Faith of Our Fathers: "The God of Love" by John Stott

Aired: January 15, 2026
Host: WDAC Radio Company
Speaker: John Stott

Episode Overview

In this sermon titled "The God of Love," esteemed preacher John Stott launches a new series on “Knowing God.” Speaking from 1 John 4:7-12, Stott unpacks the biblical and practical significance of God's love. He emphasizes that understanding and experiencing God’s love must transform how Christians love one another. Drawing from doctrine, history, and personal experience, Stott urges the church to embody divine love, making the invisible God visible through tangible acts of selfless service.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Purpose of Studying God’s Attributes (00:43–04:20)

• Stott introduces a series on six attributes of God, beginning with God’s love.
• He distinguishes between academic knowledge of God and personal knowledge, referencing Jesus’ definition of eternal life:

  “Eternal life is that they may know you… the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

• Stott emphasizes that knowing God personally is foundational for true humanity:

  “A human being is a person made by God, like God and for God, in order to spend time and eternity with God.” (02:39)

2. Central Text: 1 John 4:7-12 (04:20–10:00)

• Stott reads and focuses on a passage where the phrase “God is love” uniquely appears (08:00).
• He stresses the practical nature of the Bible, focusing not on abstract definitions, but on how God's love should produce love among believers.
• Main Theme:

  “Because God is love, we must love one another. There is no sense in talking about knowing God unless this issues in practical love for one another.” (08:36)

3. The Indispensable Necessity of Loving One Another (10:00–13:00)

• Stott draws attention to John's triple repetition as an “indispensable necessity”:
  • v7: “Let us love one another…”
  • v11: “If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
  • v12: “If we love one another, God abides in us…”
• This appeal is repeatedly grounded in God’s own love.

4. Three Arguments for Loving Others

4.1. God’s Nature: “God is Love” (13:00–18:30)

• Argument 1:
  Christians should love because love originates from God.
• Stott contrasts ordinary human love with divine love:

  “The love he is talking about is not ordinary human love… but divine love: the love that stoops and sacrifices and serves, looking for no reward.” (16:30)

• True evidence of knowing God:

  “Whoever does not love with a love like that… does not know God, however much they may claim to.” (18:01)

4.2. God’s Action: Love Manifested in Christ (18:30–24:10)

• Argument 2:
  God has demonstrated love in history by sending His Son for us:

  “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him… to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (19:05)

• Stott dispels the idea that Jesus placates a reluctant God, emphasizing:

  “It is God in Christ propitiating his wrath by his love. That’s the mystery of the atonement, the wonder that God loved us enough to bear our sin and guilt and judgment in his own innocent person.” (23:30)

4.3. God’s Presence: His Love Perfected in Us (24:10–31:00)

• Argument 3:
  By loving each other, God becomes visible in the world:

  “Nobody has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (24:15)

• Stott explores the challenge of God's invisibility both in ancient and modern times. The unique solution:

  “The invisible God who once made himself visible in Christ now makes himself visible in Christians— in the Christian community, if it is a community of love.” (28:40)

• Practical implication for evangelism:

  “People are never going to believe in our invisible God… if he does not make himself visible in us today.” (29:40)

5. Application & Contemporary Examples (31:00–35:00)

• Stott laments a “famine of love” in modern society, referencing Japanese Christian Kagawa and Mother Teresa:

  “The loveless land is more dreary than Sahara, more terrible than Gobi.” (32:00)

• He critiques the church’s failure to love, referencing Mel White’s study of the Jonestown tragedy:

  “Jim Jones’s victims were from our churches, but they didn’t find love there… I was so turned off in every church I went to because nobody cared.” (33:10, quoting survivors)

• Stott calls for radical change:

  “I will do my best to make my church a more loving community to our members and the strangers in our midst.” (34:09, quoting Mel White)

6. Conclusion and Exhortation (35:00–40:00)

• Stott closes with John’s exhortation:

  “Beloved, let us love one another. Not just that we may attract outsiders... but because God is love in his innermost being and because he has loved us in Christ.” (35:40)

• He warns:

  “If we do not love one another, our claim to know God… is just a hollow mockery.” (36:00)

• Stott leads the listeners in prayer for the Holy Spirit’s help to love, even those we struggle to love, echoing the deep challenge of Christian love in action.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the core of Christian identity:

  “If we claim to know God, we should exhibit the love of the God we claim to know.” — John Stott (17:19)

• On the uniqueness of divine love:

  “It’s the love that took Christ to the cross. It’s the love of our enemies. That is divine love and is possible only to those who have been born of God...” — John Stott (16:55)

• On evangelism and visibility of God:

  “The invisible God who once made himself visible in Christ now makes himself visible in Christians…” — John Stott (28:40)

• On the tragedy of loveless Christianity:

  “Jim Jones Victims were from our churches, but they didn’t find love there.” — John Stott, quoting Mel White (33:10)

• On practical application:

  "People today in the west are hungry for love, for understanding love, which is the only answer to loneliness." — John Stott, quoting Mother Teresa (32:30)

• On personal repentance:

  “We’re conscious of people we don’t love… We need to repent and pray for grace to love one another, including our enemies.” — John Stott (37:00)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:43 – Series introduction: Knowing God & the meaning of personal knowledge
• 04:20 – Reading and initial exposition of 1 John 4:7-12
• 10:00 – The necessity of loving one another
• 13:00 – Love flows from God’s own nature (“God is love”)
• 18:30 – God’s love manifested in sending Christ
• 24:10 – God’s love perfected and made visible in believers
• 31:00 – The world’s “famine of love” and church implications
• 33:10 – Lessons from Jonestown and a call for church renewal
• 35:40 – Final exhortation and prayer

Tone & Style

John Stott weaves together rigorous biblical exposition, practical urgency, and pastoral warmth. His message is both intellectually robust and deeply heartfelt, challenging listeners to live out God’s love in visible, radical ways.

Summary Takeaway

In this sermon, Stott argues that to truly know God is to embody His love, both within the church and toward the world. Only then does Christian faith become credible and make the invisible God visible today. As Stott urges:

“Let us love one another… because God is love in his innermost being and because he has loved us in Christ.” (35:40)