1 John 4:12, 21(NKJV) No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us…….21. And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
John 13:34-35 (NKJV) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We won’t know how to love until and unless we have fully grasped the perfect love of God. What is perfect love? It is the agape love. It is an unconditional love that seeks the highest good of the person whom we love despite of the person’s shortcoming.
The perfect love of God caused Him to devise a fail proof plan to redeem mankind to Himself. It started in the book of Genesis chapter 12:3 where God revealed to us that it will be through Abraham and later the Abrahamic covenant where all the families of the earth will be blessed. Yes, God chose the Jews as His people, but His plan is the salvation of all races, colors, tribes, and nationalities so that none shall perish.
Jesus came to declare God and His unconditional love for us. Jesus died on the cross for us and dealt with the sin issue while we were yet sinners. He took the sins, all the curses of the law and was made sin on our behalf. It was a demonstration of His love. His perfect love. The shed blood of Jesus Christ purchased and redeemed us from our sins. God through the work of Jesus Christ proactively pursued us with His love despite all our sins, lawlessness, flaws, and imperfection.
He showed to us what perfect love is. It has nothing to do with what we have or have not done. It is not a conditional love. It does not demand its rights, privileges, and clauses. It is not the phileo love of the world where we love only when we are loved. It is the agape love. It is the unconditional love. It is a choice to constantly love the person unconditionally and to have the highest good of the person in our heart and mind. It is choosing to love despite knowing the imperfection and weaknesses of the person. That’s perfect love.
God commanded us to love one another with the same kind of perfect love because we have received the perfect love from Him. It is spiritual maturity when we show forth His perfect love in and through us. The world will know that we are His disciples when we love like He does. He expects us to love with the perfect love just as He has loved us with His perfect love.
Sermon Series: The Best Abode
何为完全的爱？
约翰一书 4:12- 21从来没有人看见过神。我们若彼此相爱、神就住在我们里面、爱祂的心在我们里面得以完全了。 爱神的，也当爱他的弟兄，这是我们从神所受的命令。
约翰福音13:34-35 我赐给你们一条新命令，就是彼此相爱; 我怎样爱你们一样。你们也要怎样彼此相爱， 35 你们若有彼此相爱的心、众人由此就认出你们是我的门徒了。
我们不知道如何去爱，除非并且直到我们完全掌握了上帝完全的爱。什么是完全的爱? 那就是神Agape的爱。这是一种为我们所爱的人—尽管这人有缺点–寻求最大好处的无条件的爱。
神完全的爱使祂制定出一个万无一失的计划把人类救赎归祂。这始于《创世纪》第12章3节，上帝在经文中向我们启示，通过亚伯拉罕，以及后来与亚伯拉罕的盟约，地上万族都会蒙福。是的，上帝拣选犹太人作为祂的子民，但祂计划的是所有种族、肤色、部落和民族的救赎，不愿有一人沉沦。
耶稣来表明神以及祂对我们无条件的爱。当我们还是罪人的时候，耶稣为我们死在十字架上，解决了罪的问题。祂背负了律法上所有的罪和咒诅，为我们众人成了罪。这是祂爱的表现，完全的爱。耶稣基督所流的血偿付了罪的代价，把我们从罪中救赎出来。神通过耶稣基督的工作，主动以爱寻求我们，尽管我们有罪、无法无天、有瑕疵和不完美。
祂向我们展现何为完全的爱。这与我们做了什么或没做什么无关。这不是有条件的爱。它不主张自己的权利、特权和条款。它不是世界phlieo有条件的爱，那种只有当被爱时才报以爱的爱。那是神的大爱，是无条件的爱。一直无条件地爱一个人，一心为所爱之人寻求最大的好处，这是一个选择。就是明知对方的弱点和不完美，但仍然选择去爱。这就是完全的爱。
神吩咐我们要以同样完全的爱彼此相爱，因为我们已经从祂领受了完全的爱。当我们以行动把里面的爱显示出来时，这就是属灵的成熟。当我们像祂一样彼此相爱，世界就能认出我们是祂的门徒。主期待我们以完全的爱去爱，就像祂以完全的爱来爱我们一样。
讲章系列：最好的住所