapers, and tending to her safety needs. One day the girl accidentally rocked herself off her bed and onto the cement floor, seriously injuring herself. The nurses could have dismissed the fall as being “God’s will” and cut down on her care. Instead, they chose to increase her care and to spend long hours in prayer for her. We learn from 1 John 3 that loving the unlovely is a Christian’s mandate and challenge. Will we love those we find physically and mentally repulsive? And will we care about and care for society’s “hopeless”? It is through our meaningful relationships—those based on love, full of grace and truth—that we best reflect Jesus’ love and draw others to faith in Him. Love for others is the foremost commandment when it comes to practicing our profession of faith in the Savior. Called to Love. Pastor Jeff Wallace recalls a time when his young daughter, Gracie, was holding his hand as they walked out of a convention hall where they had heard a gifted preacher convey afresh the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus. Jeff noticed Gracie’s rapt attention as the preacher spoke. And Jeff, too, was greatly moved and impressed by the minister’s sermon. Jeff relates that he was not surprised when Gracie looked up at him and asked, “Daddy, did you think that was a good preacher?” “Oh, yes, sweetheart, he is a great preacher,” Jeff responded. “Do you think he’s a better preacher than you are?” Gracie continued. “Oh, yes, sweetheart, he’s a much better preacher than I am,” Jeff admitted. “Not really, Daddy,” Gracie concluded. “The only preacher better than you is Jesus!” Jeff made the following observation: “Of course, my confidence in my preaching ability has little affected my daughter’s opinion. But my heart was overjoyed by her expression of pure love and devotion. Love does that. It always affects. It always brings joy. It always builds up. Love is the only service that power cannot command and money cannot buy. Love is the key to the universe that unlocks all doors. Love is more than a characteristic of God. It is His character.” Don Fortner - The love of God’ 1 John 3:16 Read Hosea 3:1–3; 14:1–9 Children of God, rejoice in and give thanks for the love of God in Christ. None of us deserves to be loved by God. There is nothing in us by nature, either actually or potentially, that could have caused God to love us. He is holy; we are evil. He is pure; we are defiled. He is righteous; we are sinful. He is the glorious God of heaven; we are the filthy worms of the earth. Yet the infinite, eternal God loved us! He loved us freely! There is no cause to be found for the love of God for us except in himself’. He says, ‘I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ The love of God for our souls is sovereign. I cannot explain the sovereignty of God’s love for his own elect, but I can rejoice in his love. He did not love Esau or Judas, but he did love, Jacob and John, He did not choose to love many of my friends and companions or many of my own kinsmen, but blessed be his name, he did choose to love me! I was more undeserving of his love than all the others combined; nevertheless he loved me. Shall I not rejoice in his love? The love of God for his own elect is eternal. His love for us, like himself, is without beginning. The Lord God loves us with an everlasting love. Before angel loved angel, before man loved man, before either angels or men were created, Jehovah loved us, and said, ‘I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ The proof of God’s love for us is in the sacrifice of his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to save us. ‘God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rom. 5:8). God so greatly loved us that, though the price of our redemption must be the blood of his own Son, he willingly made the sacrifice! And God’s love for his own is an immutable love. It changes not. The Lord God will never cease to cherish his own. His love will never come to an end. It can never be exhausted. It never even diminishes or becomes cold. God loves us perfectly and without end. No, not even our many sins affect his love. ‘Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!’ Billy Graham - THE SUPREME SUFFERER 1 JOHN 3:16 Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional - Page 154 Throughout His earthly life, Jesus was constantly exposed to personal violence. At the beginning of His ministry, His own townsfolk at Nazareth tried to hurl Him down from the brow of the hill (Luke 4:29). The religious and political leaders often conspired to seize Him and kill Him. At length He was arrested and brought to trial before Pilate and Herod. Even though He was guiltless of the accusations, He was denounced as an enemy of God and man, and not worthy to live. The sufferings of Jesus also included the fierce temptations of the devil: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). Remember, too, that He knew in advance what was coming, and this enhanced his suffering. He knew the contents of the cup He had to drink; He knew the path of suffering He should tread. He could distinctly foresee the baptism of blood that awaited Him. He spoke plainly to His disciples of His coming death by crucifixion. Jesus, the supreme sufferer, came to suffer for our sins. As a result of His sufferings, our redemption was secured. What does the Divine Sufferer demand from us? Only our faith, our love, our grateful praise, our consecrated hearts and lives. Is that too much to ask? Christ living in us will enable us to live above our circumstances, however painful they are. Perhaps you who read these words find yourself almost crushed by the circumstances you are now facing. You wonder how much more you can stand. But don’t despair! God’s grace is sufficient for you and will enable you to rise above your trials. Let this be your confidence: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35–37) Our Father and our God, You whose Son suffered greatly in my stead, I praise Your marvelous name. I bring to Your holy altar my grateful praise, my love, my consecrated heart, and my surrendered life. Take them, Lord Reflecting Love 1 JOHN 3:16 Chris Tiegreen The One Year Worship the King Devotional: 365 Daily Bible IN WORD Though we don’t fully understand God’s love, we can accept it. Even though its depth is beyond our imaginations, we can assume that because He is God—infinite, perfect, and completely “other”—He is capable of it. We, however, know how short we fall. We are not capable of that kind of love, because self-sacrifice is only part of our nature within a few special family relationships. Nevertheless, that’s exactly the kind of love to which God calls us. We are to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. He came into this world to lay down His life for us, and He never said that’s the end of the story. We are to lay down our lives in exactly the same way. If we want to have God’s kind of love, we have to realize its depths. And its depths call for the ultimate sacrifice. That’s hard to obey. In fact, this commandment to love each other in the same way that Jesus loved us is perhaps the most neglected in all of Scripture. It isn’t that we can’t love each other. It’s that we can’t love each other like that. We usually don’t mind going out of our way for our friends, being generous with our money, even forgiving our enemies from time to time. But to die for them? Even if we take that figuratively, it’s beyond us. We can sacrifice to a point, but there’s a line we won’t cross. We don’t pay ultimate sacrifices easily. The flesh cannot do such a spiritual thing. That’s why it’s a certain sign of God at work in a person. Sacrificial love, in its purest sense, can only be birthed in us from above. Only the Spirit of the sacrificial God can produce sacrificial children. Only a supernatural being can do something so . . . well, supernatural. IN DEED Ask the hard questions about your love life. Who do you love? How much? Are you willing not just to go out of your way occasionally, but to radically sacrifice for the sake of reflecting God’s love? He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor. —VENERABLE BEDE On This Day - Mass Murder On This Day: 365 Amazing and Inspiring Stories about Saints, ... Under Pope Sixtus IV, builder of the Sistine Chapel, the nepotism of the Renaissance papacy reached its worst. The Vatican bustled with his 16 nephews, two brothers, and three sisters who continually injected themselves into Italian and church affairs. They became the leading figures of Rome. They traveled with vast retinues, feasted at banquets, dressed in pearl-embroidered clothes, and slept with endless partners in luxuriant beds. But they soon clashed with their rivals in pleasure and power, the Medici family, based in Florence. The Medici banking firm had been the traditional Vatican bankers. But when conflicts arose, Sixtus transferred the vast papal fortunes to another family of bankers, the Pazzi. The Medici counterattacked, tempers flared, and in 1478, with the pope’s knowledge, his nephews and bankers hatched a plan to murder Lorenzo and Julian Medici. On Sunday, April 26, 1478, the two Medici brothers entered the cathedral in Florence for Easter Mass. They were, according to their custom, unarmed and unguarded. The service began. Suddenly, as the priest lifted the bread of the Eucharist into the air, Julian felt a stabbing pain pierce his chest. The dagger was withdrawn, then thrust again and again. He died quickly. Lorenzo was attacked at the same instant. He instinctively flung his cape around his arm, forming a shield, and fought off his attackers. His rage was unquenchable. He tracked down the conspirators and had them hung or thrown from palace windows. Their ears and noses were cut off, and they were hacked to pieces, dragged through the streets, and thrown into the Arno. Sixtus retaliated by excommunicating Lorenzo, suspending all religious services in Florence, and launching a futile two-year war against the city. The two men remained enemies till 1484 when Sixtus died. Lorenzo the Magnificent, as he was called, lived eight years longer, then died at age 43 after drinking a mixture of jewels prescribed by physicians for his stomach pains. We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That’s why we must give our lives for each other. 1 John 3.16 I’d Die for You—1 John 3:16 More Precious Than Silver: 366 Daily Devotional Readings - Page 14 Real love is an action—a selfless, sacrificial giving. The greatest act of love anyone can perform is to give himself or herself for others. Sometimes it’s easier to say, “I’d die for you” than it is to say, “I’ll live for you. Let me put your desires first. Let me think of your interests before my own.” I think we would all agree that living sacrificially is a real death to self. It’s a killing of your selfishness, your own desires. To die for others, to live for others, is a gift of love that can only come from God. Why only from him? Because it takes superhuman strength to live—I mean, really live—for others. The sweetest lives are those to duty wed, Whose deeds, both great and small, Are close-knit strands of unbroken thread Where love ennobles all. The world may sound no trumpets, ring no bells; The book of life the shining record tells. The love shall chant its own beatitudes After its own life working. A child’s kiss Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad; A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong; Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense Of service which thou renderest. Elizabeth Barrett Browning I wish I could make it more complicated. But it’s ever so simple. Receiving God’s love and then giving his love, dying for others and living for others—that pretty much sums up the Christian walk, our purpose for being. How’s your love quotient? Are you giving more than you’re receiving? Are you ready to live for someone else? In what ways do you need to die to self? Teach me, Lord, through the example of your life, to graciously give of myself that others might live. Keep me from a sense of martyrdom, and enable me to retain my joy. 1 JOHN 3:16 - Audie Lewis If you wish to be “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” begin soon. I suppose that John was between twenty and twenty-five when he was converted; at any rate, he was quite a young man. All the representations of him that have been handed down to us, though I attach no great value to them, yet unite in the fact of his youth. Youthful piety has the most profitable opportunity of becoming eminent piety. If you begin soon to walk with Christ, you will improve your pace, and the habit will grow upon you. He who is only made a Christian in the last few years of his life will scarcely reach to the first and highest degree, for lack of time, and from the hampering influence of old habits; but you who begin soon are planted in good soil, with a sunny aspect, and should come to maturity. If you want to be the man whom Jesus loves, cultivate strong affection and let your nature be tender and kind. The man who is habitually cross and frequently angry cannot walk with God. A man of a quick, hot temper who never tries to check it, or a man in whom there is a malicious remembrance of injuries, like a fire smoldering amidst the embers, cannot be the companion and friend of Jesus, whose spirit is of an opposite character. A pitiful, compassionate, unselfish, generous heart is that which our Lord approves. Be willing to lay down, not only your comfort, but even your life for the brethren. Live in the joy of others, even as saints do in heaven A W Tozer - God’s Love: A Quality That Cannot Be Defined Evenings with Tozer: Daily Devotional Readings - Page 155 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16 Can you really define the word “love” for me? I do not believe you can actually define love—you can describe it but you cannot define it. A person or a race which has never heard of the word “love” can never come to an understanding of what love is even if they could memorize the definitions in all of the world’s dictionaries. But just consider what happens to any simple, freckle-faced boy with his big ears and his red hair awry when he first falls in love and the feeling of it comes into every part of his being. All at once, he knows more about love than all of the dictionaries put together! That is why I say that love can only be understood by the feeling of it. The same is true with the warmth of the sun. Tell a man who has no feeling that it is a warm day and he will never understand what you mean. But take a normal man who is out in the sun and he will soon know it is warm. You can know more about the sun by feeling than you can by description. So, there are qualities in God that can never be explained by the intellect and can only be known by the heart, the innermost being. That is why I say that I do believe in feeling. I believe in what the old writers called religious affection—and we have so little of it because we have so little of true repentance, obedience, separation and holy living! Philip Brooks —1 John 3:16. The wayfarers come to us continually, and they do not come by chance. God sends them. And as they come, with their white faces and their poor scuffling feet, they are our judges. Not merely by whether we give, but by how we give and by what we give, they judge us. One man sends them entirely away. Another drops a little easy, careless, unconscientious money into their hands. Another man washes and clothes them. Another man teaches them lessons. Thank God there are some men and women here and there, full of the power of the Gospel, who cannot rest satisfied till they have opened their very hearts and given the poor wayfaring men the only thing which really is their own, themselves, their faith, their energy, their hope in God. Of such true charity-givers may He who gave Himself for us increase the multitude among us every day! And the voice that was calmer than silence said, “Lo it is I, be not afraid! The Holy Supper is kept, indeed, In whatso we share with another’s need; Not what we give, but what we share,— For the gift without the giver is bare; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,— Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.” James Russell Lowell. Daily Light on the Daily Path - By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us. The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.—“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”—You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.—Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.—Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.—Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.—“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”—Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. “You also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”—We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 1 John 3:16; Eph. 3:19; John 15:13; 2 Cor. 8:9; 1 John 4:11; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; Mark 10:45; 1 Pet. 2:21; John 13:14–15; 1 John 3:16 Lehman Strauss - (1 John 3:16) The word perceive means to know and understand. How can we know and understand the love of God, the love that God is? Only by experience. To perceive is to know by experience. No unsaved person can ever perceive the love of God. “Hereby perceive we [the born ones].…” “He laid down His life for us.” This He did in the Person of His Son, for “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). The love of God is perceived only by those who appropriate Christ’s death for their own sins. Have you noticed that we have here the second John 3:16? Both the Gospel 3:16 and the Epistle 3:16 are saying the same thing. At Calvary the love of God was exhibited in the sacrificial death of Christ. This is divine love in its greatest and highest expression. “He laid down His life for us.” The phrase, “lay down,” is peculiar to the writings of John (John 10:17–18; 15:13). By this voluntary laying down of Christ’s life the believer has come to know what true love is in its inmost nature. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). (See also Galatians 2:20.) The only way to learn how to love is to find out what it means to be loved by God. 1 John 3:16 Never underestimate the tremendous influence you can wield through patient suffering for Jesus' sake. An incident in a French juvenile reformatory illustrates this truth. When a particularly rebellious boy stabbed another youth, inflicting a minor wound, he was sentenced to 3 months in a dark cell on a bread¬and-water diet. He was afraid of the dark, and the prospect of what lay ahead terrified him. The wounded boy, who was a Christian, volunteered to take his place. The director accepted this suggestion on the condition that the guilty lad bring the bread and water to the other boy each day. On the sixth day he broke down and asked to take the punishment himself. The suffering of that Christian lad had touched his heart, and soon the guilty boy became a believer in Christ. Why Love Begets Hate - Read: John 15:18-27 | [Jesus said], "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you." —John 15:18 - If there is one thing believers in Jesus should be known for, it is love. The word love appears in Scripture more than 500 times. The essence of the gospel is love, as we see in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world … ” The epistle of 1 John 3:16 elaborates: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.” Christians are to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13), love their neighbors as themselves (Galatians 5:14), live a life of love (Ephesians 5:2), and love with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18). So, if Jesus and His followers are all about love, why do some people love to hate us? Why are there, according to one estimate, 200 million persecuted believers in the world today? Jesus told us why. He said to His disciples, “Everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20). Jesus is the Light. When He walked this earth, people hated Him because He exposed the darkness of their sin. We are now His light in this world (Matthew 5:14); therefore, the world will also hate us (John 15:19). Some will hate you, some will love you; Some will flatter, some will slight; Cease from man, and look above you, Trust in God and do the right. —Macleod Love in return for love is natural, but love in return for hate is supernatural. The Ultimate Sacrifice - Read: 1 John 3:16-23 | When Deng Jinjie saw people struggling in the water of the Sunshui River in the Hunan province of China, he didn’t just walk by. In an act of heroism, he jumped into the water and helped save four members of a family. Unfortunately, the family left the area while he was still in the water. Sadly, Jinjie, exhausted from his rescue efforts, was overwhelmed and swept away by the river current and drowned. When we were drowning in our sin, Jesus Christ gave His life to come to our aid. We were the ones He came to rescue. He came down from heaven above and pulled us to safety. He did this by taking the punishment for all of our wrongdoing as He died on the cross (1 Peter 2:24) and 3 days later was resurrected. The Bible says, “By this we know love, because [Jesus] laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). Jesus’ sacrificial love for us now inspires us to show genuine love “in deed and in truth” (1Jn 3:18) to others with whom we have relationships. By Jennifer Benson Schuldt Rescued: By Jesus’ love; Rescued: For life above; Rescued: To serve my King; Rescued: My praise to bring. —Verway Jesus laid down His life to show His love for us. INSIGHT: John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7) and to whom Jesus entrusted the care of His mother, Mary (Jn 19:26-27), was well qualified to write about love. In 1 John 2, he described the quality and authenticity of the love expected of the children of God. Here in 1 John 3, he pointed to the death of Christ and directed us to Him as our standard of Christian love (1Jn 3:16). True Christian love is sacrificial action and selfless generosity displayed both in speech and in actions (1Jn 3:16-18). Oswald Chambers - “Will You Lay Down Your Life?” - Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends….I have called you friends… —John 15:13, 15 Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said to the Lord, “I will lay down my life for Your sake,” and he meant it (John 13:37). He had a magnificent sense of the heroic. For us to be incapable of making this same statement Peter made would be a bad thing— our sense of duty is only fully realized through our sense of heroism. Has the Lord ever asked you, “Will you lay down your life for My sake?” (John 13:38). It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in the light of them in our everyday ways. There was only one bright-shining moment in the life of Jesus, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was there that He emptied Himself of His glory for the second time, and then came down into the demon-possessed valley (seeMark 9:1-29). For thirty-three years Jesus laid down His life to do the will of His Father. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). Yet it is contrary to our human nature to do so. If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is. Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult. God saves a person, fills him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, “Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful.” And Jesus says to us, “…I have called you friends….” Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life. (Will You Lay Down Your Life- My Utmost For His Highest) Andrew