“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

Foundation of Love

In the closing words of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says in Matthew 7:24–27,

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Years later, Peter would write in 1 Peter 2:2–8,

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

There are so many avenues and facets of the Christian faith that people, quite frankly, get bogged down in. It’s not that they don’t matter, because they certainly do. Your theology matters, your doctrine matters – your denomination, your stance on predestination, on the role of baptism, on what are considered sacraments, on the roles of man and woman within marriage, and within the church – all of this, and more matters. But these are things that are built up from the foundation, they are principles that must begin with Christ, and if not founded in Him will grow distorted, warped, and destructive. Jesus isn’t just a foundational principle, He is the foundation. His words from Matthew make it abundantly clear that we are either built up upon Him, and endure, or we reject Him, build upon the insubstantial, sandy ground of the world, and fall to pieces. Peter calls our attention to the need for a proper beginning – we are not born ready for solid food, there is a biological progression that mirrors what we need spiritually. We’re not made to remain on milk, but we are absolutely made to start with it. And as we develop physically, we don’t set aside the bones and muscle that were first built up with the milk of our infancy, we don’t decay and atrophy to then build ourselves back up with solid food, rather we build upon what was already started. In our walk with Christ, we don’t abandon the Truth we were first called to, it’s not replaced, but is built upon as our foundation. Peter elaborates that in this, Jesus will either be our cornerstone, the integral piece that supports and aligns the entire structure, or we will trip and stumble on Him in our disobedience. We grow in our faith, we develop in sanctification, we learn new and fascinating things through Scripture, and we expand in knowledge and wisdom under the guidance of the Spirit – but this all begins with and builds from the simple Truth, that God made us, came for us, died sacrificially and rose again to redeem us. The foundation for everything is Jesus, and it’s a foundation of Love.

1. Love Leads to Family

A common theme that John has been driving at so far as we’ve worked our way through the letter of 1 John is this idea of origination. His first words in starting the letter weren’t to identify himself by name or title, or to address his recipient. Rather he said in 1 John 1:1,

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—”

This sets the tone for the entire letter, striking at issues of the day which are still relevant now – the lies of the Gnostics, mystics, and false prophets then are the same as they are today. There are no new teachings, there is no twisting or augmenting the person of Christ. John’s testimony has not changed through his years of ministry because it is still founded in the same place. In 1 John 2:7 he stated,

“Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.”

Again, no new teaching, no grand revision, but the peace and comfort of being rooted in the same good soil, of being grafted to the same True Vine. We are reminded and called back to who we are and what we are commanded based around Hebrews 13:8, which says,

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

John repeats in 1 John 2:13 and 14,

“I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning…”

Fathers, elders, leaders, those who are mature in their faith are so because they know the One who is from the beginning. In 1 John 2:24 he writes,

“Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.”

This again attests to the development of those who are founded in the One who is from the beginning and endures to eternity, rather than something fleeting and worldly. Conversely, he gives an example of the other side of the spectrum in 1 John 3:8 saying,

“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

John’s letter is founded in the same Word and Spirit and testimony as it has been from the beginning, professing to the foundation of Jesus Christ. Satan is a sinner, a murderer, the father of lies from the beginning – it is at the very core of what he is, and it stands in direct contrast to the righteousness of God. Now, as we begin this week’s passage, we see John put a finer point on just what this commandment, this founding guide that we’ve known from the beginning is.

“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

In John 15:12, after walking through His role as the True Vine, Jesus tells His disciples,

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

This is vast, but not necessarily complicated. Jesus loved us enough to save us, to graft us to the Vine – He loved us enough to make us family. He tells the disciples in John 14:1–3

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The Love of Christ makes us children of God, but it also makes us brothers and sisters to one another. John wrote earlier in 1 John 1:7,

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Through Jesus we’re brought into a family that is founded in His blood, perfect and eternal, rather than the perishable blood of human mothers and fathers. As John just gave this contrast in the last section of the devil and his origin of sin, he now gives us perspective as it relates to our brothers and sisters in Christ through the example of Cain.

“We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”

If we are called to Love, then Cain shows us the opposite end of the spectrum. Genesis 4:1–8 tells us,

“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.’ And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.’ Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

Jesus says to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:20–22,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Jesus states, “The one who conquers,” but conquers what exactly? Sin. Sin crouches at the door, its desire is destructive, and if we answer its call then we follow the path of Cain, the path of the murderer – the path of Satan. We can’t be part of the family of brothers and sisters joined to one another under the banner of God if we serve hate and foster jealousy and spite within ourselves. Abel brought an offering, Cain brought an offering – but the context clearly shows us that there was something wrong, that the spirit of Cain’s offering was misaligned. Matthew 12:46–50 says,

“While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’”

We are joined together, we are able to love one another by and through devotion and obedience to the will of God. We are turned away from sin and joined together as a family not by our own power or wisdom, but through the redemptive power of Love. When we lean and rely on our own understanding, we die, but when we seek the face of God, the wisdom from above, the Light that guides, teaches, and protects, we don’t just squeak by or barely survive. We’re raised to new life, to full, complete life. We’re adopted as children of God, and we gain a family of fellow believers. As we’ve seen repeatedly in 1 John, the opposing sides are stark in their contrast, and there’s no compromising middle ground. This shows us the chaos and despair of the darkness – but it also affirms the joy and unity found in the eternal family of God.

2. Love Leads to Life

“Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

Jesus prays during the High Priestly Prayer in John 17:14–19,

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

If we have Love, then it should come as no surprise that a world that is governed by a spirit of hate, hates us. If you love the world, and arguably more disturbing, if the world treats you with support and approval, you have a very serious problem. Ephesians 2:1–3 tells us,

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

The world is not a friendly place for the children of God – but that’s because we’re alive in a world of the dead. Those who are separated from Christ, and Paul clearly writes, are dead – dead in their sins, chasing after the world. Without the Light we run in the dark and find nothing but destruction. But as John writes in today’s passage, in Christ we have passed from death into life. And then we’re given another very clear dividing line – we can know that we’re alive because we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we don’t have Love, then we abide in death. Jesus teaches in John 15:4–6,

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

There is death without Christ, without Him we are withered branches, gathered and thrown into the fire. In Him we are alive, we grow and as testament to the life within us we bear fruit, and the first fruit of the Spirit given in Galatians 5:22 is Love. There are those who will read “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,” and think this harsh or extreme, but Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:21–22,

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

We should have regard for the fruit, but we should also pay attention to the seeds. James 1:13–15,

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

If you had a garden and I transplanted a large amount of poison ivy into the midst of your vegetables, you would understandably be (at the very least) unhappy with me. What if I just scattered poison ivy seeds in your garden? That’s far less obtrusive, you won’t even know they’re there – at first. Hatred is the seed of murder, but Love is the seed of Life. The reality of things is that you will be filled with one or the other, and you will reap the fruit of what has grown from your heart.

3. Love Leads to Death

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

If you’re changed in Christ, made new in Him, then praise God, you’re alive – but this also means that you’ve died to sin. Romans 6:1–4 tells us,

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

And Galatians 2:20 says,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

The Love of God is liberation, its unity, its family, its Life – and it is the crucifixion, the brutal execution of the sin that once enslaved us. This means that we know that this world is not our home, that we are truly citizens of an eternal kingdom, and our attachment to the tent of our mortal flesh weakens. We know what Love is, we are given a hard, understandable definition because Jesus died for us. Here John echoes the words he recorded from Jesus in John 15:13-14 which says,

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

The sacrificial death of Jesus gives us a definition of Love – but if we give the passage proper context, there’s more to it than that. I once heard a sermon preached where (I’m paraphrasing here), the claim was passionately made that it should be the goal and ambition of every Christian to die as a martyr. I’d had growing concerns about some of the preaching at that particular church, and that was my last Sunday attending there. A Christian shouldn’t shy away from dying for the Truth of the gospel as Jesus did, but the idea that this should be a driving aim in our relationship with Christ is a twisted ideal. In Revelation 6:9–11 John writes,

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

I included more of the passage for context, but the part I want to draw your attention toward is, “… until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” God knows exactly how many martyrs there will be, and us fighting to get our name on that list seems counterintuitive to surrendering to His will. None of us know how we’re going to die – but God knows how each of His creations will part from this world, from the tiniest insect, to the greatest of His saints, and He is able to use the death of any to His glory. Jesus says in Luke 12:29–34,

“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

This is a challenge for us all, some more than others, but we’re told to not worry – food, shelter, clothing, don’t worry – and by extension, don’t worry about how you’re going to die. We are washed in the blood of the Lamb, we’re indwelled by the Spirit of the Living God, who of His many names and attributes is the embodiment of Love. So whether you die at a ripe old age, peacefully in your sleep, whether you succumb to a brutal battle with disease or cancer, or whether you’re killed, martyred for standing in the Truth of God, seek His kingdom above all else, and prize His will above your own aims or ambitions. I have many verses and passages in Scripture that I love, but 1 John 3:16 has been my favorite verse for a long time.

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

Jesus died for us, He laid down His life – but what does that mean for us if we’re not all destined to be martyred? Jesus is God made flesh, the literal physical embodiment of God – fully God and fully man. His life was not laid down simply at the hour of His death – His entire life was laid down for us. He was born… God came into the world, took on flesh, and came to live as a man among His creation, for us. He then sets aside any worldly ambition and lives perfectly, so that He might pay for our sins with His blood. When Satan tempts Him, and offers up all the worldly power you could possibly imagine, Matthew 4:10 shows us His response,

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”’”

Jesus didn’t just die for us, He lived for us, He devoted His life for us, to the will of the Father, to the glory of God. This is what the Love of God that is within us calls us to. We forsake self, we forsake the temptations and trappings of the world, we lay down our lives for the glory of God, and the mark of this is our genuine willingness to sacrifice for our brothers and sisters – and even those who are lost, that they might see the Love of God and hear the call to join our family. If you want full context for 1 John 3:16, look to the last verse of today’s passage,

“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

James 2:15–17 says,

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

This takes us back to Cain – are you worshiping by way of word, or way of deed? Are your sacrifices made only by way of lip service, obligatory, or only for the purpose of being seen by others, or are they made in the genuine Spirit of Love and obedience? Does your earnest compassion and willingness to sacrifice give testimony to the work that God has done and is doing in your life? Above all else do you seek His face? If we know Love, then we know the family of believers, we know what it means to be alive in Christ, and we know what it means to be dead to sin. These aren’t obscure mysteries, but are stark, clearly given commandments, so that we might understand the salvation we’ve been given through the Spirit. We are either built up in Love or hate, our foundation is either Rock or sand, and the structure testifies to what it rests upon. In closing, I leave you with the words of Paul from Romans 12:9–18,

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

Pastor Chris’ sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1R57IofxXg