Series: Restoration
Sermon: First Love
Thesis: God is the one who invented the term “First Love” it means that He loved us first before we ever loved Him in return.
Introduction:
Love is going to be our topic today. But that 4 letter word love needs to be redefined today to make sure we understand what love is. So to get a biblical understanding of this word let’s make sure we define what love is not
Pretty much everything you see in romantic movies or read about in romantic novels or watch in romantic sitcoms is not genuine love it’s a cheap fake. In other words it’s a cheap substitute for the real thing.
Every person is on search for real love and that can only be found in God alone.
LOVE has been redefined by the world – the world throws everything into the love category and it is used carelessly:
L – Lusting after another is called love and having sex before marriage is called “making love” – sorry it’s not love – sin has no love in it.
O – Out of the closet is love – The Gay community says they are the ones who know how to love. They have the real deal – sorry once again not genuine authentic love! It’s once again a cheap substitute for the real deal.
V – Valentine’s Day is all about love! I beg to differ with you that this Love day is not rooted and grounded in real love. It focuses on love between two people but not on genuine authentic Biblical love. If God has no part of a relationship and if He is not at the center of it then there is no real love just another cheap substitute.
If you really want to dive deep into real love it’s not found going out to a fancy restaurant.
It’s also not found by going out as a couple to a movie.
Real Biblical love has nothing to do with candies, flowers, cards or even romantic nights away in a hotel.
E – Erotic emotions is not real love just another cheap substitute for the real thing.
We hear the LOVE word from one’s favorite food to one’s favorite car.
The truth is love - the real word love – is rooted in God alone – No God – No Love no matter how much the world tries to say this is real love it’s not!
But giving yourself for another now that is real biblical love.
Romans 12:1 “1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Can I add now this is real biblical love.
Let’s read from our text in Ezekiel what real genuine love looks like and acts like.
Scripture Text: Main text - Ezekiel 37:23-27
22I’ll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king—one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms.
23Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I’ll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I’ll clean them up. They’ll be my people! I’ll be their God!
24My servant David will be king over them. They’ll all be under one shepherd. “‘They’ll follow my laws and keep my statutes.
25They’ll live in the same land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever.
26I’ll make a covenant of peace with them that will hold everything together, an everlasting covenant. I’ll make them secure and place my holy place of worship at the center of their lives forever.
27I’ll live right there with them. I’ll be their God! They’ll be my people!
In our Scripture text we get a picture of God’s love for His people and in turn He desires their love for Him. All the way through the Bible God’s love radiates out of its pages for His people. The truth is God loves His creation and desires to be in relationship with it. Not as a autocratic dictatorial leader but as a loving Father. His discipline is always motivated even driven by His love for His children. Throughout the OT God uses tough love to train and restore his fallen children. This section is all about a Father’s L:ove for His children who have deserted Him. Listen closely:
I. Exegetical meaning and message of our text:
a. Verse 22: God basically tells us that He will restore a divided Israel and bless them with reunification and One King. In a sense He says, “I will show them love in spite of their disunity.”
b. Verse 23: God then goes one step deeper into love He promises to deliver them from themselves and their sinful ways. He will reach down from heaven and deliver them from their sinful cells of bondage. He will pull them out of the miry manure of sin and even clean them up. He wash their smelly bodies and feet with real love. He will cleanse them and they will know that they are His people, his children his 1st love.
c. Verse 24: He promises that David line will rule over them and we know that this is Jesus. Jesus will be their one loving shepherd. He will be the one to show the world God’s love and He will protect and look after the sheep of God. This true loving shepherd will teach tem God’s law of love, this good shepherd will be a role-model to all of them on How to love the Father and serve the Father.
d. Verse 25: Love will keep it’s promise of planting them in the Promised land of love and blessings. And Jesus will be there prince of peace. He will establish them back home in a secure and loving environment.
e. Verse 26: Jesus will establish a covenant of peace for them and he does this by dying on the cross for the lost children of God. This covenant made with blood and a sacrifice of love will hold everything together. It will unite this divided nation and it will unify the world under this mighty prince. This covenant is not nor ever will be temporary it’s permanent deal sent from God the Father to His children. He will not only make this covenant but He will place the holy place of worship right before them in the center of their hearts and lives.
f. Verse 27: he will live with them and dwell with them just like it was in the beginning with Adam and Eve. The Father will be their loving God. And all those who embrace Him will be His people, His children!
i. The bottom line here is God first loves us and we should love Him in return first before anyone or anything else!
T.S. – God throughout the OT and NT shows us what real God like love is. So for us to go deeper in this pursuit of real love let’s look at the definition of “First Love.”
II. First Love defined for us.
a. “First Love” – is how God the Father really loves each and every one of us, How God the Father loves Israel and really all the people of this world. He loved all of us and that is why He sent His son to die for us.
i. The truth is God first loved us and then we saw or experienced that powerful love and it changed us and we too embraced a first love in response to God. Do you recall that moment in time?
1. But then over time something happened to our love for God, for His presence, for His voice, for His direction, for His provision. Time seemed to drain away our first love, our love seemed to fade – to erode away slowly. We loved a little less each day and then finally we woke up one day feeling distant from the one who loved us and we who loved Him. It seemed as if love had vanished. But the truth is our love died not his love for us. When our love died for Him it lied to us saying, “God does not really love you!” “Who are you kidding!” “You do not pray enough or spend time in my word enough!” So we listen to lies and it siphons away our love for Him and then cages us in making us think that He does not love us.
ii. Our minds get influenced by our culture, by media, by the devil and even by our own thought process.
1. We think that God will love us less by our actions or reactions to life. The truth is God loves me as much today as he did when I was a practicing sinner. His love is consistent and steady and it is not like my so-called love.
2. My love seems to waiver and to fade but His never does and it never will. He loved me enough to die for me today as much as when I was a lost and a full fledged living and breathing sinner. He loves me in spite of myself.
iii. I find it a shame that the English language has only one word for love where as the Greek has three words for love:
1. Phileo – natural love – or companion type love - If you love me then I will love you! It is rooted fondness or liking of each other.
2. Eros – Sexual love – self gratifying – it’s all about the sex.
3. Agape – Perfect God type love – sacrificial – unselfish – I will love you and even die for you even if you don’t love me.
a. I think we need to redefine love today especially since it gets a bad rap in the media, in movies, in sitcoms and in churches today.
b. Revelation 2:1-7: let’s look at this term “first love” again as it relates to us as Christians.
i. To the church in Ephesus
1“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
1. Melvin Newland notes this about our text: The first question is, "What is first love?"
a. A while back I listened to someone reminiscing about his first love. He recalled tree-lined streets, & long summer evenings when he & his girl friend walked down the street holding hands & dreaming of their future together. They envisioned themselves living in a little cottage built for two in their blue heaven somewhere. When practical questions arose concerning money, they answered it in what seemed to them a most logical way. They said, "We’ll live on love." That’s the way first love is, isn’t it? It loves the object of its affection without reservation. It is being totally head over heels in love.
b. Now what is "first love" in God’s eyes? It is the love that first brought you to God. It is the love that you experienced when you saw the cross as it really was. It was when you realized that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for your sin & you were overwhelmed with His amazing love. So you became a child of God, & you experienced His forgiveness. That’s first love. First love looks at mountains of troubles & sees them as hills to conquer. First love looks at rivers of grief & worry that may arise in life & says, "That’s nothing. God & I together can swim through that."First love looks at stumbling blocks & sees them as stepping stones that prove the power of God. First love cries out, "Just give us a mountain to climb. Give us a river to swim. Give us something to do to prove the greatness of God’s love & how powerful He really is." That’s first love. But first love is vulnerable. It needs to be protected. It needs to be reinforced. Because love, you see, when it really loves, stretches out its arms & rolls up its sleeves to help the hurting multitudes. It isn’t selfish. It gives itself totally & completely.
c. The following thoughts are taken from the sermon “Losing your first love --- Melvin Newland”
i. “It isn’t the giant step from virtue into corruption that we need to fear. It’s the little steps that ultimately lead us away from God. It must have happened that way in the church in Ephesus. In Rev. 2:1-5, as Jesus looked at that church, He saw many positive things.”
1. Listen as I read the first 3 verses:
a. "These are the words of Him who holds the 7 stars in his right hand & walks among the 7 golden lampstands: `I know your deeds, your hard work & your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, & have found them false. You have persevered & have endured hardships for my name, & have not grown weary.’"
ii. “Isn’t that a great description of a church? We’d be proud to have Jesus say something like that about us, wouldn’t we?”
1. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on in vs. 4, "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love." I don’t imagine that their forsaking their first love happened in one giant step. It wasn’t that just one day they decided not to love God any more. It was a gradual thing. For a while their love for God was so great & so infectious that people were drawn into their fellowship. Great sermons were preached, & wonderful things were happening. And they were known far & wide for their steadfast faithfulness, even in the face of persecution. But then, people who used to pray a lot gradually stopped praying. People who may have been giving a lot gradually quit giving.
iii. Scripture often uses the marriage relationship as an illustration of love.
1. Two people meet and fall in love. So they spend precious time with each other, talking to one another, sharing their hopes and dreams. And when they’re apart, they’re thinking about each other, wishing they were together again. Their love just seems to grow & mushroom. Then one day they become husband & wife. They build a cocoon of love about themselves & they say, "We will always be together. And life will be so wonderful." But there are jobs to go to, & appointments to be kept, & stresses to be dealt with, & arguments & problems & family feuds & fusses. And all of these things pull on us, until soon the demands become so overwhelming that the love relationship begins to suffer. Then one day you look across the table at each other & you think, "That’s not the person I married. You’re a stranger. I don’t know you anymore." And what’s happened is that your love has been starved. It didn’t receive the daily nourishment it needed to grow healthy & strong.
2. One song writer sang, "Doesn’t anybody stay together anymore?" That’s kind of the way it was in Ephesus, wasn’t it? So many good things and yet they had forsaken their first love.
T.S. - For many of us we have a hard time believing in this kind of love from God. So for us to be able to understand the Father’s love for us requires us to understand a little about God’s nature and being.
III. The Fathers Love is His nature – His being is rooted and centered in Love.
a. 1John – 3:16-24: The Message:
i. 16This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.
17If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. When We Practice Real Love
18My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.
19This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality.
20It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
21And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God!
22We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him.
23Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command.
24As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
1. Love should compel us to keep His commandments. To obey His teachings to be willing to be guided by His loving hand. It’s all centered in a love relationship with Him.
b. How do we understand Love from this passage of Scripture?
i. Well we understand it and experience by Jesus Christ – the King of Israel – The king from the lineage of David. His selfless sacrifice should be and example to us of the nature of love.
1. Love gives sacrificially to others and does not demand its own way.
2. Love sacrifices their self interests for the benefits of others.
3. Love sees a need and chooses to step in and do something about it.
a. John 3:16
b. God saw the need and did something about it!
4. Love will disappear when people only focus on themselves.
a. When it’s all about you love is absent!
b. When you choose you self centered paths you choose to throw out love in your life.
5. Love which is from Heaven is to practices on a daily basis and in our daily relationships.
a. With God
b. With each other
i. Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40, “The Greatest Commandment
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’£
38This is the first and greatest commandment.
39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
ii. On a side note if you progress into the following verses Jesus is dealing with the truth that He is David’s rightful heir.
1. Listen to what He says: Whose Son Is the Christ
41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42“What do you think about the Christ£? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied.
43He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’£
45If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
46No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
b. When love is flowing out of our lives then we are really living. We are all made to love because God created us in His image and love is His central character.
i. When we are living out of Love and living for love it lets others see God in our lives. It gives glory to God!
c. Love can only be understood and experienced through a relationship with Love.
i. John 4:7-5:5:
1. God’s Love and Ours
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son£ into the world that we might live through him.
10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for£ our sins.
11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
16And 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.
17In 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.
18There 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.
19We love because he first loved us.
20If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
2. John 5 - Faith in the Son of God
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
ii. Love is God and God is love – the two of them are the same thing! You cannot have one without the other.
Conclusion:
God is the source of love!
Jesus is the proof of love!
Jesus made love the mark of a Christian!
Others will know us as Christians by our love!
Quote Sweeting – Love is the Greatest - page 122 “God’s love is not cheap or sentimental. It is priceless and incomparable. The way of love is God’s way, and His way is the only way to abundant and victorious living. It is the best way. Life apart from God’s love is failure. In fact, living without love is merely existing! The prize of love can be gained when we are willing to pay the price. It may involve heartbreak, suffering, disappointment, frustration, exhaustion, and tears. The call to love is not for the halfhearted. It is a full-time, lifelong vacation. Though it is not an easy road, it is a satisfying one. Those who embark on it would never turn back for any simple pleasures of the old turned-in way of life. It is the exciting peak that must be climbed, the zenith of all Christian experience. Love is the greatest!
Close with video clip: They will know us by our love.
