Download GOD IS LOVE

GOD IS LOVE
2-27-11
Remember what it was like to be in say the fourth grade and in love for the first time
If we didn’t do this we saw someone else do it
We took a daisy or some other flower and started plucking the petals one at a time and saying:
“She loves me, she loves me not. She loves me, she loves me not.”
Now I doubt many of us realize it but most of us continue to play this game every day with God
We get a raise - He loves me!
Someone else gets the promotion we were hoping for - He loves me not!
We feel healthy - He loves me!
We battle an awful cold all week - He loves me not!
We get a suprise reimbursement check in the mail - He loves me!
We get a surprise bill - He loves me not!
We’re inspired by the music or ther sermon or something else at church - He loves me!
Nothing seems to happen this Sunday - He loves me not!
Most of us rarely realize that we arrogantly presume to judge God by how our life is going
at any given moment
When everything is coming up roses then God is good, He loves us
When things don’t go according to our plan - well then maybe not
But is this really the best way for measure God’s love for us
Can we really determine if He loves us or not based upon our immediate circumstances of feelings?
God forbid!
Our immediate circumstances or feelings are at best like one piece of a jigsaw puzzle with billions of
pieces
Our feelings at the moment, our perception of our circumstances
may or may not have any remote correlation to what is really true
Now I don’t know about you but I must admit that I often struggle with feeling loved by God
I know God is great and I know He is good
I am absolutely committed to believing that He is in control of everything in life
BUT I hate to confess that I don’t always feel God’s love or pleasure
I long to feel, or be more aware of His love
But how do we get there?
How do we better appreciate and experience God’s love for us?
Well today in our series on the character or attributes of God I want to briefly highlight
10 ways we can see God’s love
And then next week suggest how we can better experience God’s love
1) God’s revelation of His love (Exo, 34:6; Ps. 86:5; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 3:19; 1 Jn. 4:8,16)
The first way God makes His love known is through
a) Through His Triunity(John 1:1; 3:35; 5:20; 10:30; 14:31; 17)
In the beginning, before there was time and space, before there was a universe,
there was love
God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit enjoying perfect love
They danced together
They rejoiced in each other
They had no need for anyone or anything else
But they decided to share their love
They decided upon an
b) Through His eternal plan (Eph. 1:3-12; Gal. 4:4)
that would bring the greatest glory to themselves
They created a plan which would work out everything in conformity with the purpose of their will (Eph.
1:11
Their plan would include first of all
c) Through creation (Gen. 1-2; Ps. 145:9)
God describes everything He created in Gen. 1-2 to be good
except for the aloneness of Adam
Which He shortly corrected
In love God created first the angels, some of which then rebelled against Him
and in love He then created all that exists
From the galaxies, to our sun, to our planet
From the mountains to the plains
From the oceans to the continents
From the amebas to zebras
To human beings, the creature most like the Creator in all the creation
In love for Himself and His glory and in love for all He created, God created all things
The reason any of us exists is because God loves us
God has a unique plan and purpose for everyone of us
What David says was true for him is true for everyone of us:
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Our parents chose to have a sexual encounter but God opened our mother’s womb
God decided: “I’m going to make a Hank, a Sherry, a Steve, a Tom, a Gunnie, an Ian and on and on
Every creature, every human exists because God has a plan for us
God is a lover
He did not need people to love
If God needed us then His creation of us was selfish!
If God needed us the only reason we exist is to make Him more complete
But He is complete in Himself
He has the perfect community within Himself
God did not need people to love ...
But He wanted people to love
He has created us so that we can experience His love
He has designed us so that nothing in the universe will satisfy us but His love
And He devotes our lives to wooing us to experience His love
But He also knew that we would never appreciate His love if it was only an automatic thing
If we were all born as princes or princesses and could seemingly have whatever we wanted
whenever we wanted we would soon take everything for granted
We would think that the universe owed us whatever we wanted
We would become delusional and think that we are the sovereigns of life
That everything that exists exists for us
That the universe revolves around us
If we were born with everything on a silver platter for us we would not appreciate it
We must experience loss and disappointment and frustration and anger
to realize how wonderful blessings are
We are very much like abandoned puppies or kittens
Most of us have had the experience of coming on a stray dog or cat
A few of them will come to us immediately but most of them are scared of us
Are we trustworthy?
If they come to us will we love them or hurt them?
If we are trustworthy and they choose to come to us then we can transform their lives
We can give them a warm home and all the food they need
We can give them love
But they have to decide whether to risk coming to us
When Adam and Eve fell into sin they hid from God
When we sin we hide from God
But God comes looking for people, offering them forgiveness and a home
But we have to decide to receive His gifts
In love God created us
But we have rejected His love
We thus deserve His punishment, His condemnation, His justice
And yet because of His love He has not given up on us
He instead
d) Through providing for sin (Gen. 3:15,21; Leviticus; John 1:29; 3:16; Rom. 5:8; cf. 2 Pet. 3:9)
When Adam and Eve sinned against God He pronounced sentences of judgment on them
and upon Satan
But He also in love told them that this was not the end of the story
He told them that there would be a descendent of theirs who would restore things
to the way they were supposed to be (Gen. 3:15)
But in the meantime God killed some animals and clothed Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21)
His actions showed them how offensive their sin was
Their sin was so awful that blood had to be shed
Justice demanded death
But God graciously provided an animal to symbolically die in their place
And God then provided an entire sacrificial system to symbolize His provision for sin
Various animals died to symbolically pay for the sin of God’s people
But none of these animals was really sufficient to pay for human sin
It was the sinners who deserved execution
How could an animal truly pay for the sins of sinners?
They didn’t
They only pointed to the ultimate sacrifice
The only Person Who could ever truly pay for all human sin
God promised all the way back in Genesis 3 immediately after the Fall that one would come
who would make things right again
And when John the Baptizer introduced Jesus to the world he said:
“Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)
Jesus’ coming and His death for sin is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love
The cross shows how seriously God takes sin and how much He truly loves humanity
Rom. 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
God the Father so loved humanity that He sent His Son to die in the place of humanity
As God the Son Jesus offered a perfectly sinless life on the cross
As a human being Jesus could legitimately substitute for mankind
But because of His love God sent His Son to provide a sacrifice sufficient for every sin
that ever has or ever will be committed
The ultimate demonstration of God’s love is the cross
I know some of you find it hard to stomach Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion”
But I still believe that it would be good for us to watch it at least once a year if not more often
To remind us not just of the physical agony Jesus experienced
But the incredible love He and the Father demonstrated by His willingly going through such agony
I believe we need to feel that awfulness of what He suffered to remember
how much He loves us
The ultimate way to feel God’s love is to feel all the agony of the cross
But another way we can see God’s love is
e) Through providence (Matt. 10:29; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3; cf. Gen. 37-50{39:4;
50:20}; Job 12:23; 14:5; 34:14-15; 37-42; Ps. 22:28; 139:16)
Jesus says: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” (Matt. 10:29)
The death of every sparrow and the death of every human being is a part of God’s best plan
Things happen every day that don’t seem to us to be part of God’s best plan
We may never get over the timing or circumstances of a loved one’s death
There are losses in this life which make this life never the same again
And yet again to us history is like a jigsaw puzzle which is at least as big as our galaxy
and we have only one piece of the puzzle
Whatever our circumstance or feeling is at the moment is the tiniest, minutest fragment
of the whole picture
Life for us looks like the backside of a tapestry
with random strings making no sense
But there is a bigger picture, another side to the tapestry, drawn by a Lover
I think of the story of Joseph
Jacob was wrong in showing such favoritism toward Joseph
and Joseph’s brother sold him into slavery
And yet God worked behind the scenes as Joseph went from slave to the palace
to prison to prime administrator in Egypt
Joseph’s brothers intended to hurt Him but God used their evil intentions
to preserve all of Joseph’s family and to in fact feed thousands
The details of life often baffle us
Evil things do happen every day
but God is using even evil to bring glory to Himself and to express His love
God’s love is also seen through His
f) Through common grace (Matt. 5:45; 6:26; Acts 14:17; Ps. 104:144; 145:15-16)
Jesus says that God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt. 5:45)
God blesses all humans with innumerable blessings from rain to food to friends to families
James 1:17 says that every good gift comes from God
No sinner deserves any blessing from God but God gives every sinner innumerable blessings
whether they ever receive His gift of salvation or not
Psalm 145(9) says: “God is good to all; He has compassion on all that He has made.”
Another way God demonstrates His love is by letting us reap the consequences of our sin
What if we are a believer we call His
g) Through discipline (Heb. 12:5-6; cf. John 15:9-10; Gal. 6:7; Jude 21)
Hebrews 12:6 says that “the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.”
Which is more loving: To spank my toddler if he goes in the street
or to let him play in the street?
If he plays long enough in the street something bad is going to happen
Because I love him I discipline him
Better to make his bottom sting a little than for his skull to be crushed
Love does not let people do whatever they want
Love tries to help people do what is best for them
God may let us get away with sin temporarily but sooner or later we reap what we sow
Our sin finds us out
We suffer the consequences of our wrongdoing
And that is loving because hopefully we will learn from our bad choices and choose better ones
next time
God also demonstrates His love
h) Through election (Deut. 7:7-8; 10:14-15; Jer. 31:3; Eph. 1:4-5; Rom. 9:11-16;
2 Thess. 2:13; cf. Matt. 23:37)
Out of all the nations of the earth God chose one to be His people,
One to specially represent Him to the rest of the human race
God did not choose Israel because they were the best looking or smartest or most righteous people
Deut. 7:7 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous
than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought
you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king
of Egypt.
Why did God choose Israel? Because He loved them!
He says in Jer. 31(3): “I have loved you (Israel) with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
Israel was not smarter or better than any other nation
God just picked them
God has a universal love which offers salvation to all people
God has a universal love which provides blessings to everyone
But God also has special love by He selects some to be His children
Let me let you in on a secret: I love everyone at Calvary
You are all special to me
But there’s only one of you I chose to be my bride
I have a special love for Sherry that is different from how I love the rest of you
And the Bible teaches that God not only chose Israel from among all the nations to be His chosen nation
but that He choose individual people to become part of His family
Eph. 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his
sight.
In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
Years ago an 10 year old wrote to Dear Abby:
“All my life I’ve been chosen last.
Why don’t they just hang a sign on me that says, ‘Reject. Last one to pick gets me.’”
To not be chosen is awful
But to be chosen is awesome
To be chosen means that we’re wanted, that we’re worthwhile, that we’re loved
And anyone who becomes a Christian does so because God picks them
God draws them to salvation
All of humanity is on a well deserved, one way road to hell
but God has a special love for some
Election has many mysteries that we’ll never fully understand but one thing it clearly means
If we are a Christian its because God loves us
God chose us
John Ortberg tells the story of growing up in Chicago and being a Cubs fan
He says that his favorite player in those days was their catcher Randy Hundley
Well one day John was practicing his piano when the phone rang
His mother answered the phone and a neighbor told her:
“Mrs. Ortberg, you’ll never guess what.
Randy Hundley is at my house!
I told him that John lives next door and he would love to meet him
so he wants to see John.”
But John’s mom did not know Randy Hundley from Adam and she told her neighbor:
“I’m sorry but John is practicing his piano right now so you’ll have to tell Randy that he’ll have
to come over some other time.”
When John finished practicing and his mother told him about the call he lost it
He told his mother that he was going to call social services and have her taken away
He could not believe that his hero had been right next door and wanted to meet him
and his mother sent him away
Ortberg went to his room and sank into a deep depression
But a couple of hours later there was a knock on his door
and when he answered it there stood Randy Hundley
John’s neighbor had told Randy what a huge fan he was and Randy chose to come back later
just to meet John!
And Jesus has come to meet us
IF we are a Christian it is because He found us not because we found Him
It is because God has chosen us to be a part of His family, to adopt us as His child
We should not worry about what we don’t understand about election
We should wonder at the amazing love that God has chosen us
God also demonstrates His love
i) Through intimate union (John 15:1-11; Eph. 3:18-19; Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20;
2 Pet. 1:3-4; 1 John 3:24; cf. Song of Songs)
Once we become a Christian God puts us into union with Jesus
The Holy Spirit comes to indwell us
We become as 2 Peter 1 says “partakers of the divine nature”
We become members of God’s family
We become Jesus’ bride
God desires not to just be our Savior, not to just be our Sovereign
God desires to be our Lover
God desires us to have an intimate, relationship with Him
We’re going to come back to that in a moment and focus on it next week
God also demonstrates His love through keeping us saved
Through preserving and ultimately glorifying us
j) Through preservation and glorification (Phil. 1:6; Rom. 8:28-39; cf. Jonah;
Hosea)
Philippians 1(6) says that “He Who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion
until the day of Christ Jesus.”
I have two sons who I love dearly
But, like all family relationships, there have ebbs and flows in our relationship
But no matter what either one of them might do,
there is nothing they could ever do that could make them no longer my sons
IF we as God’s sons run from Him then as in the case of Jonah or Gomer in Hosea
God will never give up on us
He will never leave nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5)
Because of His love God will always pursue us
Because of His love He will preserve us and ultimately glorify us
Paul puts it like this:
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified,
he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things?
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that,
who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine
or nakedness or danger or sword? ...
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can separate us from God’s love
Once we are saved nothing, not even our own choices, can undo our salvation
God brought us to salvation and God will bring us to glorification
If He brings us to salvation then one day He will bring us to the wedding supper of the Lamb
Since God has expressed His love for us in so many ways, then how should we respond to it?
2) Our response to God’s love
Well obviously first of all we should
a) Receive it (John 1:12-13; 3:16-18)
We should welcome His love
We should humbly and joyfully receive all of His gifts
We should then also
b) Release it (1 John 4:7-21; cf. John 13:34-35)
1 John 4(19) says: “We love because He first loved us.”
To be loved is to love back
The more we feel God’s love the more we will return and release His love
But we must feel God’s love
And to feel it we must understand and appreciate it
Do you think of God as a Lover?
Do you think of God as desiring intimacy with us?
Do you think of God wooing us?
A little over a year ago Sherry and I discovered a musician who has helped us feel God’s love
Obviously different music reaches different people
But the songs of Misty Edwards have caused us to think and feel differently about God
They have challenged us to discover new things about God in His word
And I want to conclude today by playing one of her songs for you
The song may not speak to you
It may seem long or repetitive because it is
BUT when I first heard this song it brought tears to my eyes
and continued to do so every time I heard it for weeks
It caused me to think of God in new ways and to go back to His word
and to reexamine what it means to say that God loves me
God has used this song, and others by Misty and her colleagues, to begin a pilgrimmage
to seek Him in new ways
(Play “See the Way”)
(This song can be downloaded for free if you register at:
http://forerunnermediagroup.com/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000035845