Does God Love Me?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
John 3:16
Today we come to the final message in our series, Ever Wonder Why?
I have tried to answer some very hard questions according to Scripture. Questions like:
Why Did God Let It Happen?
Why Would God Send People to Hell?
Why Didn’t God Answer my Prayer?
Why Should I Trust God?
Why Can’t I Stop?
Why Does God Feel Far Away?
But now we come to a question that often sits underneath many of the others.
Does God love me
That is not just a question for lost people.
That is a question many church people quietly carry too.
They know John 3:16.
They know God loves the world.
They know Jesus died for sinners.
But when the question turns personal, the heart begins to hesitate.
Does God really love me?
Can He love someone like me?
After what I have done.
After what I have said.
After what I have thought.
After how far I have wandered.
Many people do not struggle to believe God is loving in general.
They struggle to believe His love reaches personally to them.
And if you never settle that in your heart, you will struggle everywhere else.
You will struggle to trust Him.
You will struggle to pray.
You will struggle to rest.
You will struggle to believe His promises when life gets hard.
The good news is that God’s love is not like our love.
We usually love because we see something attractive, useful, desirable, or valuable.
But God loves in a very different way.
He does not love us because we are worthy.
His love is what gives worth to the unworthy.
That is the great truth of this message.
God does not love us because we are worthy.
God’s love in Christ is what gives worth to the unworthy.
I. We Misread Love
I. We Misread Love
One reason many people struggle with the love of God is because they are thinking about love the wrong way.
A. We Love What Seems Valuable
A. We Love What Seems Valuable
This is the way we usually think about love.
People love what seems beautiful.
People love what seems useful.
People love what seems precious to them.
That is how much of human love works.
We see value, and then love rises toward it.
And without even realizing it, many people assume God must love like that too.
They think, “If God loves me, there must be something in me that made me worth loving.”
But when we look honestly at ourselves, we do not feel especially lovable.
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
That verse levels all of us.
Not some have sinned.
All have sinned.
That includes the moral person.
That includes the religious person.
That includes the church member.
That includes you and me.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
That is the real condition of the human heart.
We are not naturally running toward God.
We are wandering from Him.
And if we think God only loves what appears worthy, then we are going to have a hard time believing He could love us at all.
That truth presses us even deeper.
Not only do we tend to love what seems valuable.
We also know enough about ourselves to feel unworthy.
B. We Don’t Feel Worthy
B. We Don’t Feel Worthy
That is where this question becomes painfully personal.
A guilty conscience does not struggle to believe that God loves holy people.
It struggles to believe that God loves sinful people.
And it especially struggles to believe that God loves this sinner.
We know our thoughts.
We know our failures.
We know the words we wish we could take back.
We know the people we have wounded.
We know the places where we have fallen again and again.
David said in Psalm 51:3
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me.
There are times when sin stands before the soul like a constant accuser.
And Satan loves to use that.
Revelation 12:10 calls him “the accuser of our brethren.”
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
He loves to whisper, “Not you.”
“Not after that.”
“Not after all these years.”
“Not after all the mercy you have wasted.”
And some people have listened to those whispers so long that they almost take them as truth.
They still come to church.
They still hear the gospel.
But somewhere deep down, there is still that quiet resistance.
“Surely not me.”
Friend, if that is where you are this morning, you are not alone.
But you must not stay there.
Because you cannot rejoice in grace if you secretly believe grace stops short of you.
So we need the Lord to show us something better than the way we naturally think.
C. God Loves Differently
C. God Loves Differently
This is where the gospel shines.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
That verse changes everything.
God did not wait until we improved.
God did not wait until we cleaned ourselves up.
God did not wait until we became easier to love.
He loved us while we were yet sinners.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Love did not begin with our reaching up to God.
Love began with God reaching down to us.
That means His love is not a reaction to our worth.
It is an expression of His grace.
Friend, if you are waiting until you become worthy enough for God to love you, you will wait forever.
But if you will come as a sinner to a gracious Savior, you will find that His love is already moving toward you in Christ.
And that brings us to the next great truth.
If we misread love, then we need to see how God has actually shown His love.
II. God Loved Us First
II. God Loved Us First
The clearest answer to the question, “Does God love me?” is not found in our feelings.
It is found in what God has done.
A. Love Began With God
A. Love Began With God
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
That is such a needed truth.
Love did not begin with our devotion.
Love did not begin with our obedience.
Love did not begin with our seeking.
Love began with God.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Do you hear that?
Rich in mercy.
Great love.
Not small love.
Not reluctant love.
Not barely enough love.
Great love.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
That is the whole point.
His love did not begin because we did enough to deserve it.
His love moved toward us in mercy.
That means your hope is not resting on how well you love God.
Your hope is resting on the fact that God loved you first.
That truth steadies the soul.
Because if His love began with Him, then my security is found in His heart, not mine.
And once you see that, the next truth becomes even sweeter.
God did not keep that love hidden.
He showed it.
B. Love Was Shown In Christ
B. Love Was Shown In Christ
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”
That is how God showed His love.
He gave.
Love acts.
Love moves.
Love sacrifices.
And God gave not something small.
He gave His Son.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
The manger tells us He came.
The cross tells us why.
He did not simply announce love from heaven.
He showed love on earth.
The eternal Son of God stepped into our world.
He was born of a virgin.
He lived among sinners.
He touched lepers.
He welcomed children.
He spoke to the broken.
He carried our sorrows.
And then He went to the cross.
If you ever wonder whether God loves you, do not begin with your feelings.
Begin with Christ.
Begin with Bethlehem.
Begin with Calvary.
Begin with the empty tomb.
Because all of them are God’s declaration that His love is real.
That truth moves even deeper.
God not only began love and showed love.
He showed love at the very moment we least deserved it.
C. Love Came While We Were Sinners
C. Love Came While We Were Sinners
Again, Romans 5:8 says,
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
That humbles us and heals us at the same time.
He did not die for us once we had become righteous.
He died for us while we were unrighteous.
He did not die for us when we were seeking Him perfectly.
He died for us while we were running from Him.
He did not die for us after we had fixed ourselves.
He died for us when we were still broken, guilty, and lost.
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
That means Christ came for sinners exactly like us.
Friend, the very thing that makes you feel unworthy is the very reason Christ came.
He came for sinners.
He came for failures.
He came for the broken.
He came for those who know they cannot save themselves.
That is why the gospel is such good news.
Now once a person begins to see and believe that kind of love, something begins to change inside.
That leads us to the third truth.
III. Love Changes Identity
III. Love Changes Identity
When the love of Christ really lays hold of a person, it does not merely comfort him.
It begins to change the way he sees himself.
A. John Was Changed By Love
A. John Was Changed By Love
When we first meet John in the Gospels, he is not what we would call a gentle, mild man.
He and his brother James were called the sons of thunder.
And Luke 9:54 shows us why.
When people would not receive Jesus, James and John had an incredibly strong reaction,
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
That’s not soft language.
John was intense.
John was fiery.
John was rough around the edges.
But then he started walking with Jesus.
He heard His words.
He saw His patience.
He watched His mercy.
He experienced His love day after day.
And over time something in John began to change.
That is what the love of Christ does.
It does not merely tell you that you are forgiven.
It starts reshaping who you are.
And one of the first places that change shows up is in the way you think about yourself.
John was changed by love.
And that love gave him a new way to describe himself.
B. Grace Gave Him A New Name
B. Grace Gave Him A New Name
Several times in his Gospel, John referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Think about that.
He could have called himself the disciple who saw great miracles.
He could have called himself the disciple who was close to Jesus.
But what settled deepest into his heart was this: Jesus loved him.
That became his identity.
No longer just a son of thunder.
No longer just a rough man with a bad past.
No longer just a hothead.
He was the one Jesus loved.
That is what grace does.
Grace teaches a man to stop introducing himself to his own soul by his old failures.
Grace teaches a woman to stop naming herself by her shame.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The old identity does not get the final word.
Grace gives a new name.
And some of you need that this morning.
You are still speaking over your soul with names that grace has already answered.
Failure.
Dirty.
Broken.
Not enough.
Unlovable.
But the love of Christ speaks a better word.
And once you see that in John, the next step must become personal.
C. We Are The Ones Jesus Loves
C. We Are The Ones Jesus Loves
This is where the message must land.
Not just John.
Not just Peter.
Not just Paul.
If you are in Christ, you are one whom Jesus loves.
That is not pride.
That is faith.
That is not arrogance.
That is agreement with the Word of God.
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Not might bestow.
Not will someday bestow.
Hath bestowed.
It is already given in Christ.
Some of you need to stop defining yourself by your worst moment.
Some of you need to stop letting old voices keep telling you who you are.
Some of you need to stop measuring your worth by what others failed to give you.
The love of Christ gives a better word than your shame ever could.
You are the one Jesus loves.
Now that does not mean everyone is automatically saved.
The love of God is real and offered.
But it must be received.
That brings us to the final truth.
IV. Love Must Be Received
IV. Love Must Be Received
The love of God is not meant to stay at the level of information.
It calls for a response.
A. Christ Came To Save
A. Christ Came To Save
John 3:16 says, “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
God’s love is not sentimental only.
It is saving.
The angel told Joseph in Matthew 1:21
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
That’s our deepest problem.
Sin.
We are not merely flawed in a harmless way.
We have sinned against a holy God.
We have missed the mark.
We have gone astray.
And because of that, we often feel unworthy.
But that is exactly why Christ came.
He came to save.
He came to forgive.
He came to rescue.
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.
That means no sinner in this room is beyond the purpose of His coming.
If He came to save sinners, then He came for people like us.
And if He came to save, then His love is not weak.
It is strong enough to rescue.
And if that love rescues, then it also keeps.
B. Nothing Can Separate Us
B. Nothing Can Separate Us
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What a promise that is.
If you are in Christ, His love is not fragile.
It is not hanging by a thread.
It is not based on how steady you feel on a given day.
It is anchored in Christ.
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Now that does not make sin small.
But it does make His love glorious.
There are believers who need to hear that and breathe again.
You do not have to spend your whole life wondering whether one more failure has finally made God give up on you.
If you belong to Christ, His love is stronger than your shame, deeper than your fear, and steadier than your emotions.
That leaves one final question.
How do you enter into that love personally?
C. Come To Him By Faith
C. Come To Him By Faith
John 3:16 says, “Whosoever believeth in him.”
There is the response.
Believe.
Trust.
Come.
Receive.
12 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:
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The love of God is not received by becoming worthy first.
It is not received by trying harder.
It is not received by cleaning yourself up before coming.
It is received by faith in Jesus Christ.
You turn from your sin.
You come to Christ.
You trust His death and resurrection.
You receive the love God has shown in Him.
So this message is not only for the discouraged believer.
It is also for the lost sinner.
Does God love you?
Yes.
He has shown that love in the giving of His Son.
But have you received that love by faith?
Have you come to Christ?
Have you trusted Him?
Do not stand at a distance and keep arguing with grace.
Come to Him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Does God love me?
If you look only at yourself, you will always find reasons to doubt.
If you measure by your own worthiness, you will always come up short.
If you stare only at your failures, your heart will sink.
But if you look to Christ, the answer becomes wonderfully clear.
Yes, God loves you.
He loved sinners enough to send His Son.
He loved the guilty enough to make atonement.
He loved the unworthy enough to give them worth in Christ.
He loved us while we were yet sinners.
Christian friend, live in that love.
Do not keep going back to the prison of shame when the cross has already opened the door.
Do not keep naming yourself by what grace has forgiven.
Do not keep doubting what Calvary has already settled.
You are the one Jesus loves.
And if you do not know Christ this morning, hear this plainly.
You do not have to become worthy first.
You do not have to clean yourself up first.
You do not have to carry your guilt one day longer.
Jesus Christ died for sinners and rose again.
If you will repent and believe on Him, He will save you.
He will forgive you.
He will make you new.
And you too will know the joy of saying, “I am the one Jesus loves.”
Sing JESUS LOVES ME
