God’s love language
I want to talk tonight about the very masculine subject of love languages.
A husband I know recently took his wife on a special get away ... to a pro wrestling championship.
How many of you could have gotten away with that?
He should have read Gary Chapman’s book. Remember the 5 love languages: 1words of affirmation, 2quality time, 3receiving gifts, 4acts of service and 5physical touch.
The main thing I want you to get out of this talk is God’s love language.
Going back to 1 Thes.1:3 - “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Faith produces a life occupation of serving God.
Love prompts selfless service (we’ll get back to that in a minute).
Hope inspires endurance for the long haul.
Those 3, faith, hope and love, are mentioned together 8 times in scripture!
11 Cor.13:13, 2Gal.5:5-6, 3Col.1:3-6, 41 Thes.1:3, 55:8, 61 Tim.1:1-5, 72 Tim.1:12-13 and 81 Peter 1:21-23.
God tells us a lot about love in 1 Jn.4:7-19 - “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.”
Love is a big deal to God because God is love and we love in response to Him.
God has a love language ... It’s obedience!
Jn.14:15 - “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
1Jn.3:18 - “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
Phil.2:21 tells us most people aren’t that interested in loving God. It says, “Everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.”
They might like the Christian facade but they don’t speak His love language.
James 1:22 warns us, saying, - “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Explain...
Remember Faith, Hope and Love ... 1 Cor.13:13 - “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Those 3 are intricately connected.
Heb.11:1 ties those 3 together telling us Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
What does that mean?
If I told you Russ would give $1,000,000 to everyone who asked him for it you’d probably hope I was telling the truth.
If you had faith that I was telling the truth, you’d act on that hope - you’d go ask him.
That action would be the evidence of your faith.
Obedience is the substance of faith and without it, faith is dead (James 2:26).
Likewise, the absence of obedience proves the absence of faith.
The greatest of those 3 is love and that’s why we’re going back to it tonight.
God’s plan: Love God - Obey God - See God do immeasurably more than you can imagine or ask (Eph.3:20) - That builds trust which creates intimacy.
That process keeps repeating itself.
The opposite of God’s plan is SIN = Say you love God - Don’t obey God - Don’t see God work (but instead see the result of my sin and then falsely attribute that to God often asking “why”) - that results in less trust and less intimacy with Him.
Unfortunately, that process also keeps repeating itself - America today!
I’m sorry if this comes across as crass, I am trying to keep it appropriate...
Marriage involves physical intimacy that results in physical children.
I know because my wife is pregnant right now.
God designed us for spiritual intimacy with Him that will result in spiritual fruit that will last for eternity.
There is a physical imitation of that intimacy God designed for marriage. That imitation produces no offspring.
When I pursue personally pleasurable spiritual experiences I am choosing the spiritual version of that physical imitation, which, although pleasurable, produces no spiritual fruit.
That’s the American church - find a church that makes you feel comfortable, listen to your favorite Christian music, watch your favorite Christian TV show and wear your favorite Christian t-shirt as you drive around in a car with a ton of Christian bumper stickers.
God is calling you away from that fruitless self driven Christianity to an intimate walk of obedience that is satisfying and will rock eternity.
Decide who you will follow.
1 Kings 18:21 - “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him.”
“No Lord” doesn’t work!
Do what He says.
You know what He’s called you to - Don’t pull a Jonah!
1st obey His general commands.
Then obey His specific commands.
Do the hard things - Integrity, evangelism, discipleship, etc.
Not just what you’re gifted and good at! Learn trust and dependence.
The Greek word used for labor in 1 Thes.1:3 is KOPOS, and it means a striking or a beating and was used to describe painful and difficult work. This is different from the life occupation of serving God mentioned previously and had a lot more to do with specific occasions and instances of serving God. So my faith produces a life focus of serving Him and then in that context my AGAPE love for Him yields a desire to continually serve Him in every situation I find myself in (1 Cor.10:31, Col.3:17, 23), even when those opportunities are not necessarily easy (1 Cor.16:8-9).
Do it in the power of His Spirit.
Ez.2:1-2 - “He said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you." As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.”
2 Cor.5:14-15 - “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
Again, God’s love language, 1 Jn.5:3 - “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
Tim Clemens, a friend of mine had a great observation about Ps.16:11 which says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Jesus was at God’s right hand (Acts 2:33) because He obeyed His Father (Jn.14:10). Tim explained that God’s right hand is a place of obedience and at His right hand there are pleasures forever.
People last for eternity.
When I walk in obedience to Him I will bear eternal fruit (Jn.15:16) and that will give me joy for eternity.
Don’t take Jesus to a pro wrestling match...
There is no other way you will ever experience the abundant life Jesus promised in Jn.10:10.
Application - You each know of a step you need to take.
