2019 Advent - Love of God

Introduction

Many of us who have grown up in the church probably have heard this verse.

For me, this was the very first memory verse I learned when I was a kid.

There is a simplicity in this verse that a child can learn it and have an understanding of the purpose of God and why Christ came into this world.

Yet, if you stay at a childish understanding of this verse, you cannot see the power and thrust of this verse – because underlying the simplicity lies a depth of knowing and understanding God and the very motivation that have transformed lives for generations.

These verses epitomize the very heart and motivations and the purposes of God in his salvation.

It is why we come to worship God every Sunday, giving us our purpose and reason why we the church exists.

And the reason is simple – we exist to display the depth and the breadth of God’s love in this world which is seen in his undeserved salvation he has bestowed upon us.

To understand the coming of Christ and the motivation of God’s love, you cannot take these verses apart from its context.

These verses are a continuation of the meeting Jesus had with Nicodemus – a pharisee who heard Jesus teaching – whose curiosity was sparked.

He came to Jesus in the night – not to look so conspicuous with a genuine seeking heart.

And the basic thrust of what Jesus told Nicodemus was that you needed to be born again to enter into the kingdom of God, which confused Nicodemus.

But to sum up what Jesus says about being born again – “you must have faith in the Son of God and why Jesus was sent – to give life.

(ESV):

John 3:13–15 ESV

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

And it is from here that John writes and continues the thought of the very heart and motivation of bringing eternal life.

o And it is from here that John writes and continues the thought of the very heart and motivation of bringing eternal life.

“For God so loved the world … “, or better translated as “In this way God, God love the world …”

You see, the thrust of the gift of eternal life is simply love.

Yet, the love of God is a love beyond comprehension, because God’s love was for this “world.”

Now you may think that this love was for his creation and for people, which is true on the surface, but when it says God so loved this “world”, it’s not merely referring to people or creation.

When John uses the word “world”, there is a notion that it is something that is separate from God – something that was apart from God because of sin.

Whether it is referring to creation, people, or a place, it something that had been tainted by sin and rebellion – the very thing that is opposite of God.

The world is marked by fallenness, darkness, death and judgment – and so when it says that God so loved the world, basically John is stating that God loved those that didn’t love him.

And when referring to people, God loved those that were rebellious towards him – those who were basically enemies of God who dwelled in darkness.

(ESV):

John 1:9–10 ESV

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

And as Paul expounds in (ESV):

Romans 5:10 ESV

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

You see, this is what is so amazing about the love of God …

It’s one thing to be willing to love and die for those that love you.

But to love those who by nature hates you? Does that make sense.

Yet this is the love of God in Christ.

You see, the world was already in judgment – it was to be condemned if nothing was done.

The world, fallen and lost, if left alone would be judged because of its sin and rebellion against God.

But as stated, Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it, but to save it.

And the very motivation stems from the radical love of God and the obedience of His precious Son.

Jesus was sent into this world because of the depth and breadth of God’s love for the world.

This is what the Advent season is about.

It is not about the “birth” of Jesus Christ, but rather the undeserving gift of life God has given – the revelation of God’s love for us even though we didn’t deserve it.

o It is not about the “birth” of Jesus Christ, but rather the undeserving gift of life God has given – the revelation of God’s love for us even though we didn’t deserve it.

Points

God’s love breaths new life into us.

As many of you know, I’m a pretty computer savvy guy.

For me, I need my computers for work and I also utilize it for personal consumption as well.

But when you use a computer for a long time, there is something that happens to the computer.

Do you know what happens?

It slows down – doesn’t matter if it’s a mac or a windows pc, every computer slows down.

The reason is because over time you add things, even things that you don’t realize and there is a lot of junk files that build up in the computer.

Now when this happens, you have a choice.

You can believe that the computer is now junk and throw it away or you can try to save it by renewing it.

For me when this happens, rather than throw away something that is good, I choose to save it.

So what I do is I do a hard reset – basically, I erase everything and I redo the computer so it runs like it was new.

And when I do this, it makes the computer like it renews the computer so it can be used for many more years.

This is what God did for us in his love.

You see, in each one of us, there is a lot of junk – junk that only builds up in time.

This junk is called sin and God could have made a choice either to consider us junk and destroy us or consider us precious and renew us to save us.

But in God’s love, God chose to renew us and save us so we can have new life – an eternal life.

You see, God’s love is constantly breathing new life in us.

Because of Jesus, we can have a new life – an eternal life.

And that life begins now.

All we need to do is trust in Jesus and place faith in God and the love he has for us.

God’s love transforms us.

One of my favorite holiday videos is A Charlie Brown Christmas.

There is one scene that sort of sums up the Charlie Brown world.

Let’s watch this scene together.

That Christmas tree represented Charlie Brown.

Even though it seems like a little scraggly tree, Linus saw something more.

So giving it a little love and attention, everyone took the decorations and decorated the tree.

And in the end, it was transformed into something that was beautiful and caused great joy.

· This is what God did for us.

As God sent Jesus to give us new life, in that new life, there is change and transformation.

In God’s loving care, he changes us because he sees us beyond our sin.

He sees us clothed in glory.

Romans 8:28–30 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

God predetermined that those who have faith will be clothed in glory some day.

God’s love brings us together to celebrate.

One of the things that the Christian life should be marked by is celebration.

Richard Foster, Celebration of Disciplines: “In our day heaven and earth are on tiptoe waiting for the emergence of a Spirit-led, Spirit-intoxicated, Spirit-empowered people. All of creation watches expectantly for the springing up of a disciplined, freely gathered, martyr people who know in this life the life and power of the kingdom of God. It has happened before. It can happen again.”

We celebrate together to share the joy we have in Christ.

I want to encourage you to celebrate – not only by yourselves, but with others as well.

Love, joy, hope, and peace was not meant to be kept to ourselves, but it was meant to e shared in celebration.

Don’t fall into Satan’s trap of isolation during this season.

hAs you reflect on the love of God in the gift God has given in Christ, go out and share it with others in celebration.