Magnetic Love

Magnetic Love

Selected Passages

February 15, 2004

Introduction

When I was little I can remember standing in front of the church I grew up in and singing Jesus Loves Me during the VBS program. We had worked all week at learning that song and now we were sharing it with everyone at the program.

How many of you know that song?

The message of the song is very simple and yet it is extremely profound. Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes Jesus loves me Yes Jesus loves me Yes Jesus loves me for the Bible tells me so.

No one will ever love you more than Jesus loves you right here and right now. Jesus has a love that can never be taken away from you.

The message is so simple that I think we far too often miss it because the fact that Jesus would love us is sometimes beyond our ability to fully grasp. I want to assure you this morning that the message of that song true Jesus loves you.

Do you realize it? Do you understand what it means to know that Jesus loves you?

This morning I want to take some time and explore the scriptures to show you just how much Jesus loves you.

Body

1. The love Jesus has for you is complete (Ephesians 3:18-19)

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

What exactly is Paul praying for?

The main petition that Paul takes before God is that his desire is for the Ephesian church to have the ability to grasp just how much Jesus loves them.

Paul uses the four dimensions to describe the love of Christ: width, length, height and depth. These were the same dimensions given by ancient philosophers to describe the vastness of the universe. Paul uses this concept to real the complete nature of the Christ has for you. Literally, the love of Christ is so massive that it fills the entire universe.

The width of Christ’s love reaches the whole world and beyond. The length of Christ’s love stretches through all of time. The height of Christ’s love raises believers to the heights of heaven. The depth of Christ’s love reaches down into the depths of this sin soaked world to bring redemption.

The truth is that your feeble human understanding will never be able to fully comprehend just how much Jesus loves you. So, we need to be seeking to experience more and more of His love on a daily basis. God has promised give us all that we ask for if we have faith to believe and a genuine request.

There is nothing that you have ever done to make Jesus love you any less than the day you came into being. Nothing! Not one single thing you have ever done in your life has caused a decrease in the love Jesus has for you.

Only the love of Jesus makes us who we are meant to be and without it you will never be whole. The love that Jesus has for you can bring wholeness to…

· Every relationship that you have in this life because it is the foundation of love

· Every course of action you chose in this life

· Every hurt that you ever experience because His love brings healing to your life

The love of Christ can meet the greatest needs of your life if you will just open up to it and allow it to penetrate the deepest recesses of your heart. The love of Jesus can bring wholeness to your life if you will just allow it.

2. The love Jesus has for you is sacrificial (Ephesians 5:1-2)

1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

A. Remember that you are part of God’s family

How many of you love your children? How many would do everything you could for them?

I think that it is crucial for you to remember that when you come to Christ, you enter into God’s family. Not like some distant relative from far away that drops by once in a while for a visit but rather you are His dearly loved Child. You are precious to Christ and you are always on His mind.