Our Eternal Position

The ultimate purpose behind the writing of this book is so that we will know beyond a shadow of doubt that we have eternal life. One chapter over in 1 John 5:13, John states his purpose for this book : “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Knowing for sure that we can look forward to an eternity with Christ is a source of both great comfort and great joy. It was the primary reason why Jesus came in the first place. Where are you going to spend all of eternity? That is the most important question that you can ever ask!

The decisions we make right now, in this world, both establish and impact our destination for all of eternity. The choices we make right now are a really big deal. Our relationship with God right now determines whether or not we look forward to eternity with joy or dread. Our decisions right now also impacts our daily lives right now. Our relationship with God also determines if we are joyful as we face various trials or if we are miserable. This book is intensely practical.

The joy of the Lord can begin right now. Living for Christ begins today, not tomorrow. Men and women who are the most joyful in this life are also those who are the most joyful when they think about facing the next life. Our relationship with God right now is a gauge that helps us to determine how we will stand before God on the Day of Judgment. Are we:

• Unsaved (facing God’s Wrath)
• Saved, but miserable (constantly living under God’s Discipline)
• Saved and joyful (looking forward to spending eternity with Christ)

We are not talking about just the theoretical this morning. Doctrine and application should always go together. We can study about:

• how we are saved and
• how we are children of God and
• how sin no longer had dominion over us.

BUT, all the academic study in the world makes no difference if the gospel has not radically impacted your life!

Some of the most miserable people in the church are tremendous Bible students. They can conjugate Greek verbs. They know lots of theological terms. They can tell the parables forward and backward. But, they never apply God’s truth to their lives, then in the end, all the Bible knowledge does not profit them one bit!

When God’s word says something, it never says it just so that you have something interesting to think about. The Bible is incredibly interesting, but just taking it in as an exercise for the mind will not be of any benefit. God’s Word is meant to be intensely practical. [That’s why in our small groups, we are trying to be better and better about running to application so that we don’t just study Gods Word, but we actively seek to apply it in real, practical ways]

I am making the point about the practicality of God’s Word because we are going to talk about some end times theology right now. Christians can get all hung up when it comes to end times theology. They talk about:

• Are there two resurrections or just one?
• Does Christ come before the tribulation after the tribulation or in the middle of the tribulation?
• When exactly is the 1000 year reign of Christ

On issues like these, Christians like to draw lines in the sand and even split churches over their disagreements on the various theories. I want to shout STOP IT! YOU’RE MISSING THE WHOLE POINT… And ask…

• Can you picture yourself at the Day of Judgment – giving account for you life before God?
• Do you understand that Judgment Day is coming sooner than you think?
• Does it register in your mind that one day you and I will be judged by a Being who is perfectly holy and perfectly just and who has absolutely perfect recollection? AND, His judgment on that day will determine our destination and our position and our rewards for the rest of eternity….

You and I will face a Day of Judgment. As you and I approach the imminent arrival of that day, do we think about that day with confidence or with fear? …With anticipation or with dread?

Some people say, “I’ve never really thought about the Day of Judgment at all.” There are a couple of reasons someone might think that way

#1 They don’t believe God’s Word

They don’t fear because they don’t take God’s Word seriously. They see the Day of Judgment as a scare tactic or as a religious relic that does not apply to modern-day people. In fact, some people even make fun of the notion. They don’t really fear the Day of Judgment because they look at God’s Word and make a conscious decision not to pay attention to what it says.

#2 They are truly ignorant about what God’s Word teaches.

People who are ignorant often do not fear things that they should be afraid of doing.

• Like the child who picks up a handgun and thinks it’s a toy
• DIY Electrician: A person might not fear electricity because they’ve never been shocked and don’t understand how dangerous it really is.

The more people know, they more they are aware of the dangerous things that surround them. There are people in the world that do not fear the Day of Judgment because they don’t even know that it is a possibility. They are so caught up with the latest excitement or craze that they have never stopped to think about what might happen to them after they die.

Unlikely True

Most of us who have gathered here this morning are aware that this life is passing at an alarming pace. The very thought of the magnitude and permanence of eternity is sobering to people like us. Most of us dream of the day when we come face-to-face with Christ and He says “well done my good and faithful servant.” BUT if someone doesn’t really know for sure what God’s reaction will be when he sees them, there should be a sense of terror and dread of that Day.

The plain teaching of God’s Word clearly says that our eternal destiny is determined by our actions right now here on earth. This sober reality creates the context for this important section of scripture that we studying today.

Perfect Love

The topic of chapter 4 of 1 John turns to that of perfect love or completed love. Verse 12 states, “…if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” In other words, Love is the new “normal” for a child of God. In fact, love is at the very heart of who we became when we were adopted into the family of God.

Then in verse 13-16, John focusses on the fact that the believer has the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Verse 15 says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” Last week we looked at how the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit is like a proof of purchase – it is proof that you are one of the people who have been brought by the blood of Jesus and adopted into His family. It’s proof that Christ purchased you. AND when you are indwelt by a perfect God – whose nature is the very essence of love – it always results in us acting in more loving ways towards other people… That is the nature of who we became when we were transformed into a new creation in Christ.

That brings us to verse 17. In verse 17, John returns to the idea of complete or perfect love. The idea of this passage is not that we can somehow reach a place of total perfection this side of heaven, but that believers who are following Christ are becoming increasingly mature in their faith and their focus is more and more fixed on the person of Christ instead of on worldly pursuits. There may be 2 steps forward and 1 step back… and then 4 steps forward and 5 steps back… It’s not perfectly but increasingly more like Jesus.

There are two marks of God’s love being perfected or completed in us: Here’s mark #1:

#1 Confidence as We Consider the Day of Judgment

¹⁷ By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

When people who are worldly, who are enslaved to Satan and who are engaged in sinful activities face a holy and righteous God, they will be filled with shame and terror. When unrighteous people meet a perfectly righteous God, that will be a horrible day, beyond description.

However, when God looks upon His adopted son or daughter and does not see their sin, but instead only sees Christ’s perfection covering their sin, that will be a day of unspeakable joy. When we see the evidences of God’s grace in our lives, it gives us increasing confidence when we think ahead to the Day of Judgment. What do I mean by “evidences of grace?” I mean evidences in our lives that we are no longer functioning in the power of the flesh, but increasingly in the power of the Spirit. So:

• If I work in the best interest toward someone (in other words, I love somebody) who does not like me, that is an evidence of Grace. [I wouldn’t do that in my flesh, but the Spirit in me does that.]
• If I have victory over my flesh and get up early in the morning and do my devotions and I love it, that is an evidence of Grace.
• If I love being with the people of God – if being with them is a source of joy in my life- that is an evidence of Grace

As these evidence of grace begin to add up and then begin to multiply, it give us increasing assurance that the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts. That added assurance gives us increasing confidence as we think ahead to that Day of Judgment – that God would see us and say, “welcome home.”

We have confidence to stand before God when

• We know that we are sons or daughters of God because of the evidence that sin is diminishing in our lives
  We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 1 John 5:18
• We know we are not object of God’s wrath, but objects of God’s love
  ⁹ For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. – 1 Thess 5:9-10

Now John sates the same truth again, but states it in the negative. Look at verse 18

¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

One translation puts it this way, “there is no room for fear in love.” (NEB). We can approach God in both love and reverence. BUT we can’t approach Him in love and hide from Him in dread. Paul says in Romans 8:

^“14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,“Abba! Father!”

Fear has to do with punishment, but the child of God will never know God’s wrath for their sins. God poured out his wrath on Jesus on that dreadful day of Jesus’ crucifixion so that we would never have to bear the weight of God’s righteous anger. Instead, we come before God forgiven. He is our Father. The word “Abba” means “daddy.” A Believer has confidence to approach our God on that Day in the same way a child would run to a father who adores them.

Look at verse 19

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.

Last week we defined love as acting in the best interest of others without regard for ourselves. That kind of love goes against our flesh. Being a person who loves is yet another evidence of God’s grace and yet further proof that we are children of a God who is love.

That brings us to the second mark of love being complete in us

#2 Selfless Love for Other People

²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

The perfect love that drives out fear also drives out hatred in our hearts. God’s love is made complete in us when we choose to love one another in intentional, self-less and sacrificial ways. John doesn’t beat around the bush. His statement in this verse is very clear. If a man says that he loves God, but his behavior contradicts what he says, then John says that man is a liar.

In fact there are three Black lies that John talks about in this book

Black Lies

1. The Moral Lie: If someone claims to have fellowship with God, and yet they walk in darkness, then they lie about their relationship with God (1 John 1:6, 2:4)
2. The Doctrinal Lie: If someone claims to follow God the Father and they deny the Deity of God the Son, then they lie about being followers of God the Father (1 John 2:22-23)
3. The Social Lie: If someone claims to love God, but they hate their brothers, then they do not really love God (1 John 4:20)

John says here that it is absurd to think that a person could love God, who he has never seen, if he cannot love a person who he can see. It would be like my son claiming that he could win the Indy 500, when he’s never driven a car before. If we don’t prove our abilities in small areas, how can we boast about an ability in a big area?! Obviously, it is easier to love and serve a visible person than it is to love and serve an invisible God!

If we fail in the easier task (of loving our brothers) then it is ridiculous to claim success in the harder task (of loving God) – especially when the way that we prove our love for God is by loving other people. Look at verse 21

²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

John Stott: “Every claim to love God is a delusion if it is not accompanied by unselfish and practical love for our brothers and sisters.”

Life Application

Let me end by giving you a few practical applications for this passage.

If I love brothers and sisters in Christ, the capacity to love them is proof that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within me and that God is love. Why? Because apart from God’s direct intervention, I would not naturally love other people. Man, by nature, does not love. By nature, we are not looking out for the best interest of others, but only for the best interest of ourselves.

Only by the grace of God, is genuine, self-less love even a possibility. So if I find myself:

• Loving someone who is not otherwise lovable
• Praying for someone who has been bad-mouthing me
• Helping someone who has been trying to harm me

If I find myself doing those kind of things, then it is further evidence that I am being controlled by a loving God and not by my own flesh. If the Holy Spirit were not in me, I would never act in the best interest of others, but when the Holy Spirit is in control, I am being controlled by a God who is love and who – by nature – constantly does loving things.

God is eager to complete or to perfect His love in us… not so that we’ll change externally, but so that we are truly transformed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit. When this transformation takes place, then we begin to live victoriously and we begin to experience joy in the midst of our trials.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus himself said to “love your enemies” and to “bless those that curse you” and to “do good to those who hate you” and to “pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you.” Jesus asked in Matthew 5:46, “⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”

He’s telling us to love others like God loves us. How can we do that? We can only love the way God loves if He is dwelling within us. Then if we see God’s love pouring out of us, it gives us increased confidence that when we stand before God, we can be confident that we will receive God’s blessing and not God’s wrath on the Day of Judgment.

Loving others gives us confidence on the Day of Judgment.

Teaching Outline

Two Reason Why People Might Not Think About the Day of Judgment:

1. They don’t believe God’s Word
2. They are truly ignorant about what God’s Word teaches

Two Marks of God’s Love Being Perfected in Us

#1 Confidence as We Consider the Day of Judgment – 1 John 4:17-19

We have confidence to stand before God when:

• We know that we are sons or daughters of God because of the evidence that sin is diminishing in our lives – 1 John 5:18
• We know we are not object of God’s wrath, but objects of God’s love – 1 Thess 5:9-10

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,“Abba! Father! Romans 8:14

Definition: love: acting in the best interest of others without regard for ourselves

#2 Selfless Love for Other People – 1 John 4:20-21

Black Lies

1. The Moral Lie – 1 John 1:6, 2:4
2. The Doctrinal Lie – 1 John 2:22-23
3. The Social Lie – 1 John 4:20

“Every claim to love God is a delusion if it is not accompanied by unselfish and practical love for our brothers and sisters.” John Stott

Application

Love others like God loves us.

Loving others gives us confidence on the Day of Judgment.