If you have your Bibles, if you would, turn with me, please, to the book of 1 John, chapter 4. 1 John, chapter 4. And we're going to look at a very familiar verse of Scripture. It's a short verse, and yet I believe that in this verse there is much truth that can be learned, and I trust that this will be a blessing to you as we think about this particular verse of Scripture. In 1 John chapter 4, we want to look at verse number 19 this morning. Verse number 19. 1 John chapter 4, verse number 19 says, We love Him because He first loved us. My subject this morning is He first loved us. The apostle John is often referred to as the apostle of love. The reason for that is because he wrote so much on the subject in the four books that John wrote. He mentions love in the word love or some various form of that word in nearly 90 verses in those four books. And in the book of First John, love is mentioned and is discussed in in every chapter with the exception of the first. And when the subject of love is discussed in 1 John, primarily it is used, usually dealt with from the perspective that those who claim to be a Christian will have a genuine love for the brethren. And I think John was firmly convinced that brotherly love was one of the most important tests of the reality of one's faith. Genuine faith will inevitably be shown by love. And John carefully points this out even in this chapter. If you would go back to verse 7 and 8 and notice how he puts that in its proper meaning here. He says in verse 7 of 1 John 4, he says, Beloved let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God he that loveth not he says knoweth not God for God he says is love and there John makes the point that God is the source of all true love and as a result love is the the best evidence that a person truly knows God. And the love that which John speaks of here, of course, is something that does not flow naturally from the human heart. It is a supernatural love that is peculiar to those who know the Lord as their Savior. It is a love that is real. It is a love that is spiritual. It is a love that is unselfish. And such love, John says, is the proof of a regenerate heart. Only true believers are capable of genuine love for the brethren. And just as it is God's nature to love, love is characteristic of His true children. Just as we are reminded of in another verse of Scripture Paul wrote in Romans chapter 5, the last part of verse number 5, he talks about how that the love of God, he says, is shed abroad in our hearts. He says, by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. But when you come to 1 John chapter 4 and verse number 19, it's interesting that John approaches the subject of love from a different direction. And in this verse, he is not talking about the believer's love for the brethren. He is not talking about that, but instead he focuses his attention and our attention, we might say. The focus of his attention is upon God's love for us and our love for God. And I think that when you study this verse, I believe it seems to indicate that John was totally overwhelmed with the reality that he, that he was loved by God. And it's interesting to know that of all the gospel writers, John referred to himself on four different occasions in the book of John as the disciple whom Jesus loved. The disciple whom Jesus loved. Now, did the Lord love the other apostles? Well, of course He did. But it seems, does it not, that John was gripped with the fact that the God of love would manifest His love toward someone like Him. In verse number 19, I think what we have here is the principle of cause and effect. for every cause there is an effect. And John informs us that the only reason we love God, he says, is because He first loved us. And John teaches that this kind of love that he is talking about is something that cannot be manufactured by the human will. It is a love that is wrought in the hearts of believers by God Himself. So the cause here is He, that is God, first loved us. The effect? We love Him. So let's consider the phrase, He first loved us. He first Who is the word He? Who is He that this statement is referring to? Well, I think the word He goes back to the context when John makes reference to God as being the God of love. Now, twice in this one chapter, John declares that God is love. We already read the first one in verse number 8. But look, if you would, back up to verse number 16. In verse 16, John says, And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Now, I believe by saying that God is love, I think that the apostle is making a very strong statement about the very character, the essence of God Himself. It is God's very nature to love. Love permeates who He is. God is the very personification of love. God's love is the highest expression of His person. And it has been correctly stated that love does not define God, but God defines love. The love of God may be defined where God freely, where He deliberately chooses to seek the highest and the ultimate good of His creatures wherein He may be glorified. Love is that attribute of God which is the, we might say, the moving cause, the very basis for all of His acts of mercy and grace and goodness, which are but various manifestations of His love, a love that is divine, a love that is holy, a love that is perfect. Think about this statement though. God first loved us. Now I think that little word, first, I think puts God's love in its proper perspective. That little word, first, tells us a lot about God's love. It tells us that God's love was uninfluenced. And what I mean by that is that there was nothing And I mean nothing whatsoever in the objects of God's love to cause Him to exercise His love. There was absolutely nothing in us as lost sinners to cause God to love us. Nobody, I don't care who they are, nobody can claim the right to God's love. The love of God is free. It is spontaneous. It is uncaused. And the only reason why God loves anyone is because He chooses to do so. This divine truth, I think, was made clear by the Lord when He made this statement to His chosen people, the people of Israel. Even in the Old Testament days, they were to learn of this truth. You remember the statement that God made to the children of Israel as he was speaking, as Moses was speaking to them? And if you have your Bibles, look at the book of Deuteronomy just for a second. And I want you to see this for yourself. It's a very familiar passage, but it ties in with what we're looking at this morning. But in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6, 7, and the first part of verse 8, it's very interesting to me. But in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6, notice what the Lord says here to His people. He says, For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. But the next statement is interesting. The Lord did not set His love upon you nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people." He wanted the people of Israel to know that there was nothing in them that caused Him to choose them as His people and to love them as His people. What was the reason for it? Very simply, the first part of verse number 8 just says, because the Lord loved you. That's as simple as it gets. I love you because I chose to love you. There was no other reason why he chose the children of Israel. And because God is a sovereign God, he does as he pleases. And because God is a God of love, he loves whom he pleases, you see. So the truth is, the cause of God's love lies within God Himself. God's love is a sovereign love. And I think that is perfectly illustrated in the lives of two brothers in the Old Testament. And Paul brings this issue up in the book of Romans, chapter 9, in verse 13 and 14. And he brings up the issue of these two brothers. In the Old Testament, in Romans 9, 13, Paul says, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And it's almost as if the Lord knew that there were going to be some people out there that would protest against that and say, but wait a minute, that's not fair that God would love Jacob and that he would hate Esau. So the next verse says, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. The point is, and you've heard this stated before, when you read those verses of Scripture in Romans 9, the amazing thing is not that God hated Esau. The amazing thing is that God loved Jacob. And that's what we want to see here. God alone, you see, He selects the objects of His love. God is under no obligation to love anybody. He loves according to His own purpose and will. So that's why when you come to 1 John 4, 19, that just makes that verse that more amazing, does it not? When it simply says, He first loved us. He first loved us. He loved us first, we might say, in time. Do you know the Bible teaches that God's love is eternal? For He Himself is eternal. Do you remember the statement there in Jeremiah 31.3 where the scripture says that the Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, Yea, I have loved thee, it says, with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Now, I may not understand that in all of its fullness. I may not be able to explain that to you in clear terms. But, beloved, I believe that because it's taught in God's Word. He's loved us with an everlasting love. God loved us with an everlasting love. There never was a time when God did not love His people and there never will be a time when He will not love His people. What a blessing that is to think about. And just as God had no beginning and just as God will have no ending, so is His love. Now, It is a blessing to know then that the great and holy God loved His people even before heaven and earth were called into existence, that He had set His heart upon us from all of eternity. Ephesians 1 chapter, we looked at this in the Sunday school hour or it was made reference to in Ephesians 1.4 where it talks about how that God the Father has chosen us and God the Son, it says, before the foundation of the world. We are to understand that God set his love upon us in eternity past when he established a covenant of grace of redemption with his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse number 9 that we have been saved, we have been called, it says, with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, it says, which was given us in Christ Jesus before, before, before the world began. It's an everlasting, everlasting love. And since God's love toward me had no beginning, it can have no ending. And since it is true that from everlasting to everlasting He is God, and since the Bible says God is love, then it is equally true that from everlasting to everlasting God loves His people. God first loved us. That's an amazing statement in the Scripture. God first loved us. He loved us first. not only in time, but we might say God first loved us also in quality. And what I mean by that is what Ephesians chapter 2. If you have your Bibles, look at Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 4, a very short verse. And we know Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, but I like what verse 4 says. But Ephesians 2, 4, the Scripture says, But God, who is rich in mercy, For His great love. It was almost as if, I think, the Apostle Paul, he didn't know what kind of adjective to put on there. And by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says, For His great love, wherewith He loved us. I mean, God's love, Paul says, is great. It is infinite. It is without limit. I like what A.W. Pink says about this, about God's love. He says, and I quote, there is a depth to it, he says, which none can fathom. There is a height to it to which none can scale. There is a length and breadth to it which defies human measurement. You know he's exactly right. When you go to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 18 and 19, Paul does talk about, does he not, the breadth He talks about the length and the depth and the height of Christ's love. A love, he says in that passage, which passeth knowledge. I mean, how else can you explain, how else can you describe God's love other than being great, being superior, magnificent, all-surpassing and glorious? Probably the most famous and recognized verse in all the Bible, John 3, 16, I think sheds some light on the magnitude of God's love when it just simply says, for God so loved. Somebody once said that no one can adequately define or measure that little word, so. It just didn't say God loved, but it said God so, so loved. So John here tells us in definitive terms that God first loved us. Now, how do we know? How do we know that for certain that God first loved us? How can we know for sure that God loves us? Well, I'm glad. that the Bible does not merely say that God loved us and then leave it up to the individual to figure that out what that means. Notice if you would in verse 9 and verse 10. John there tells us that God has manifested His love. He's displayed it in a particular way that can be examined, that can be studied and can be looked at. Look if you would in verse 9. in this was manifested the love of God toward us. How do we know? Because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him here in His love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us. And sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. What John is telling us here is that Calvary is the supreme demonstration of divine love. Calvary was God's love displayed in action. And John believed. And John proclaimed that the cross of Calvary was the highest expression of the love of God for sinful man. And in those verses we see that God's love is made manifest, and not only through the sacrificial work of Christ, But he says also God's love is made manifest in pardoning and saving repentant believing sinners and making full provision for all of their spiritual needs. It's been said that the mark of true love is the giving of oneself. And if love is a giving of oneself, then the greatest love is shown by laying down one's very life. And of course, such love was perfectly demonstrated by Christ. I like John 3.16, but I like 1 John 3.16 as well. In 1 John 3.16 it says, Hereby perceive we, hereby we come to understand the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. John 15, 13, what did Jesus say? Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. In this passage here in 1 John, in verse 9 and 10, the Apostle John explains that the love of God, he explains it in terms of sacrifice, in terms of atonement for sin, in the term of propitiation. That word is is a big word, but we need not to be afraid of it. It's a Bible word. It's a good word. And that word propitiation in verse 10, it speaks of a sacrifice that is designed to turn away the wrath of an offended God. And what John is telling us here is that God gave us His Son as an offering for our sin in order to satisfy His own wrath and justice in the salvation of sinners. That's the very heart of the Gospel. The good news is that God Himself, through the sacrifice of His Son, paid the price. paid the price for our sin. He is the one that took the initiative. Notice in verse 10, John says, not that we love God. No, no, no. It says, but that He loved us. You see, God was not responding to anything in sinners that made them worthy of His grace. On the contrary, God's love was altogether undeserved. by sinful humanity. The sinners for whom Christ died were worthy of nothing but His wrath. John then had it right. God first loved us. You see, the sending of Christ to die on the cross for our sins, that was not because of man's love for God. It was God who loved, not man, you see. It was God who came to man. Man did not seek after God. God loved us, and He sent His Son to rescue, to save us, not because we were lovable, not because we deserved it, but simply because, as the Scripture says, God is love. God is love. You see, in Christ's death on the cross, we have the highest possible expression and demonstration of what love is all about, of what divine love is all about. He, who is love, sent His precious Son to die as an atonement for our sin. And so at the cross, God's love is shown to sinful fallen creatures who have no rightful claim. to His goodness, to His mercy, to His love. So think about those words. He first loved us. Now who is the us? Who is the us in this passage? It is sinful, rebellious, ungodly sinners just like you and just like me. I mean, there was nothing, nothing within us to cause God to love us. He set His love upon us because it pleased Him to do so. And in our lost, depraved condition, deserving nothing but His wrath, His anger, His judgment, Scripture says He first loved us. He knew how filthy, disgusting, wretched creatures we were, and yet It still says He first. He first loved us. And even though it's beyond our limited, finite comprehension and understanding, the Bible teaches that God loved us even before our creation, our regeneration, our conversion. The truth is God loved us before we had any desire to love Him or even to be loved by Him. He even loved us, the Bible says, when we were His enemy. Remember what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 5 and verse number 6? He says that for when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the righteous. Is that what it says? Christ died for the good? No, it says Christ died for the ungodly. For the ungodly. And two verses later in Romans 5a, it says God commendeth. That is God demonstrated. God put it on full view, on full display. God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You see, by nature, we were opposed to God. We hated God. We wanted nothing to do with Him. By our fallen, depraved nature, we would not come to God. We would not receive the truth of His Word. But God, in His great love, He overcame such obstacles. And in His sovereign grace, He brought us to Himself. He overcame our helplessness. He enabled us to choose Him, to come to Him, to believe upon Him for the salvation of our soul. He first loved us. He saw our desperate condition. He saw our need to be delivered from the penalty and the punishment of our sins in sovereign, unconditional, wondrous, sacrificial love. God gave us His only Son to pay for our sin and God's wrath was poured out upon His beloved Son who had done nothing worthy of any kind of punishment. The Bible teaches, yes, that God is love. And He demonstrated His love for us in that while we were sinners in rebellion against Him, He gave His only Son to die on our behalf so that what? Look at the last part of verse number 9. It says, so that we might live through Him. so that we might live through Him. Christ died that we might live through Him. We might say that Christ died in order that we might live for Him. 2 Corinthians 5.15, the Scripture says this, "...and that He died for all, and they that which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again." Christ died that we might live through Him. Christ died that we might live for Him. And yes, we might say that Christ died that one glorious day we might live with Him. That's why Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5, in verse number 10, he says, Who died for us that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. And since God Loved us sacrificially and unconditionally. I think we are to demonstrate that same kind of love towards Him. Again, look at verse 19. What does it say? We love Him because He first loved us. We love Him because He first... I mean, we can only love God because He first loved us. You see, all true believers love God because God first loved them. And our love to God is a love in response to His love towards us. Our response to His love is to love God, to love Him with a heart that is full of adoration and worship and praise and faith and reverence and thanksgiving. If we love Him, I think we will seek to obey Him. and to please Him, and to serve Him, to honor Him, to glorify Him. If we love Him, we will delight to hear His Word and to worship with His people on the Lord's Day. If we love God as we should, we will seek to give Him our time, our talents, our treasures. If we love God, He will have first place in our lives. Listen, beloved, the desire of our heart should be to grow in our love to Him, to love Him more and more with each passing day. Let me say this, too. Let me say this. Verse number 19, when John says, we love Him. Now, there's a lot of people who say, well, I love the Lord, I love the Lord, I love the Lord. Anybody can say that. But John says, but hang on a second. Hang on a second. There is some to say that we love God? I'm telling you, that carries with it some very serious implications, if you think about it. If we truly love the Lord, we will do at least, at least two things. Number one, we will keep His Word. Is that not what Jesus said in John 14 and 15? He says, if ye love Me, He said, keep My commandments. In 1 John, he brings that up again. 1 John 2, verse 5, John says, Whoso keepeth his word, in him barely is the love of God perfected. 1 John 5, verse 3, For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. So it's a serious thing for you or I to say, yes, I love God. But John says, if you love him, you'll keep his word. Number two, John says and teaches, the scripture says here, that if we love God, we will love the brethren. In 1 John chapter 3, if you notice there in verse 17 and 18, John makes this comment. He said, But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion, from how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth." Anybody can say, well, I love my brother so-and-so, or I love my sister so-and-so. John says, don't just say it, you need to show it. That's what he's saying. You need to show it. And in chapter 4, in this same chapter that we've been reading from, in verse 20 and 21, notice at the end of this chapter, He says again, if a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, what's going to happen? Love his brother also. So there are at least two things we can say. When John says we love Him, if we love God as we should, we will do at least Those two things, we will keep His word and love the brethren. So let me say this in closing. What a precious truth it is when we read those verses and look at that particular statement that John writes about. It's a very short verse, but man, it's packed with a lot of truth when it says, He first loved us. One writer said this, I know of no greater source of comfort no more sure foundation for our security and no richer source of contentment than to know that God first loved me." Listen, the love of God is the very basis for all of our hopes. It is the source and the fulfillment of our faith. It is the very foundation for His grace to us. And as the recipients, as the, we might say, the beneficiaries of God's love We as the people of the Lord ought to see that everything that we enjoy in this life, it's an expression of the great love wherewith God loved us. The blessing of His love, listen, the blessing of His love comes to us not because we deserve it, but simply and only because of His sovereign grace. Every day of our lives, God graciously pours out His love upon us without measure, and as a result, and all that we can do basically, beloved, is to fall on our faces before Him with reverent and humble worship, thanking Him, thanking Him for all that He has done, thanking Him for all that He is doing, and thanking Him for all that He will yet do for us. Such love, I think, lifts us to unimaginable heights of joy and confidence because we know that our God, the righteous judge of all the universe, the one to whom we have committed our very soul's well-being, He has revealed Himself as a God of immeasurable love. Beloved, and we are the objects We are the objects of that love despite our unworthiness, despite our sin and sinfulness. And in light of such divine love, how could we, how could we do anything less than to obey what Jesus said was the first and great commandment of scripture? You remember what that is? Matthew 22, 37. He said the first and greatest commandment in Scripture is to love. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. I like what Charles Gabriel wrote. He wrote a poem. He put it to music years ago. You'll probably recognize the words of this poem. And it goes like this. It says, I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. when with the ransom and glory His face at last shall see, t'will be my joy through the ages to sing of His love for me. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me." Isn't it a blessing to know that He first loved us. And if you're here today and you're a stranger to this love and the grace of God that this Bible talks about, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then our prayer and our plea is today that you'll look to Christ. For He is your only hope. He is your only help. That you might realize and understand of your lost and desperate condition in need of the Savior. Oh, but what love He demonstrated that He made manifest for you and I as He died on that old rugged cross and shed His precious blood, that we might have the full and complete forgiveness of our sins and that we might have eternal life through Him. Why not today? Why don't you look to Him by faith, trusting Him to save you from your sins. Let's pray. Our Father, as we bow before you this morning, we want to thank you, Lord, for that love that was so graciously and gloriously demonstrated for us on the cross of Calvary. We thank you, Lord, for sending your only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins. We thank you for that fact that the scripture says that you first loved us. And Lord, I pray that if there's one that's lost in their sins without Christ, that today would be the day of their salvation, that you might be gracious to bring them unto yourself. And Lord, that their dead hearts might be regenerated. Lord, that their sin blinded eyes might be open to the truth. And Lord, that they would come to you today in repentance and faith, trusting you. We just give you the praise and the glory for it all, for it's in Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.