“The Mark of Love”

“The Mark of Love” (1 John 3:11–18)

Pastor Cameron Jungels

Eastside Baptist Church

Sunday AM, July 17, 2016

1 John 3:11–18 (NIV) 

11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. 

16 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. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 

1. We have been given a clear command to love one another (11).

a. The Message: The gospel compels us to love.

b. From the beginning: From the point of conversion, love for one another is a primary act of obedience to Christ.

c. One another: Love is personal. We are to care for one another in the body of Christ. 

2. The devil and the world are characterized by hatred, not love (12–15).

a. The devil is characterized by hatred and murder. 

b. Cain was a child of the devil, and revealed his family resemblance when he killed his brother in anger.

i. Cain was an evildoer (1 John 3:12; Gen 4:6–7).

ii. Cain lacked faith (Heb. 11:4)

c. The world is characterized by hatred.

d. Hatred is a mark of worldliness, unbelief, the family resemblance of Satan, and confirmation that one is still in death/condemnation (14).

e. Hatred/lack of love is murder. Murderers are not children of God.

3. Christ and his church are characterized by love, not hatred (14a, 16–18).

a. Jesus Christ gave us the ultimate demonstration of love when he gave his life for ours (16).

b. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must follow the example of Christ and give our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ (16).

c. Our love for one another is demonstrated in real life actions, not thoughts and words only (17–18).

d. Love for one another is a clear mark that we are God’s children and disciples of Christ.

e. Love for one another gives us assurance that we have crossed over from death to life (14a).

Main Idea: Love for other people is a clear mark that we have been born into God’s family.