How Much God Loves Us
Notes
Transcript
Intro; In 1965, there was a song written by Hal David and composed Burt Bacharach, and that was sung by a woman named Jackie DeShannon. That song became an overnight success. So loved was the song that it was adopted into a major broadcast telethon that raised money for MDA. The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon opened with this song and every time the tote board rolled it was played with excitement.
Does anybody remember the name of that song? “What The World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love”
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone
Nothing can make us Contagious Christians like love because love is what our world craves. To be loved is a basic human need. Every human being needs three things to be happy: to be loved, to love someone, and to have a purpose. We find all three in Jesus Christ.
Tonight We’re going to look at “How Much God Love Us”
Text; 1 John 4:7-21
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 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.
10 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.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Did you realize that the word love[s], loved is used 26 times in these 15 verses! That should give us an idea of God’s love. But God’s love is not the same as people love. God’s love is an unchanging love regardless of what we do or how we respond to His love.
1. The Origin of Love; 7-10
1. The Origin of Love; 7-10
There are different kinds of love. For example, I say “I love my Harley motorcycle.” I also say, “I love Virginia, my wife.” Does the word love in both those statements mean the same thing? No! One day I will sell my Harley, but will I ever sell Virginia?
Higle, T. C. (2006). Journey into Becoming a Contagious Christian: A Study of First John (p. 43). Tommy Higle Publishers, Inc.
There are three Greek words for love; Eros [air-os], Phileo [fill-ay-oh], Agape [uh-gah-pay] selfless love.
Agape love comes exclusively from God and that is the word used here.
God requires that we love others the with the same kind of love that He loves us with.
God loves us just like we are, but He loves us too much to let us stay that way! That’s Agape love!!
[9-10] Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of God’s love, manifest in His sacrificial death on Calvary’s Cross for all mankind. God’s love is an active, self-giving choice rather than mere sentiment’s or emotion.
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
[7-8] That same type of love that was shown to us by God in Christ Jesus is the very love that we are to have towards others. Agape love is the fundamental proof of our relationship with God. Agape love is a reflection of God’s character and is essential to our faith.
2. Obligation to Love; 11-16
2. Obligation to Love; 11-16
The love of God is not for us to horde for ourselves but a love to share with others.
Ought- obligated, indebted, duty
H.A. Ironside said, “Sometimes Christians do not like to be reminded of duty, for they have an idea that duty is not consistent with grace. But the grace of God, when it is active in the life, leads men and women to do the things they ought to do.” We ought to love one another, we ought to love those who mistreat us, abuse us, ridicule us. We ought to love those who do not love us and those who would want to harm us and speak evil of us. We ought to love them in spite of themselves. We are to love them in and through the power of Jesus Christ.
Why? Because Christ first loved us [good answer]. But I believe there is a more relevant answer in the scriptures of the text.
[12-15] Because no one has seen God with their eyes, but they can see Him through us!
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
You nor I were never the final destination of God’s love. God wants us to be channels through which His love is passed to others.
3. Overcoming Fear With Love; 17-21
3. Overcoming Fear With Love; 17-21
It has been said there are 365 “fear not’s,” or equivalents, in the Bible. Why this many? Probably one for each day of the year because God doesn’t want us to fear any day. But, neither does He want us to fear when we stand before Him on the Day of Judgment.
Perfect love- confidence in His Agape love; selfless, sacrificing love, salvation love. The person who has been saved by this love and reflects this love towards others will not fear the day of God’s judgment.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 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…
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Close;
I opened this message tonight with the song “What The World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love”. And that is so true. But the love the world needs is not ours, but God’s love through us.
At the end of every MDA Telethon, Jerry Lewis sang this song written bySongwriters: Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers
“You’ll Never Walk Alone”
When you walk through a storm, Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm, There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind, Walk on through the rain
For your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone
If we will love people like God loves us, none of us will walk alone!
