God Loves, Isa. 53:1-11
3:16 Series, week
Intro: Anyone know what tonight is?
The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences Awards…also known as the Oscars, live from Los Angeles, CA.
A celebration of movies that most of us will never see starring actors that many of us have never heard of…yet it will grace our televisions for weeks and months leading up to tonight.
Well, except for those of us on Dish Network since we can’t catch ABC right now.
Too bad, I think Hollywood is doing a tribute to Fidel Castro tonight…they just love him there.
One of the big things for some leading up to the awards show is the “red carpet” where the fashionistas show up and flaunt what they are wearing.
Of course the standard red carpet moments consists of the people who have more money than good sense showing up and being asked, “Who are you wearing?” in reference to fashion and jewelry.
And believe you me…the jewelry that some of these people will be wearing can only be called ridiculous.
Bracelets, necklaces and ear rings that would very easily be worth 5 digits and more than most of us make in a year…and in some cases more than some of us combined.
Yet, no matter how no matter how much money a person has on their hands or neck line tonight…it only fails in comparison to what is perhaps the most valuable piece of jewelry ever; the hope diamond.
45 ½ carats with an estimated worth of around a quarter of a billion dollars.
SHOW PICTURE and GET DESCRIPTION
ASK: How would you like to sport that to your next class reunion?
ASK: Do you realize we all have a hope diamond that is far more valuable than this rock will ever be?
If you have your Bibles this morning I want you to turn to Isaiah 53.
There is not a single word of scripture that is without value, but if there is one that speaks with so much truth and so much clarity that it alone stands as the hope diamond of Scripture it is the verse I want us to look at this morning.
Show 3:16 diamond and read it.
Over the next few weeks we are going to be considering this verse…bit by bit and piece by piece.
And this morning we are going to begin by considering the first section of John 3:16, “For God so loves…”
And let’s consider it by reading our Isaiah 53:1-11.
Read and pray.
Transition: Isaiah is a true marvel of Scripture.
He was a prophet about 750 years before Christ came, and his name comes from the same Hebrew root that we get the word “salvation” as well as the name of Christ, “Jesus”.
The book of prophecy we have from him reads much like a small Bible.
Our Bible has 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament telling us about God dealing with His chosen people and much of it centering on their rebellion and the judgment they would face as a result of it.
And than we have 27 books in our New Testament that tells us how God fulfilled those first books and actively involved Himself in giving us the grace that saves.
In the book of Isaiah we find 39 chapters where Isaiah preaches to Judah about their rebellion and the judgment that was pending as a result of their actions…and then the next 27 chapters are those where Isaiah proclaims the words of hope that can be fulfilled by the God of grace.
And it is there we begin this morning considering the truth of God loves.
Have you thought about that much lately…God loves.
Sure we talk about it all the time, the love of God, and that God loves us…but have you really thought about it.
Stopped and really let that reality simmer and make an impression on your heart and mind.
That is what I want us to do this morning, not only talk about the love of God, but really let it make an impression on our lives this morning.
Three realities of God’s love I want us to consider this morning, first of all…
1. It is Passionate
We refer to the days and hours leading up to the crucifixion of Christ as the “Passion”.
We go to “Passion Plays”, or we watch the movie “The Passion of the Christ”…and too often people don’t really think about why we call it the “Passion”.
It is because of the love that went into this great act of love.
For God so what…?
Loved, it was because of His passion.
Reread vs. 3-4 (and opine)…the Savior went through this for you and for me; and in spite of who we are and what we have done.
In fact, the Apostle Paul addressed this same passion in his letter to the church in Rome.
Read Romans 8:6-8.
Max Lucado in his book, “He Chose the Nails” wrote this: “Ask God the question and He takes you to Calvary. The love of God is measured by the cross of Christ. It is there that God shows the extent of His love. It is there that we find our spiritual thirsts quenched. It is only there that we find refreshment for our parched souls.”
How much passion, and how much does God have for us…all we have to do is look to the cross to see the answer.
The most destructive, the most evil, the most vile and the most hateful form of death is a symbol of God’s love.
How passionate is God?
Look to the cross and see its width…it is wide enough to include you and me.
Look to the cross and see its length…it is long enough to reach you where you are.
Look to the cross and see its depth…it is deep enough to give you life and life more abundantly.
No matter how you look at it, or how you attempt to measure the immeasurable love and passion of God…you will find that is more than enough for you, for me and anyone else who would approach this God of grace and mercy.
It is called the passion because God is passionate…and his passion burns for you.
Have you experienced that love of God yet in your life?
The love that sent the Savior to the cross to die for your sins, and the same love that brought Him from the grave 3 days later securing eternal life for you.
If not, today is the day you can experience this passion for yourself.
The 2nd reality about the love of God I want to consider this morning is that…
2. It is Purposeful
Read vs. 5-6
The reason for all of this was so that we might be healed…not a physical healing that can be accomplished by the hands of man but a spiritual healing that can only be accomplished by God.
He was smitten, he was stricken and afflicted…He was wounded, crushed and chastised, all for you and me.
God had a purpose in expressing this great love for us in such a great way…read Luke 19:10.
God seeks to redeem mankind and to restore the relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden.
God created us in His image so that we might have a special type of relationship with Him.
In Genesis 3 it says that God walked in the Garden of Eden…He cared so deeply for the pinnacle of His creation that He chose to join them in the Garden to fellowship with them.
But it was sin that caused God to have to turn His back on the pinnacle of His creation because His holiness and justice cannot be in the same presence of sin and rebellion; but God didn’t keep his back turned.
In fact He once again chose to walk upon this earth…being born of a virgin and living a sinless life; he chose to give all that He had for our sins.
He died, and his purpose was to save us.
He wants to forgive you.
He wants to give you life, and life more abundantly.
He wants you to find the hope that no job, no amount of education and definately no presidential candidate can ever give you.
Have you found the purpose that God sent His Son into our reality for?
Have you found the purpose of salvation?
It comes when you Admit, Believe and Confess.
That is God’s purpose in loving us with such a great passion.
And this takes us to the third reality of the love of God I want us to consider this morning…
3. It is Pursuing
Read verse 7-11.
God was willing to go to whatever it required Him to go, and do whatever what required of Him, and chase you as far as you are today to reach you.
God isn’t offering religion, He isn’t saying “You need to reach up to me”; instead He is offering a relationship where God reaches down to us right where we are through the person of Christ.
When did this pursuit begin? How about in the Garden of Eden.
Read Gen. 3:1-15 and opine.
God’s plan of pursuing didn’t begin when you first went to church.
His plan of pursuing you also didn’t being when you were born.
God’s plan of pursuit began about 6000 years ago in the Garden of Eden when sin first entered the picture.
God’s plan and His purpose of redemption is what we read about in Genesis 3:15
There is a great song by Mark Lowery that says:
I don’t know what a sinner you are, but I know what a Savior He is.
I don’t know where your feet have taken you, but His climbed up Calvary’s hill.
I don’t know what kind of words you have spoken, but His words were ‘Father forgive’.
I don’t know what a sinner you are but I know what a Savior He is.”
You see, you don’t have to do anything to accept the love of God…other than accepting it.
God has done all of the ground work, He pursued you and did what is necessary so that you might know the one true God and Jesus Christ who He sent.
God loves you with an earthly love that you can never earn or win on your own.
And this great love is not anything you can ever lose either.
God’s love will NEVER EVER let you go because He has handcuffed himself to you with His love.
Closing: Let me ask you a question as we wrap things up…how many planets are there in our solar system? (Expect 9…but the correct answer is 8).
I’m not sure if you realize this or not, but a group of scientist meeting in Prague a couple of years ago decided that Pluto is not worthy of planet status any more and downgraded it to asteroid #134340.
Basically, Pluto wasn’t good enough to be called a plant, but good enough to have Mickey Mouse’s dog named after it…go figure.
Have you ever felt “Plutoed”?
Not good enough, not big enough, not whatever the standard is enough…and you lose out simply because you don’t meet someone one’s standards some where; we’ve all be there at one time or another.
That is why for those of us who have been demoted and demoaned, God says “I love you.”
John 3:16, the crown jewel of Scripture tells us for God so loved the world…that means you, that means me, and that means everyone how has just taken a breath and is taking a breath now.
My question is, what are you going to do with this love.
If you have never placed your faith in Christ as your Lord and Savior…I invite you to accept this great gift of love.
If you have already accepted this great gift…what are you doing with it?
We just finished a series where I challenged you to take things to the next level…just because we are done with that series doesn’t mean the challenge is over.
Do you need to take the love of God to another level in your life?
• Loving God back by living a life of holiness that will honor and glorify Him
• Loving your neighbor as yourself
• Sharing that love with someone who is lost.
How will you respond today?
