Jesus. Loves. You.

Intro

A simple thought this morning, one that many of you know, one that all of you have heard, and one that some of you live by everyday.

This thought, it is simple, fleshing it out this morning in a sermon will be simple, but necessary.

It is a deep reminder that we need every single day in order so that we can make it through each and every day.

This thought has been true since the foundations of the world. It reigns ever true today, and will do so for eternity.

The thought is this: Jesus. Loves. You.

Now, again, you know this! You are probably thinking, oh man, pastor Matthew is going to teach a Sunday School lesson this morning. However, I invite you to stay with me here today to be reminded of this glorious truth about our Lord’s view on us.

Jesus

In order to know what it means that Jesus Loves You, we must break this down piece by piece. We must start with the first word, Jesus.

John 1:1–18 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

This is Jesus! The beginning, the Word, Grace and Truth, the one who adopts us. Jesus is many many things in our lives.

However, this morning, look at three with me.

Only Begotten

Jesus is the only begotten son of God.

John 3:16–17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

What does this mean? What is an “only begotten son?”

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Jesus as the Unique Son of God (μονογενής, monogenēs)

The term literally means “one of a kind” or “unique” with no connotation to time, origin or solitary existence

This means, as John 1 teaches, that Jesus is the one, only, unique Son of the Father. With no beginning and no end.

What else does this mean? This means that Jesus, along with the Father, is God. Part of the Holy Trinity.

The idea of a begotten son denotes the reality that Jesus is eternal! This is important. This matters!

In our world, there are many religions, we learn about them in school and the older we get the more we see them permeate our culture.

Many people trust these religions and these false gods to take care of them, however, one of a few primary differences between their religions and ours is that their “guy” always dies. Each time. Muhammed, Buddha, dead. gone.

Jesus on the other hand, died and rose back from the grave! He has no beginning, He has no end, He is eternal.

This is a major proof that Christianity is the one true religion.

The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, our Jesus, absolutely loves us.

Savior

And because He loves us, He came to be our savior.

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

This is the gospel!

In our sin, we are dying and going to Hell. But, in His love, He offered Himself up as a sacrifice sufficient to pay for our sin!

He is able to save you from your sin and your eternity in Hell.

The key is this, trust Him!

Trust that His death and resurrection are enough to cleanse you of sin, trust that when you believe that and repent that you will be saved, and trust that repentance is necessary for salvation!

We cannot get saved this week and then live however we want. Yes, we will struggle with sin, but we cannot let it master us anymore! We must take concrete efforts to turn away from our sin and turn to our Savior.

You cannot get saved this week and get saved next week, then the week after.

Salvation is a one time gift from the Father. This is why is it valuable for you to turn from your sin and to Him.

He wants for forgive you, to reserve a spot for you in Heaven, to adopt you as His son or daughter, to save you.

You must allow it.

Eternal Prophet, Priest, and King

Hebrews 4:14–16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

We talked about this on Wednesday night.

Here is the reality.

Jesus promises us a real future, he is our prophet.

He offers us forgiveness. He is our priest.

He reigns supreme. He is our King.

The history of God’s people showed that these roles were necessary, but no one person could fulfill them all.

Jesus can.

Why?

Because he is better!

He is better than you. He is better than me. He is better than all who have ever lived.

He is the perfect Son of God, our eternal prophet who is waiting to come get us. Our eternal priest to whom we can go for forgiveness for our sins. He is our eternal King who reigns over our lives.

This is Jesus. This is who He is. This is who cares about you.

What does Jesus do though?

Simply this morning, He loves.

Loves

John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Jesus, our God, the only Begotten full of grace and truth, our Savior, our eternal prophet priest and king loves us.

This doesn’t make sense! God loves His creation, sure, but God loves us who sin all the time against Him?

So much so that He gave up heaven, lived on this earth, died a terrible death, and rose again so that you and I could be forgiven?

Yes! He did!

Why? Because He created you and models through your relationship with Him, perfect love.

This means we can go to Him in our guilt and shame and be forgiven. This means we can give up those sins we have such a hard time with. This means we can find our true identity in Him as sons and daughters. This means He helps us.

This means we can have heaven as our home one day.

Why?

Not because you are good enough! Not because you have done enough things.

Only because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross. The only way to heaven is through Him because He loves you!

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

He loves you entirely and eternally.

He chooses you.

He cares about you.

He wants to be your best friend.

But, why? Why does He does all of this? Why did He die on the cross?

You

It was all for you.

Yes you.

Yes you in your sin

Yes you in your pain

Yes you in your rebellion

Yes you who struggles with porn

Yes you who struggles with drugs

Yes you who struggles with alcohol

Yes you who struggles with gossip

Yes you who struggles wit pride

Yes you

1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

Your sins have been paid for. You can be forgiven. You can repent of your sin and seek Christ.

He is reaching down to YOU this morning so that you can be forgiven.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confess you sins, admit them, and repent of them.

1 John 2:3–6 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

Jesus loves you, so accept his forgiveness for your sins, once for all. You need it!

Then, keep the commandments in Scripture. Care about what the Word of God says.

Despite your sin, Jesus love you and wants to save you.

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

More than that, He wants to sustain you!

Each and every day, we must rely on our Savior, our King Jesus for what it takes to get through that day.

When events arise and we do not know what to do, we go to Jesus, the rock of our salvation, the cornerstone of our faith for peace and understanding.

Jesus came, He lived, He died, He rose again for this very thing.

He didnt just come to save those who are lost, he came to sustain those He would find.

Simply out this morning, the Savior of the Universe absolutely loves you! He has loved you from before the foundations of the world. He loves you even if you don’t love Him. He wants to save you from your sin.

He wants to sustain you day by day so that you have all that you need.

Psalm 23 “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

SONG

Jesus love you friends, will you love Him back?

Jesus loves you, will you allow Him to sustain you?

Conclusion

This thought has been true since the foundations of the world. It reigns ever true today, and will do so for eternity.

The thought is this: Jesus. Loves. You.

This is the foundation of our belief system. We are loved by the Creator, by Jesus our God. So much so that He died for us so that we could live for Him.

Are you ready to surrender? Are you ready to love the One who loves you? Are you ready for a change?

1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

*salvation plea* (Trust that Jesus’ sacrifice was payment, Believe, Confess, Repent)

I wonder, too, Christians, are you allowing the Savior’s love to sustain you day by day?

Are you trusting in the One who loves you?

Hebrews 13:5 “… for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

He hasn’t left you beloved, cling to Him for your daily bread.

Matthew 6:9–13 KJV 1900

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.