"So Loved"
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GOD’S LOVE
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Introduction:
We are going to unwrap this morning the topic of God’s love. Hopefully and just maybe answer some questions we all have about the love of God like, Does God really love me? Why does God love me? Does God love everyone?
There is nothing so immeasurable or as important as God’s love and yet His love so misunderstood by man today.
1 John 4 just revealed to us a profound statement about God’s love...God is love! Do you really understand what that means?
Have you ever considered the magnitude of that statement? Let us consider God’s love…
I. God’s Love is Unconditional
I. God’s Love is Unconditional
1. God’s love is not in any way influenced by anything we say, do or have.
1. God’s love is not in any way influenced by anything we say, do or have.
Let me ask you this, do you think this letter written from Marie to Jimmy is an indication of unconditional love...
Dearest Jimmy,
No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking off our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you!
Yours Forever, Marie
P.S. And congratulations on winning the state lottery!!!
What about this letter written by God to us...
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
2. Nothing about us makes God love us.
2. Nothing about us makes God love us.
As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
God does not love us because we are valuable. We are valuable because God loves us.
No matter what your life has been like, He still loves you!
It has been said due to what God has revealed to us through His word as well as through the giving of His son for us,
“There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you anymore than He already does, and there is nothing you can do to cause God to love you any less. GOD IS LOVE!
The most important lesson that you can learn in life is that God never stops loving you!
Peter denied being one of the disciples and cursed, but God still loved him and turned his life around.
John Mark turned back and quit in the middle of a missionary journey but Christ still loved Him and caused him to be an asset to the church and the Apostle Paul (2 Timothy 4:11).
David committed adultery and murder, but God still loved him.
GOD IS LOVE - GOD’S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL
next...
II. God’s love is Unending
II. God’s love is Unending
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
God’s love for us is from eternity, without beginning and without ending
Max Lucado illustrates the unending love of God in his book 3:16 by sharing the following story.
“Matheson was only a teenager when doctors told him he was going blind. Not to be denied, he pursued his studies, graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1861 at the age of 19. By the time he finished graduate seminary studies, he was sightless.
His fiancée returned his engagement ring with a note: “I cannot see my way clear to go through life bound by the chains of marriage to a blind man.”
Matheson never married. He adapted to his sightless world but never recovered from his broken heart. He became a powerful and poetic pastor, led a full and inspiring life. Yet occasionally the pain of his unrequited affection flared up, as it did decades later at his sister’s wedding. The ceremony brought back memories of the love he had lost. In response, he turned to the unending love of God for comfort and penned these words to a familiar hymn entitled O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go on June 6, 1882:
O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.”
Those who know and have experienced the love of Jesus can boldly quote Romans 8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s Love is UNENDING...
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
And if love never fails, God never fails.
Country singer George Strait sings a song entitled, "Love without End, Amen." It tells the story of a young boy coming home from school after having a fight and expecting punishment from his dad. Fully expecting the wrath of his father, the son waited, expecting the worst. However, the father said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father’s love ...Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then ...it’s a love without end. Amen."
The young lad grew up and passed this secret on to his children. One day he dreamed that he died and went to heaven. He was concerned, as he waited to go in, because he realized there must be some mistake for if they knew half the things he’s done they would never let him in. It was then that he heard his father’s words again, "Let me tell you a secret about a father’s love ...Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then ...it’s a love without end. Amen." Isn’t it comforting to know that we have a Father like this? It is no secret, concerning our Father’s love: God doesn’t just love His children every now and then; indeed, it is a "love without end, Amen." - Bill Thrasher
GOD IS LOVE - GOD’S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL, ITS UNENDING...
and...
III. God’s Love in Unchangeable
III. God’s Love in Unchangeable
“For I am the Lord, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
God’s Love in Unchangeable.
C. H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE. Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. “Weather vanes are changeable,” he said, “but God’s love is constant.” “I don’t agree with you about those words, Charles,” replied his friend. “You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love.”
For God so LOVED…because God Is LOVE.
GOD IS LOVE - GOD’S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL, ITS UNENDING, ITS UNCHANGEABLE