“God Is Love”
Text: John 3:14-17
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:7-11; John 3:1-13; Psalms 8:1-9; Ephesians 3:14-21
Introduction:
George Beverly Shea penned the words of a song entitled “The Wonder of It All”.
There’s the wonder of sunset at evening,
The wonder as sunrise I see;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that God loves me.
There’s the wonders of springtime and harvest,
The sky , the stars, the sun;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is a wonder that’s only begun.
O the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all-
Just to think that God loves me!
O the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all-
Just to think that God loves me!
Even though God created beautiful things during the week of creation, the most prized of His creation was when He created man out of the dust of the earth. From the very beginning when God picked up that hand full of dust to form man He knew that He was going to have to use His plan of Redemption for all the human race some day so that He could prove His love to all of us.
Our text gives us that plan “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” There are some people that are asking, how did God give His only Son? We read in scripture that He give us His Son through a virgin girl by the name of Mary. But why did He give us His only Son they are asking. The answer is simple yet complex. God gave us His Son so that He could die, but Jesus did not die an ordinary death. He had to become obedient unto the death that He was to die. Philippians 2:7-11 says:
7 “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
But, why did He have to die that way, the people are asking. God showed us His love by giving us His Son, but Jesus had to show us His love for His Father by taking upon himself all the sins of mankind and then dying in our place of us. Jesus choose to die this horrible death of being beaten and hung on a old cruel rugged cross with three rusty spikes.
Then God showed us His complete love toward all mankind on the third day of His son’s death by raising His only son from the dead. In doing this God was showing us that we could have new life also through the death and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus. That is how the first part of the chapter which our text come from receives to true meaning. John 3: 1-13 “1 ¶ There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”
Let us now take a closer look that God’s Love for us.
First of all, God’s Love shown through Creating a Human Race. Psalms 8 tells it to us best.
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 ¶ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
(KJV)
In the creation of the human race we see that God had a special plan for us. We see that He made us a little lower than the angels, then crowned us with glory and honour. He has also put us second in command over all the earth even when He knew that the human race would fall prey to Satan’s temptations. That is the reason why God already had a plan in mind when He scooped up that hand full of dust on the sixth day of creation.
Secondly, God’s Love shown through His Son Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter three tells us that for man to fully understand God’s love shown through His Son that He gave to us, we have to come to except the love that Jesus showed for us. Paul states that only Saints can comprehend the Love. The only way to be a Saint is simple. First John 1:9 tells us how we can become Saints. It says; “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” All we as humans need to do is “confess our sins” and He said, that He would do the rest for us.
The rest was done for us though the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ Our Saviour. After simply believing that all you have to do to understand God’s Love for us is confess our sins then you can say with Paul Ephesians 3:14-21
“14 ¶ For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
(KJV)
Conclusion:
How about it this morning, do you understand God’s Love? Do you have a desire to understand His love? If you do I would like to give the opportunity this morning to either come forward to let the church body pray with you or you may lift up your hand to signify pastor I have a desire to understand God’s Love but I’m not ready to come forward yet, please, pray for me.
Saints, when was the last time that you was overwhelmed with God’s Love for you? Has it been a while since you had someone come to you and say I can see God’s Love through you? If so, would you like to come and spend some time in prayer this morning?
