The Father’s Love Saves Us From Ourselves

Introduction:

There are many different kinds of love in our world, each one with its own definition. There’s the love we have for our friends, and the love we have for our spouse. The love we feel towards the familiar, and the love we feel toward people worthy of love. There’s even the love of oneself.

But the love of God, or agape love, is different than all other kinds of love. It is endless and unconditional. Where other types of love give up, God’s love persists. When all other loves are selfish and small, God’s love is selfless and expansive. It seeks the best in us and for us, even when we don’t deserve it.

And what did God do with this holy, selfless love? He revealed it to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This sacrifice, borne of love, made it possible for us to be saved from ourselves.

Let’s hear more about how that happened:

Point 1: God makes the first move.

Verse: Romans 5:8 ESV “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The very first thing we need to know about God’s love is that He meets us right where we are. Whatever we’ve done, however far we’ve wandered, God comes to us. He offers His love before we deserve it--He makes the first move.

So when we need saving from ourselves, as we all do sometimes, we can trust that God will always be there to help us out.

Point 2: God brings life into our death.

Verse: Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”

While this can be applied literally, there are also many “dead” areas of our life where God can bring new life. Is your joy missing? Has your hope grown cold? Are you angry, scared, or worried? Have you given up? In each of us, God wants to bring life into the places of death.

God saves us from the deaths, big and small, we each experience. His life brings salvation in every area of our lives.

Point 3: God’s love gives us life.

Verse: 1 John 4:9-10 ESV

“ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

A miraculous thing has occurred: when we accept the love of God, we live through Christ. Though we are weak, we get to live through One who is strong. Though we are tired, we rest in the One who never tires. We live life more fully and deeply than we ever knew was possible!

We’re saved from the limitations of our life and our love when we choose to live in unity with Christ.

Conclusion:

Before we can ever hope to extend this kind of love to others, we need to first receive it ourselves. You may have doubts--that this kind of love doesn’t exist, or that you don’t deserve it.

We know it exists because it’s demonstrated in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That kind of selfless love can only be found in God.

And the truth is, we don’t deserve it. That’s what makes it so incredible. A holy God would reach down out of Heaven to save us, undeserving as we are. He looks at us and finds us lovable, even when we don’t feel it’s possible.

Accept the love of God. Let God save you from yourself.

Questions:

●  Do you feel like you’ve experienced an agape kind of love in your life? ●  What are some examples of how God can save us from ourselves? ●  What’s one barrier that keeps people from accepting the love of God? ●  What’s one way you can share the love of God with someone else today?