5 Reasons To Love God

Text: Matthew 22:35-40

Thesis: To show reasons why anyone should feel compelled to love God.

Introduction:

1. What if I were to demand that you love me? Would you? You might say, "Why should I

love you?" And you would be right to want reasons for my demand for your love.

2. Mat. 22:36-38 - God has demanded our love; it's the most important commandment of all,

according to Jesus. Shouldn't we ask for reasons to love Him?

3. The Bible contains many answers to the question of why a person should love God. We'll

look briefly at five of them.

Discussion:

I. He Created All Things (Including You)

A. The question of origins continues to intrigue people. Probes have been sent to distant places in space to try to learn something about how things came to be. There are plenty of theories among scientists; the most prominent is the Big Bang Theory.

B. The Bible tells us that God is the origin of all things:

1. Gen. 1:1 - The very first words of the Bible make this claim. Evolution is immediately discounted if Intelligence planned and created all things.

2. Does it make sense to believe that God created all things?

a. Would we believe an automobile was accidentally put together by an explosion in a junk yard? No one would believe such an idea!

b. Would we believe a house could be built by trucks carrying building supplies turning over and the supplies accidentally falling together into a house? Preposterous! we would say.

c. Heb. 3:4 - The idea of intelligent design makes perfect sense. God is the One who has made everything.

C. If God made everything, then He also made you and me. Are we not glad to be here? Then just as we love our parents for giving us life, so we should love God for making us.

II. He Is The Giver Of All Good Gifts

A. In Johnson City there is a carved statue of a Native American. The man who created it, Peter Wolf Toth, has not been back to Johnson City to my knowledge. He created and then he left.

B. God continues to bless what He has created:

1. Jas. 1:17 - James affirmed that God is the giver of all good gifts. He supplies us with those things that we need - sunshine, air, water, etc. They all come from Him.

2. Psa. 68:19 - The psalmist said that God daily loads us with benefits. He further said that God is the God of our salvation. He is gracious!

C. We often focus on things we don't have, and we complain. But when we stop to think about all God has given, we are amazed. He is truly generous with us. It's another reason to love Him.

III. He Sent Jesus To Save Us

A. How do we feel about a doctor who performs life-saving surgery? A fireman who pulls someone from a burning building? We feel indebted to them for saving our lives.

B. God's love has reached out to us to save us:

1. Jn. 3:16 - God loved us so much that He gave His only begotted Son to become our Savior. Because of Him, we don't have to die.

2. Rom. 5:8 - God proved His love for us by sending Christ to die for us. Without that sacrifice, we would have had to pay the penalty for our own sins, and that would have meant death.

C. We deserved punishment because of what we had done to our Creator. But God loves us even though we are transgressors. Doesn't that show that God is worthy of our love? He first loved us, so we ought to love Him.

IV. He Wants Us To Pray To Him

A. (2 Sam. 14) - After Absalom, son of King David, murdered his half-brother Amnon, David finally agreed to let Absalom return to Jerusalem. But for two years David would not speak to Absalom. Most of us can understand that. We might forgive, but we find it hard to forget, and so we don't even speak to those who wronged us.

B. God wants forgiven sinners to speak to Him often:

1. Phil. 4:6,7 - Instead of holding things inside, God wants us to bring our concerns to Him in prayer. In return, He'll give us peace that passes understanding.

2. Heb. 4:15,16 - Now that Jesus has shown He can sympathize with us, we are urged to come to the throne of grace to ask for that grace to help in times of need.

C. Can it really be that the One who made heaven and earth and all that is in them really wants us to come to Him? That's exactly what the Bible teaches, and it makes us love Him even more.

V. He Wants Us To Live With Him Forever

A. The first place God created for man to live was the Garden of Eden, a wonderful place. Man lost that, however, because of his sin. We now must live in a world that is imperfect and polluted by sin.

B. God calls us to come live with Him in heaven:

1. Jn. 14:1-3 - Jesus' invitation is beautiful. He is preparing a place in heaven for all His followers. Anyone is welcome to make it their everlasting home.

2. Rev. 22:17 - Like the invitation to come drink of the water of life, the offer of heaven is open to all. It's not just for those who have money or power, but for anyone who thirsts, anyone who longs for a better world.

C. Again we are compelled to love God because of His great offer for us to come live in His heavenly courts. There are beautiful places on earth, but none nearly so wonderful as heaven!

Conclusion:

1. Truly, the portrait of God in the Scriptures is amazing! There is no one as merciful and

gracious as Him! It's a picture we should consider often.

2. Now, does it seem so unreasonable for Jesus to say that loving God is the first command,

the greatest of all? Once we come to love Him, nothing He asks will seem hard.

3. He created all things; He is the giver of all good gifts; He sent Jesus to save us from sin;

He wants us to pray to Him; and He wants us to live with Him.