Laying Down

In 1 John 3, John has a lot to say about disciples loving one another. He tells us that the call to love each other . . .

1. Is embedded in God’s love for us. In 3:1 John writes:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

John pulls the curtains open and this is what we see—the love God has been “lavished” on us. And it not only brought us to Him—it brought us to each other. 

2. Is embodied in Jesus’ death for us. He goes on to say in v. 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.

The Gnostics thought they knew with their mysticism and hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo, but John wants the disciples to know the core knowledge of the universe isn’t buried in mystery and enigma—it was displayed on a hill outside Jerusalem for the whole world to see. Love is spelled C-A-L-V-A-R-Y!

But notice the reflexive truth—we ought to do the same for each other! I think this is where it gets a little slippery. It’s easy in a moment on the mountain top to say, “Yes, I will lay down my life for my brothers and sisters!!!” And that’s good and as it should be. 

But I don’t think that’s really what John is calling us to.

I think he’s much more interested in us laying down a little time in our lives for a brother or sister. A little time to:

• To walk across to the other side of the auditorium on Sunday morning to welcome someone to our assembly or Bible class,
• To text, email, or call someone to see how they are doing,
• To share what we have with someone in need.

Verses 17-18 make it clear that’s what John’s after.

3. Emboldened in His command.  While John has already told us to love one another, he’ll keep saying it because his main thing is to make sure the main thing remains the main thing. So once again he says in v. 23:

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

So, if you haven’t been moved to action yet, he uses the word “command” to get our attention. 

Any way you want to say it, God loves us. He gave His Son Jesus for us. He has “lavished” His love on us and He has eternal plans for us. There’s nothing trivial or ho-hum about this. And as those who are being remade in His image, He calls us to love our brothers and sisters with a love that “lays down” for them. 

1 John

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