Christ's Advent Week 4- Love

Introduction

Three weeks ago we began our series on Advent: As a reminder Advent is from the Latin word “adventus” which means “coming”. Often times it was and is used in reference either to Christ’s coming at Christmas or His future return when he comes in judgement and glory.

“A liturgical season in the Christian calendar leading up to Christmas. It is a time of preparation and reflection on the coming of Christ, both in his Nativity and his anticipated return. Advent typically involves themes of hope, peace, joy, and love.” ~Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible

Ben started with the reminder that “Our Hope is not wishing that we will be saved, it’s knowing that we are” The First Candle of Hope

and two weeks ago we looked at “Christ has come to bring peace both personally and spiritually and peace has it’s fulfillment at his second coming” The second Candle of Peace

last week we saw that “Christ’s first advent was to bring great joy to his people, which would endure through the ages” The third Candle of Joy

This week we review the last candle. The Candle of Love

The God of Love

Societal Definition of Love

Our Society today has two meanings for the word love.

“an intense feeling of deep affection” (Fondness, attachment)

“a great interest and pleasure in something” (Liking, delighting in, partiality towards)

Yet somehow in our society today we recognize that both of those definitions are lacking something to the power that is expressed in self sacrificial, abiding, loyal, and generosity that is expressed in some acts and relational love in proper parent-child relationships, the stories of heroes (both real and fictional), and in the ideal romantic expression of devotion.

So in a society where Love has been something that we use to describe pizza, certain movies and shows, and even our favorite fuzzy clothing, and at the same time, tries to express the concepts of those deeper things it almost feels like we have no concept of the difference.

Often times in our day (and not just our day) we throw aside things that no long give us that pleasure, or when we begin to lose interest in it due to familiarity. Or worse yet, those feelings that we once got regarding that thing that gave us a sense of attachment to it we grow out of and just don’t feel anymore. Sometimes that feeling is externally pushed upon us like my lion king sweater I mistakenly wore the first day of kindergarten. Or it’s something internal connected to a sense of loss of joy that we tie to the thing that we once had attachment to.

This can be sad when it is a sweater or a favorite toy, or even that album that you swore you would listen to for the rest of your life when you were younger.

However in our society today it can be devastating to those around us when its children, parents, spouses, or even our brothers and sisters in Christ.

So like Haddaway ask “What is love.... don’t hurt me...”

Our Big idea for this morning is…

"Christmas reveals the depth of God's love, shown through His sending of Jesus to save and restore us."

The Expression of God in the Old Testament

The Background for the text that we are about to read is that Moses has broken the law… literally he threw down the stone tablets it was written on…

Exodus 32:19 “And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.”

Moses just got done appealing to the LORD to spare the Israelites and Joshua and him come the rest of the way down the mountain hearing what sounds like shouts of war.... but no the people of Israel are throwing a party and in that party they break at least the first commandment. The anger that Moses feels is using the Hebrew word for nose. That is his nose is hot. You’ve hopefully never felt this way before… so angry that you face gets flush and your nose being the furthest away from your head if your nose is hot your whole face is smoking in rage.

Well after this situation is dealt with Moses receives this instruction from the LORD

Read Exodus 34:1-7

Notice closely.... Verse 5:

The LORD descends and stands with Moses… and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

Exodus 33:19 “And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord”

This isn’t just God saying… PS this is my name just so you get it right. No this is an uncovering and proclaiming the definitional characteristics of who is the LORD.

Vs. 6:

The LORD, the LORD, a God- The Most holy of all titles combined into the definition continues to give the idea that there are no other gods. As God would say later in Isaiah 43:10 ““Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” The LORD is the only god, the rest are just fake creations of mankind that have no life and power other than that which we ascribe to them falsely.

merciful- This is the idea of compassionate. This is the idea of sympathetic to the distress of others with the desire and intention to alleviate it. Also the idea of not giving one what they deserve. Extending mercy rather than judgement.

gracious- When these two words are used in connection it is almost the same concept yet gracious often carries with it the idea of hearing a debtor who is struggling.

slow to anger- In the Hebrew this is an idiom, it literally here in the Greek means… long of nose. That is that when you begin to get flush with anger it takes a while to reach the tip of your nose since it is so long. Now God doesn’t really have a long nose, but the point is that is anger doesn’t flash. God is merciful and gracious and it takes a long time for Him to act in His anger.

abounding in steadfast love- This word is a covenantal word (Khesed) the idea of this word is goodness or kindness. It is a kindness that is expressed in action and feeling. It is a kindness that is undeserved, unmerited, and without underlying cause in the one receiving it. This is the principle that in verse 6 is expounded upon by the LORD.

and faithfulness- This is the idea of reliability and sureness. The idea is that it is something that you can count on. When described of God we recognize as the writer of Hebrews does that God is someone who does not change which is why His nature and faithfulness can be trusted. He isn’t like us in our changing of affections or feelings. Instead His are reliable and sure.

Vs. 7

Well God what does this Khesed look like?

Its abounding… guarded and kept for thousands or as other areas of the scripture continue to repeat this message to the thousandth generation. Now doing the math this would be about 30,000 years… but just like in Jesus’ words to Peter regarding the forgiving of sins not 7 times, but 7 times 77. The point is that it is without end and complete.

Connected to this ceaseless steadfast love for all time, it is displayed in God’s forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin

Iniquity- Premeditated guilt. The idea that one stands guilty not only in action, but also in intention. Usually also carries with it the idea of judgement.

Transgression- Intentional breaking of God’s law or man’s law

Sin- Missing the mark… not measuring up to God’s standard of who He is.

All this yet God clearly states here that He will by no means clear the guilty. Sin, transgression and iniquity must be dealt with in justice. And as many of you heard on Friday night. Mercy and justice are not opposites as Mr. Shakespeare thought… no the opposite of justice is injustice and the opposite of mercy is judgement.

This concept of who God is.... is so much repeated in the OT that whole passages of scriptures are spent repeating this revelation of God to Moses.

2 Chronicles 30:9 “For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.””

Nehemiah 9:17 “But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”

Psalm 86:15 “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Joel 2:13 “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”

This is what God reveals as His defining nature. Abounding in kindness, gracious, merciful, ready to forgive, slow to anger, relenting over disaster and does not forsake His own.

God’s Defining Nature of Love

Read: 1 John 4:7-21

John in this passage is concluding his letter with a passionate plea for the early Christians to love one another. This short letter that the ladies have been going through in the ladies breakfasts has much to give the Christian concerning how to live the Christian life and more importantly a strong testimony of the work and nature of Jesus Christ.

Throughout this short letter time and time again John references love and seems to see it as the binding agent between us and God and between us and each other.

Couple sections this morning I want to draw your attention to.

Vs. 7: Love is from God- Now again this Love is not the love of attraction or being pleased with… this is the action of showing appreciation or high regard and treat with affection another. Giving of oneself not for gain, but to benefit the other person.

Vs. 8: At the crux of John’s argument is that God is Love. At the core of this argument John is telling His readers that since God shows kindness and self sacrifice for us then we likewise should show that kind of Love for the brothers. Although we are commanded to love our neighbor, and our enemy. John’s critical point in this text is that if we do not love those who God has shown His love in redemption for then we cannot lie to ourselves or each other and claim to have love for God.

Now many people have made God’s definitional character one of unconditional affection. That God loves everybody and because God loves everybody that everything action we do is fine with God because He is after all love.

Although it is not my purpose this morning to completely come against this lie, I will say this. God’s love demonstrated is preconditional and universal, but not unconditional and without justice and judgement. (Repeat)

That means that if you continue to depend on God’s mercy and grace at some point in time as we saw in Exodus… He will by no means clear the guilty. God is abounding in kindness, but God hates both the sin and the sinner.

Psalm 5:5 “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.”

Psalm 11:5 “The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.”

Revelation 2:6 “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

Unlike us though God’s hatred is not one of emotional distaste or dislike… instead hate is a judicial act where judgement is rendered according to the deeds of the one who has done them. Yet God is patient and longsuffering towards those who dwell and live in iniquity, trespasses, and sin. As Peter tells us concerning the coming hatred or judgement of God 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

There is nothing loving about injustice, there is nothing loving about destruction, and there is nothing loving about what brings about harm to self and society. God knows as the creator what is right and what is wrong as He gets to define the categories. For us to appeal to His love and kindness while actively acting in boastful disobedience in evil actions will result in judgement not mercy.

2 Corinthians 13:11 “and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Jude 21 “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

The News of Love- Christ’s Advent

Read 1 John 4:9-10, 14

The Presentation of Love

The love of God is as I described preconditional because what is most amazing about this season in celebration of Christ’s birth has nothing to do with shepherds, a stable, silent or loud nights, or even wisemen. It has to do with the fact that God was demonstrating his love towards us by sending the second person of the trinity. Christ who was God, Himself to come and die.

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God sent His Son, His only begotten son to manifest God’s love into the world. Can I be clear about something. Jesus as God demonstrates love towards people He demonstrates the Father so perfectly that He could say if you have seen me you’ve seen the father (John 14:9), yet it is clear to Jesus that the love that comes to us comes first from the Father. God so loved the world that He gave his Son.

Jesus’ coming is the manifestation of God’s kindness and love to the world (1 John 4:9) God didn’t do this because we were oh so kind and loving to God… no in fact we didn’t love God, but He loved us and sent the Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Propitiation is an interesting word. Propitiation is an act that is done as a favor to another in order to make them treat them with some favor. What is interesting is that God sends the Son on our behalf as a way of gaining His own favor towards us....

When Jesus tells people of their condition in John 3:17–18 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Jesus tells people that they are already in a state of condemnation. The fact that the world needed a savior tells us that. Furthermore, Jesus gives the condition for this salvation as belief in the Son. Believe that the unmerited favor that is being given to those who believe based on the propitiation of the Son is the precondition in order to experience God’s love.

What is amazing to me is that even though the salvific love that God wants to show mankind is conditional. Belief on the Son. At the same time God demonstrates the kindness and love that He has not based on anything we have. We don’t fix ourselves up first, but instead

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

What is so amazing about the Christmas story is that God is provided through Christ’s birth, life, and death and clear picture of the kindness and love that He has for the world. He provides a means for every person on the planet to be rescued from the judgement that we rightly deserve as people who do evil.

Christ came to bring the expression of Love to it’s fullness

Read 1st John 4:15-16

However it doesn’t stop just with this act of kindness that brings us back from the point of judgement.

What John expresses briefly here is some truths that Jesus reveals as recorded in John’s gospel. This abiding between us and God.

Read John 14:19-21

Now you might be rightly confused… don’t worry John knows you are and Judas was the guy in the room willing to ask for our benefit what Jesus means....

Read John 14:22-24;

The fullness of the Love that Christ came to bring was an abiding and standing in the Love of God. The Love of God the Father is the motivation to send the Son. Which provides the means and the way for each one of us to experience the love and re-connection to the Father. We experience this connection restored by believing in the Son and being made into a new creation. One that motivates us towards love of the Son. Jesus tells us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments (the first one being belief). And in the keeping of the word there is a fresh expression of the love of the Father for us which results in the Father and the Son making their home with us in the form of the Spirit indwelling the believer.

Read John 15:8-14

Jesus tells His disciples that the bearing of fruit is the evidence of their being His disciples. And in the bearing of the fruit of the righteousness God is glorified. Jesus tells the disciples and us that as the Father loves the Son (and send Him) now Jesus loves us. He tells us to abide in His love by staying connected to Him. How do we do that? Keep His commandments, just like Jesus kept the Father’s commandments.

The result of this is what we have seen in the last few weeks, hope, peace, and joy.

However, more than that it should produce an obedience to the command of Jesus and that command is to love.

Well how do we do that… look at verse 12… love as I have loved you. Meaningful then I’m sure, but after He is crucified in the coming days and the disciples learn why… what He says next makes all the sense in the world.

Read 1st John 4:15-18

Church… Christ came so you would not have fear… that you would come to understand the kind of Love that God the Father has for you. That you would be able to have a hope that is confidence in regards to the coming day of judgement knowing that God has kindness towards you who believe in His Son. That when you understand the God who is love and demonstrated His love by the actions surrounding Christmas you come to know there is no reason to be afraid.

This understanding leads to Paul’s lengthy declaration of the love of God to the Romans.

Romans 8:31–35 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”

Romans 8:37–39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 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.”

But Church we must abide in this Love… We must not be like the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:4–5 “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.”

Jude himself gives a similar warning to the churches to whom he writes… Jude 21 “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

How do we do it.... well 1st John makes a significant point

Read 1st John 4:19-21

Look it’s not a matter of being lovable.... God has commanded us to love one another. That is to show kindness and unmerited favor to one another. We are only to do it in a response to what God has done for us. But Church listen close.... do not claim to love God while acting in unkindness and hatred towards people who are part of His body.

If you cannot love the church… then you cannot love God. And if the commandment is that we are to love God and love our brother. And here is the thing I won’t preach all of 1st John… but as John goes on in Chapter 5 this love for brother helps us know we are secure in the love of God.

Our Big idea for this morning is…

"Christmas reveals the depth of God's love, shown through His sending of Jesus to save and restore us."

PRAYER