Love Like No Other

To make the statement or claim that something or someone is like no other… that’s a pretty big statement or claim!

To say something is like no other means it stands at the top of list of importance or greatness.

If I say this pulpit (this piece of furniture) is the greatest pulpit in the world… I would be declaring that all other pulpits are less than compared to this one.

If I claim that these chairs (that you are sitting in) are the most comfortable out of all the chairs made for Sanctuaries, that would mean all other chairs lack what these chairs have to offer.

To say that something or someone is like no other is to declare that all others simply fall short. And when it comes to the truths we have been talking about in Christ… nothing even comes close to being greater. Nothing even compares!

So far, in this Easter series, we have talked about how the name of Jesus is truly a name like no other.

Last week, we talked about how the grace that is offered to us is grace like no other. There is grace for all who call on the name of the Lord to be saved!

Today, we continue the series by looking at a critical part of the Easter story… an element that we can never forget… and it is something that is truly like nothing found in this world.

Throughout the Easter season, we are used to looking at certain things that Jesus went through on our behalf.

We often talk of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem… after all… today is Palm Sunday!

We often talk of the last supper.

We often talk about His betrayal by Judas.

We often talk about His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

We often talk about His arrest and trial.

We often talk about His beating and crucifixion.

We often talk of His death and resurrection.

These are all historical events that our Lord and Savior walked through. These things were necessary for Jesus to experience in order for the work and prophecies regarding His life to be complete.

Jesus came to the world to die for our sins… to make a way back to the Father.

We know what He came to the world to do… but do we know why He came to the world to do it? What would compel Jesus to do what He did? Why would Jesus give so much for a people that had routinely rejected and rebelled against God?

The answer to that question is simple… yet hard for us to understand. The answer serves as the topic of our sermon today. This morning… we are going to talk about LOVE LIKE NO OTHER. Love is the why… is the reason behind what Jesus did… and that love started with God.

Our main text is a familiar one and it comes out of Romans 5

This one verse speaks of love that is like no other… and it clearly states why this love is like no other.

Romans 5:8 NIV

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

All that Christ went through… was a demonstration of God’s love for the world. And honestly, in our minds, this demonstration doesn’t make sense. Go back two verse in Romans 5...

Romans 5:6–7 NIV

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.

The point that is being made here is that God didn’t wait to love the world once the world cleaned itself up. God didn’t wait for the world to begin expressing love back to Him before He acted. God expressed the fullness of His love toward us… even though we were turning our backs on Him. Christ didn’t die for the righteous, He died for the ungodly.

Let that last statement sink in a bit because I think our minds sometimes miss this. Jesus died for sinners. Jesus died for those who didn’t know the Lord. Jesus died for murderers, for thieves, for adulterers, for liars, for homosexuals, for abusers, for alcoholics, for the addicted, for the cheaters and the prideful. Jesus died for ALL SINNERS. Jesus gave His life for ALL PEOPLE.

Sometimes we treat the church… and maybe even promote the church… as a place or body of perfection… but really it is a body of restoration and redemption. The church is BEING perfected in the image of God as we wholeheartedly pursue the Lord through worship and discipleship.

But never forget… we all came from a place of sin… and was brought to a place of forgiveness through the love of our God. Jesus didn’t die for us because we had it all together… He died for us because spiritually, we were falling apart. We were broken… and He came that we might be whole again.

And this is why His love is like no other… because it flies in the face of how we know “love” on this earth. This morning, we are going to look deep into some of the attributes regarding the Love of the Father because I want you to see just how awesome His love truly is.

I want you to hear me clearly today: GOD LOVES YOU. You might not believe that now… but I pray by the time we get to the end of this message, you will believe that and I hope you will respond to His love.

The first thing I want you to understand about God’s love for you is...

His Love is UNCONDITIONAL.

As Romans 5:8 speaks of God’s demonstrated love for us, it is important to note that the original word used in the text here is agape. How many have heard this term before referring to love? How many know what this term means?

Many of us have been taught that this term means unconditional… in a sense that is correct. However, to simply call it unconditional would be missing a bit of the truth.

Agape love appears to be unconditional by nature… but the underlying reason as to why is where the primary significance of the term is found.

Agape love… is a love of will… rather than emotions.

The form of love we are most used to is emotional love. It is what is often expressed in the world. The unfortunate thing about this kind of love is that it is fleeting.

So long as a person’s emotions are satisfied, love continues to exist. But if those emotions are left satisfied, that love begins to fade and wither away.

This is why when we find something we enjoy or see something we like, we might say, “Man, I love fresh ice cream with Oreos in it.” But what happens if the ice cream is freezer burned or the Oreos are stale… we don’t love it as much.

We’re in it so long as it makes us happy or satisfied. (silly example but I think you get it)

Now, imagine for a moment where we would be if this emotionally based love was the kind of love expressed by God.

I highly doubt we would be where we are today! In fact, I think we would be drowning in sin and facing eternal punishment for our actions.

But God so LOVED the world. God’s love is not emotionally based… it is based off His will. It is a love that goes beyond emotions. It is a love that remains no matter what a person might do. It is a love that He demonstrated for us even in our spiritual rebellion.

And here is where we get ourselves into trouble… we come at the Love of God from an emotional perspective instead of a perspective of will.

We make statements like:

“How can God love me when I’ve done so many bad things?”

That is not truth talking to you, that is the emotion of guilt talking to you. This emotion can keep you from experiencing the fullness of God’s love.

“It’s too late for me… God can’t turn my life around.”

This is rooted from a position of feeling powerless. The truth is, we cannot turn our lives around spiritually on our own. God is the only One with the power to get rid of the old and usher in the new.

“If God really loved me, then I wouldn’t be going through these tough times.”

Many times, the hard times are brought on ourselves. Remember the prodigal son? The father allowed that son to walk away in his own free will. The father never stopped loving the son and he welcomed the son back home when he returned.

“Why doesn’t a “loving” God step in and stop bad things from happening?”

In His love for us, God gave us free will. We have the power to make choices. And yes… we see a lot of choices being made that result in bad things.

But let’s again consider a choice that result in something… good. In fact, this choice resulted in something truly amazing. God, in His love for us, chose to send Jesus to die for us. Yes, there is bad in this world. But God sent a great deal of Good that can overcome any bad we might experience!

Here’s the deal… emotional love can be a tricky thing.

Our feelings will often lie to us. And.. the enemy will try to use our feelings to bring separation between us and God.

The original sin was a result of the serpent causing Eve to feel fear while thinking God was withholding something good from them. All they had ever know was good! And the moment they acted according to feeling, they opened the door to sin in the world. And they immediate felt the weight of that decision.

For God… His love for you is not feelings or emotions based… it is based in His will - His pleasing and perfect will.

There is not a soul on this earth that God does not love! There is nothing you can do to cause God to stop loving you! Romans 8:38-39 tells us that truth. God’s love for you is unemotional, unconditional, and promised in His Word. And another amazing truth regarding His love is...

His Love is DEMONSTRATED.

Another word we might use here is proven. How is His love proven? Just by word? Just by claim? No… God’s love is proven by action.

BECAUSE God so loved the world… BECAUSE God loved us even in our sin… He sent His Son to die for us on the cross. Why would God do this? Because although there is nothing you can do to cause God not to love you… your sin separates you from His presence.

Again, going back to the Garden of Eden… after Adam and Eve sinned, they heard God walking through the Garden. In their shame, they hid from His presence.

Instead of running toward God, they ran from Him. They feared His response to their rebellion just as many today fear that God looks toward them in disgust and disappointment.

Adam and Eve tried to cover their shame on their own… their nakedness… by creating for themselves a covering from fig leaves… but it was inadequate.

The truth is, a holy God cannot fellowship with unholy people. It’s like oil and water or light and darkness, the two simply cannot mix.

This is why God’s presence was limited to a small and special room within the temple. But this was not God’s intent when He created this world.

God did not create us for sin.

God did not create us for separation.

God created us to have fellowship with us.

When that fellowship was broken, God began to unveil His redemptive plan.

It started in the Garden.

Remember how I said that Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin on their own? It didn’t work out so well. And in that moment, we see the love of God shine through.

Genesis 3:21 NIV

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God could have walked away and left them in their sin. But instead, He made for them a new covering… a covering that cost the life of an animal. The first death in Scripture came at the need for atonement from sin. It was a foreshadowing of what Christ would do. God spoke of the coming offspring that would crush the head of the enemy… and now He showed the world how that would happen - Jesus would die and His blood would cover ALL sins.

This truly is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love.

Christ died so that the separation caused by sin could be destroyed. We speak of this often and God laid it on my heart again for today.

The moment Jesus said, “It is finished,” The price for our sins was paid in full. I want you to say something with me and I have it on the screen now...

The price for my sins have been paid in full.

To signify that the payment was complete, the veil that separated the room housing the presence of the Lord in the temple… was torn in two. God could now reside within the hearts of those redeemed by Jesus’ blood. Our fellowship with God… was restored! I Want to say that again… our fellowship with God is restored! Which brings me to our closing point…

His Love is RESTORATIVE

Look back at Romans 5:8 for a moment because I want you to see something

Romans 5:8 NIV

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This text certainly speaks of God’s unconditional love and demonstrated love. His love is also restorative and I want you to see it.

The verse says “While we were YET sinners.” Paul is speaking in a paste tense. Paul originally wrote to believers in the Rome and he is taking them back to life before Christ - God loved us before we loved Him.

But because of God’s love… for those who have responded to what Christ has done and called on His name… the title of sinner… NO LONGER APPLIES. God’s love is a restorative or redemptive love.

In His demonstration o His love, God did all that was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins. Now, all we must do is respond to His call to come home. And when we call on His name for salvation, something amazing happens...

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

In Christ, we receive a complete spiritual overhaul! We are restored and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!

Let’s rewind back to our story last week… the story of the prodigal son.

Remember when the wondering son decide to go home… he thought the way back to the father would be through a different identity. He thought his way was to go from son… to servant.

But when the son returned home, the father did not change the son’s identity, HE RESTORED IT. His son had found his way back home.

When we come back to the Father through the Son who is Jesus… our identity in the Lord is fully restored!

John 1:12 NIV

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

God not only wants to restore who you are… He wants to restore whose you are!

His love is restorative! His love placed His redemptive plan into motion! He has made a way for our old life of sin to be done away with and for the new to come! That way… is Jesus!

God LOVES you. God’s love is PROVEN AND DEMONSTRATED. God’s love is RESTORATIVE and most importantly… is available to ALL PEOPLE throughout this world.

The question today then… will you respond to the demonstration of God’s amazing love? How do we respond to His love?

One, by giving our lives to the Lord through faith and repentance.

We recognize that Jesus is the Savior we need. We recognize that we have no answer for our sin problem. We recognize that Jesus is God’s answer to our sin problem.

So we repent of our sins… place our faith in the Lord… and call on the name that is like no other.

Prayer - SALVATION

Secondly, we respond to His love through worship.

God has fully demonstrated His love for us… can we demonstrate our love for Him by lifting up a voice of worship right now?

Let’s thank Him for His grace.

Let’s thank Him for His forgiveness.

Let’s thank Him for His enduring love.

Lastly, we respond to His love by inviting the world to come back to His love.

Easter is one week away. Can we work to fill this place with people from throughout our community who need to know the Lord?

His love is for all people! So let’s do our part to invite as many as we can to come hear about His resurrection and life!