A Loving God
Notes
Transcript
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Introduction
Introduction
First off, let me welcome everyone and wish them a Happy Valentines Day. Quick question, how many of us even know what valentines day is and how it originated? According to History.com, the long-standing traditional holiday is steeped in Catholic tradition, celebrating the saint Valentine or Valentinus, who was martyred. Now, while we are not sure which one of the three “Valentines” it is named after, there are good stories that go along with St. Valentine. One of these stories says that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter—who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. In any of these cases, we realize that there is a love story theme that permeates - love for others, and personal love.
If I were to ask today for each of us to describe our “love story” with our spouse, I am sure we would have many interesting stories. For me, I was completely oblivious to my beautiful brides subtle hints that she was interested. It actually took her dad making the simple statement to “take care of her” - meaning at work - to put me in a panic and realize God had much more in store for us and I have tried to care for her to the best of my abilities for over 20 years now. But I wonder how many times God has given us subtle hints of how much he cares for us, and what he desires for us, and all that he has sacrificed for us yet, like me with Allison, we remain oblivious. Many times it is something in life - everything from a bad day at work to a major illness or loss - that finally clues us in on what God’s love for us truly means, the sacrifices He made for us, and what He desires for our lives. God desires much more for us than just a working relationship, or a casual acquaintance. He desires a close, personal, and literally a SAVING relationship with all of his created beings.
One might say they have to experience a true love - like the love of a parent for their child - before they could ever understand God’s love for them, but I would submit this train of thinking is backwards. To know true love, we must have first experiences the purest form of love - the love God expresses to us - before we could ever even come close to knowing what true love is. You see, love STARTS with God, because God IS love!
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
To exhibit true love, we must have first experience true love, and it is abiding in God that we can experience a pure, a persistent, and a perfect love. I have found it interesting that Paul continually speaks of his love and affection towards God. How is it that he can so eloquently explain God’s love? Paul quickly pointing out that it is because of the love shown towards him by God that he understands and can express the purest form of God’s love to us. In these verses, we find that God’s love is justified, it is rejoiced, and it is true.
A Justifying Love
A Justifying Love
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
As a result of God’s promise outlined in Chapter 4, by FAITH we have been deemed righteous in the eyes of God. Faith comes through a personal trust in the Gospel (message of salvation through faith in Christ). Trust means that we have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of God, and His Son Jesus Christ. It is through this faith - this trust - that we come to rely of God and our relationship with God can flourish. Notice that this trust is us in God - God cannot trust us because we are sinful - and unworthy of a full trust. When we place trust in God, He loves us unconditionally, and we grow in our trust which leads to peace - which can only be described as a harmonious relationship between God and man. How do we grow in our trust? Through reading, understanding, and believing what Jesus did for us through His life, death, and resurrection. We can gain an even more personal understanding through the relationship we develop through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
It is through placing our truth in Christ that we obtain access to grace. Now this is an important concept to understand - we obtain access through believing and placing our trust in Christ. Notice this is a personal choice , this is NOT a guarantee - as a matter of fact, this word used for access can be defined as an OPPORTUNITY of admittance. To receive grace - the favor of God - it requires us to ACCEPT and fully believe and commit ourselves to the truths of Jesus. We have a peace that comes through our relationship with Christ that causes us to have a confident expectation of the goodness of God. When we finally get to the point that we understand this, we can rejoice! We brag on what God has done for us.
Important part of our relationships is FAITH - trust - in our spouse. As we spend time with each other, as we learn more about each other, we grow more confident in our relationship and learn how to find peace with each other. BUT we have to intentionally spend time with each other, wanting and desiring to learn more about each other for us to get comfortable enough with each other to place our full trust in each other. It is usually during our time of dating that we grow comfortable, but it can only be through being with each other each day, all day, and EVERY day after we are married that we truly learn each others quirks, nuances, and true personality. It is no different with our relationship with God. Oh, we can get to know Him, we can even think we love Him, but it is only when we get to spending each day, all day, and every day intentionally seeking a closer relationship with Him that we find His true personality - and what He desires in a relationship with us. It is then that we can truly rejoice in His love.
A Rejoicing Love
A Rejoicing Love
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
In most relationships, regardless of how good they are, there are times where we will hit rough spots. Allison and I have thankfully never had an argument, but there have been times that we have emphatically and expressively discussed our opinions in a manner that we both try to diligently convince the other we are right. But we can truly say that even in those times of deep discussion, that it has brought us closer to each other. We have had to learn the art of compromise, and through experience I have learned that when she is happy...I am much happier. But we have gotten more patient with each other, mainly through dealing with everyday life and all that it throws at us.
It has helped us grow to depend on each other and our strengths and through that we realize that we are on the same team, and are confident that we have each others backs. Oh how much happier would we be in our faith if we realized that making God happy makes us even happier!
Paul tells us that when we hit rough patches of life that our confidence in Jesus will allow us to rejoice in the things that burden and distress our spirit. When we fully trust God, we realize those struggles help us endure - it brings patience to us when we go through the trials of life. A patience that can only come through a tested, tried, and true relationship with Jesus. That patience helps build our character - we depend and rely on God! Through that character, we gain hope - we grow confident in God’s ability to always have our back. We realize then that this reliance and hope in God does not produce shame, but draws us closer and nearer to God because of the love God shows to us and is revealed to us through the Holy Spirit given to us to be our Comforter. It is then that we realize what true love is.
A True Love
A True Love
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I said it in my introduction, and I will bring it back again. How can you ever GIVE true love if you have never EXPERIENCED true love? For those we love most, especially us parents, we do not hesitate to do whatever we can for our children when we feel it is beneficial. Even to the point we would do whatever is necessary to protect them form harm, even if it means sacrificing our own life for theirs. But who else would you be willing to die for?
Paul says that very few of us would die for a righteous person or even a good person. Now notice the difference between these two people - righteous - following moral standards, and good - possessing the qualities desired. So if we would not be willing to die for someone who follows the laws or someone who lives their life by the laws of God, would we be willing to die for a complete stranger? What about someone who may even be a criminal? A murderer? But these are exactly the ones who God sent His Son for. God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This word used for love - “agape” - is the term that defines God's immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind. It is his ongoing, outgoing, self-sacrificing concern for lost and fallen people that led him to send his son Jesus to die for sinners - all of those who have intentionally or unintentionally disobeyed any divine command or neglected and divine duty. Can I ask you this question? Who of us can stand today and say we have never disobeyed God? So, regardless of how good we think we are, or how bad the worst of sinners are, we are ALL sinners. It’s just that some of us have asked forgiveness for those sins, and through our continued relationship with God, we have grown to trust him in everything we go through in life. We can confidently and boldly place our faith in God, because HE loved us enough to send His son to die for our sins.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
This is a true love - a sacrificial love - a love worth dying for.
Closing
Closing
As we have looked at today, God’s love is justified, it is rejoiced, and it is true. We truly can place our faith in God and be justified through His love.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Knowing we have received salvation from God, through Christ gives us reason to rejoice.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can change the romance story of God’s love for those who choose Him AND nothing will be able to take that love away from us. For that, we can know what true love is.
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Because God has justified us, we rejoice in His true love - and we should desire that everyone else should know God’s true love.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Have you ever experienced the true and pure love of God? Have you ever loved Him back for all He has done for you? If not, what better day than today to learn what true love is.