Love That Endures
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning!
Please open your Bibles with me to John chapter 3. We are in our final week of advent. Christmas is this week, and I am sure you all are just as eager as I am to celebrate the incarnation of our Lord Jesus with your family, friends and loved ones.
When we speak of love in the church, it is commonly known that “love” is primarily an action word - a verb. Sometimes it is used as a noun - to describe the idea or the substance, but to see love in the context of Scripture, when trying to describe God’s love, it is best for us to think about God’s love as an action.
One of the most difficult aspects of Scripture for me to understand (if I am to be completely honest) is this concept of God’s love for humanity. Perhaps I struggle with it because I look at it from a human perspective: “How or why would God love such an unlovable group like humanity as much as He does?” The more I ask that question though, the more I come to the realization that God’s loving nature is defined for us in the fact that He gives His love so readily and that we are so undeserving.
19 We love because he first loved us.
Not to get too loose with an analogy, but think of it this way:
I have a dog - some of you have met him, his name is Winston. I chose Winston from his litter, gave him a home, food, a collar that identifies him as my dog. He lives in my house and, for the most part, has done an okay job at learning the rules. However, Winston can be a naughty boy! We play a game whenever we get home we we all take turns guessing - “What did Winston destroy?” The one thing I will say about him is that he always stays a step ahead of us in that we are surprised at the things we find, rarely ever guessing correctly. Despite that, and the fact that he eats so much and can cause a good amount of stress, I look at him and my heart melts. It’s not just because he is a handsome boy, which he really is, but I have a genuine love in my heart for that naughty dog, and he’s lucky! Between he and myself, who do you think got the better end of the deal? Definitely, the dog!
In the same way, God’s love for us has a bit of mysteriousness to it. We don’t know what motivates Him to love us or to give so much for us, but He does. And despite the fact that we are so good at destroying what He has made and finding new ways to expand the bounds of human depravity, God’s love for us remains the same, and that is a mystery for which I am eternally grateful.
This week, we are looking at the advent theme of love from a few selected scriptures.
The main takeaway for this week is that the first advent reveals the depth of God’s love; the second reveals its completion.
Our outline for this week is…
Love Revealed (John 3:16-17)
Love Redefined (1 John 4:9-10)
Love Remaining (Rom 8:38-39)
Love Revealed (John 3:16-17)
Love Revealed (John 3:16-17)
Read with me in
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jesus could not have died for the sins of the world unless he first came into the world, and this short passage says that the reason He sent His son into the world was to save the world from their sin through Christ - this was a plan put into action by the motivation of God’s love. We know that Christ is called the Word in John 1:1, which is the Greek word λογος, which we would quickly translate as the “Word.”
Have you ever wondered what exactly it means when Scripture - the written word of God - refers to Christ as the Word?
Here are a few passages that will hopefully help illuminate what John is conveying here:
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
So in these last days, the revelation of God (that what God has chosen to reveal about Himself to humanity) comes through Jesus Christ - not prophets - and it is this way because Jesus is the exact representation of God’s character and nature - He is God revealed to the world.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
In this passage, Paul expands on the idea that Jesus was not only man, but that the preincarnate Jesus was pivotal in creation - being the one for whom and through whom all things would be made. He also talks about how Jesus was the one in whom God was pleased to have His fullness dwell. It kind of brings about a special understanding to what Jesus said in
7 If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
In Jesus Christ, the love of God was revealed to humanity in the most palpable way in human history. If you have gotten nothing else out of the various sermons or studies throughout the advent season this year - I pray that you see the love of God for you revealed in the coming of Jesus.
AW Tozer is noted for reflecting on the idea of God’s loved being revealed in Christ when he said this:
All that man can know of God and his love in this life is revealed in Jesus Christ.
A. W. Tozer
The first advent reveals the depth of God’s love; the second reveals its completion.
Love Redefined (1 John 4:9-10)
Love Redefined (1 John 4:9-10)
Read with me now in
9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The love that we have for the Father and for Jesus will never even come close to the love God has for us - and that is evidenced for us in the fact that He sent Jesus to die on our behalf. See - the value in God’s love is sometimes only described in the results - Jesus died for our sins and loved us so that we could be with Him forever! That’s true, but it misses the point of what God’s love is - it’s not defined for us in the action of what Christ did, but in the value of the gift of Christ - the fact that God’s own son died on our behalf is what defines God’s love for us.
I too only have one son - and as much as I love everyone here, if I had to chose between saving my son and saving everyone else in this room, I will pick my son every time. See, God’s love is not only flawless, but it is complete because Christ came, was born and died by the Will of the Father.
There is a song we sing occasionally called, “My worth is not in what I own.”
In the chorus, it says,
I rejoice in my redeemer, greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul.
I will trust in him - no other! My soul is satisfied in Him alone.
That is a cry in response to the fact that our worth has nothing to do with us, but everything to do with the costly sacrifice made on our behalf, freely by God the Father so that we could be free from the penalties of sin and glorify Him forever. God’s love is so amazing - not because of the benefit we receive, but because of the great cost!
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The coming of Christ redefined love by showing the deepest possible manifestation - trading absolute perfection and holiness in the person of Jesus Christ for the sake of those who could neither earn nor deserve such love. The love of God is a concept that has honestly been somewhat a source of confusion for me for years, because I haven’t been able to wrap my mind around the “why” of God’s love for humanity. There came a point where I had to stop turning my wheels on the subject because I wasn’t getting anywhere except more and more confused. It wasn’t until I realized that because His role was the center of the story - not me - that it began to make a little sense.
Love is not our pursuit of God but His pursuit of us. In no other religion in the world did a god pursue relationship with his people like the God of the Bible. In Islam, you have to earn your way to salvation through sincere devotion to Islam and hope that your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds. In Judaism - as it is practiced today - you are saved through Torah observance (obedience to the Law), performing good deeds and prayer.
Only in Christianity did God say - “These people can’t possibly meet the standards of my righteousness and holiness, so I will do it for them and pursue them…” It’s not because there’s something special about us, but because there is something special about the God we serve - He is love.
CS Lewis and John Piper said this:
God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that he may love and perfect them.
C. S. Lewis; John Piper
Love is defined not in our pursuit of God, but in His pursuit of us. This will carry through all the way until Christ comes back. The entire redemption story - when we consider the relationship between God and man - man is given so much a repeated great cost to God. He created us, He gave us simple instructions to abide by and we failed, as time went on, His divine plan to restore fallen humanity was put into place, beginning with a promise in the Garden, then a promise to Abraham, through his lineage all the way to the person of Jesus Christ. Everything that happened in the Old Testament was a precursor to the coming of Jesus Christ as God’s revealed love to the world. In the same way, the fact is that Jesus is coming again, and it will be with a two-fold purpose: to rescue those who belong to Him and to cast out those who belong to the Devil.
The first advent reveals the depth of God’s love; the second reveals its completion.
Love Remaining (Rom 8:38-39)
Love Remaining (Rom 8:38-39)
Read with me in
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In life, it seems that the one constant is that things change. We change jobs, we move to different houses, perhaps in different towns or even states. Our lives are subject to drastic change. Sometimes, these changes are strategic - we work hard and plan for a specific goal - a promotion, a career choice, etc. Sometimes however, there are things that change in our lives due to things outside of our control. We could do everything right, and still face circumstances that are so far beyond our ability control or outside the bounds of what we can handle that it may feel at times as if the chaos is winning.
However, there is one constant we have in this life - a promise of God’s unending, unchanging love for us revealed and defined for us in the person of Jesus Christ. There is nothing we could do to merit God’s love for us, but there is also nothing we could do to forfeit God’s love. If your faith is placed in Jesus Christ - you belong to Him and nothing can or will ever change that. Paul says in this passage that he is “persuaded” or “convinced.” Perhaps that’s why he lived the way he did. Imagine how our lives could be transformed if we lived with the same conviction of the incredible unending love of the Father for us given through the Son.
The psalmist points out the unfailing and unending love of God in
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His faithful love endures forever.
4 He alone does great wonders. His faithful love endures forever.
5 He made the heavens skillfully. His faithful love endures forever.
6 He spread the land on the waters. His faithful love endures forever.
7 He made the great lights: His faithful love endures forever.
8 the sun to rule by day, His faithful love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to rule by night. His faithful love endures forever.
10 He struck the firstborn of the Egyptians His faithful love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them His faithful love endures forever.
12 with a strong hand and outstretched arm. His faithful love endures forever.
13 He divided the Red Sea His faithful love endures forever.
14 and led Israel through, His faithful love endures forever.
15 but hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea. His faithful love endures forever.
16 He led his people in the wilderness. His faithful love endures forever.
17 He struck down great kings His faithful love endures forever.
18 and slaughtered famous kings— His faithful love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites His faithful love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan— His faithful love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance, His faithful love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to Israel his servant. His faithful love endures forever.
23 He remembered us in our humiliation His faithful love endures forever.
24 and rescued us from our foes. His faithful love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature. His faithful love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven! His faithful love endures forever.
Imagine how we could handle the darkest days if we were convinced that God’s love for us is unparalleled in all creation. Imagine how we could face devastating news if we held firm to the conviction that God loves us enough to send His only Son to die the death we deserved to die so that we can be reunited with Him in eternity. Also imagine how we could coexist with others in this world if we lived confident in the love that God has for us. After all, loving other people is simply paying forward the love we have already been shown, right?
John Hooper, a 16th century Bishop, said this:
Love of man necessarily arises out of love of God.
John Hooper
In that idea is that our love for God demands we love others who are made in His image, but also, the fact that God loved us means that we should necessarily love others.
The first advent reveals the depth of God’s love; the second reveals its completion.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Today, my hope is that you have seen the amazing love God revealed for you through His first coming. Love is an action and God has acted in very specific and calculated ways to communicate the depth and breadth of His love for His people. More importantly than just seeing the love that God had shown in the past, it is also important to remember this: The One who loved us first will one day dwell with us forever. The first advent reveals the depth of God’s love; the second reveals its completion.
3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”
There is a day coming when all the medial-monotonous trappings of this life will pass away and we will be with the Lord in glorious perfection - where sin will no longer have hold on us, but we will be freed completely to live with Jesus and enjoy a face-to-face relationship with Him.
From our perspective in history, we see not only the coming of Christ as evidence of God’s love, but also His death. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be with Him and free from the fear of punishment.
The first advent reveals the depth of God’s love; the second reveals its completion.
13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.
