OH, HOW HE LOVES US!
Easter Sunday-2012
INTRODUCTION: 1st John 4:8 says that God is love. What this tells me is that everything that God is and does is love. Nothing God says and nothing God does is without love. And the greatest display of God’s love came when he sent his son Jesus. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Love is the most important thing. 1st Cor. 13:13, “and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.” Vinet said, “The Christian faith does not consist in the belief that we are saved, but in the belief that we are loved.” Oh, how he loves us.
1) Jesus laid aside his glory. Phil. 2:1-8. Imagine owning the most beautiful place on earth with everything you would ever need at your fingertips. Imagine having servants wait on you. Imagine having complete command and authority over it all. Then imagine leaving it all behind to go live in the scummiest place on earth. You lose all your comforts. You forsake all your command. You become willing to subject yourself to authority; unloving and ruthless authority at that. You still have power to wipe anyone out who opposes you but you choose to restrain it to accomplish the greater purpose. You leave behind riches and become clothed with poverty. You remove yourself from being treated as the king you are to become subject to being treated like yesterday’s trash. And you aren’t forced to do it; you do it all willingly. And on top of that, you will be doing all this for people who hate you. You will be making this complete sacrifice for people who won’t recognize or appreciate any of it. Yet, despite all this, you are still willing to go through with it. You know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it; and you have nothing to gain from it-it’s everyone but you who has everything to gain. Jesus laid aside his heavenly conveniences and came to be with us so that there could be an opportunity for us to have the treasures of heaven alongside him. He laid aside his crown that we would gain the crown of life. He was willing to leave his Father’s side so that we could someday be by the Father’s side. He laid aside his life so that we would gain life eternal. Oh, how he loves us.
2) Jesus died for us. 1st John 3:16a, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” The Greeks had three words for love: “Phileo”, specifically referred to the love between two friends. It’s where the name “Philadelphia” comes from, which means “City of brotherly love”; “Eros”, refers to romantic love. It is from this word that we get “Erotic”. But then there is “Agape” or “Agapao”. It is a totally self sacrificing kind of love; asking nothing in return. It is a love that spends itself completely and unwaveringly on its object. This is the kind of love John was talking about in John 3:16, and here in 1st John 3:16. Therefore, we can render it as saying, ‘this is how we know what pure, complete, self-sacrificing love looks like’. John Stott said, “Only one act of pure love, unblemished by any taint of ulterior motive, has ever been performed in the history of the world, namely the self-giving of God in Christ on the cross for undeserving sinners.” “Laid down his life”. This is an interesting way to say it-laid down his life. This shows that Jesus didn’t die against his will. He laid down his life; it wasn’t forcibly removed from him. Jesus stated this fact in John 10:17-18. This shows an awesome aspect of Jesus’ love for us. He could’ve not gone through with it. There were times where he was tempted not to go through with it. But Jesus resisted; he restrained himself-all because of his great love for us. Isaiah 53:3-6. Jesus, how much do you love me? He answered, “This much…” and he stretched out his arms and died. Oh, how he loves us.
3) Though we’re sinners, he loves us. Rom. 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Col. 1:21 says that because of our evil behavior we were once enemies of God. We hated him; yet he loved us. We were his enemies; yet he loved us. We didn’t care about him, gave no thought to him; yet he loved us. Eph. 2:1-9. Although we were foolish and disobedient, God loved us. We were living for worldly passions and pleasures-yet he loved us. We were dead but because of God’s great love for us we were made alive through Jesus’ great love sacrifice. And we did nothing to make him love us; yet he loved us from the beginning. And what’s interesting is that God’s love for us doesn’t get stronger once we become a Christian. Malachi 3:6 says that God doesn’t change. Therefore, his love doesn’t change. There are times when God is not pleased with us, because He hates sin; but that doesn’t translate into a decrease of his love. His love doesn’t fluctuate according to how we’re doing at any given time. That’s the unbelievable aspect of God’s love-it doesn’t grow and it doesn’t weaken. It can’t; because it’s always been at full capacity. [Experience with Shaun’s birth.] Shaun didn’t know me; he hadn’t shown me love-yet from the moment I saw his face I had an instantaneous and complete love for him. And in that moment I got a glimpse of God’s love for me. But my love for Shaun, as strong as it is, is still way inferior to God’s love for me. Eph. 3:16-19. Paul wanted everyone to know this love that surpassed all knowledge and understanding. He wanted us to try to grasp its vastness. God’s love is completely different than the world’s love. The world has watered-down love. I love you today but if you mess with me I’ll hate you in an instant. God doesn’t fall out of love like we humans do. God’s love isn’t based on feelings like ours can be. We have been shown what true love looks like. Oh, how he loves us.
4) Though we’re afflicted he loves us. Lamentations 3:19-26. Jeremiah was recounting his afflictions and his soul was downcast. Perhaps there are those here today that are depressed. You have been afflicted and you’re wondering if God has forgotten you; if he has abandoned you. Take heart and draw strength from these verses in Lamentations. Jeremiah, although suffering in his affliction knew that God loved him. He knew that because of that great love he would not be consumed by these afflictions. Jeremiah had hope because he saw that God’s compassion doesn’t fail, his mercies are new every morning. This is Jeremiah keeping things in perspective. This is Jeremiah not being consumed by his circumstances. This is Jeremiah understanding that God’s love was great and his faithfulness was great. And he knew that if he were patient he would experience salvation from these afflictions. A man in Dundee, Scotland, was confined to be for forty years, having broken his neck in a fall at age 15. But his spirit remained unbroken, and his cheer and courage so inspired people that he enjoyed a constant stream of guests. One day a visitor asked him, “Doesn’t Satan ever tempt you to doubt God?” “Oh, yes, he does,” replied the man. “I lie here and see my old schoolmates driving along and Satan whispers, “If God is so good, why has he kept you here all these years. Why did he allow your neck to be broken in the first place?” “What do you do when Satan whispers those things?” “Ah,” replied the invalid, “I take him to Calvary, show him Christ, and point to those deep wounds and say, “you see, he does love me’. And Satan has no answer to that. He flees every time.” If and you think because you’ve been afflicted that means God doesn’t love you you’re wrong. Rom. 2:11 says that God does not show favoritism. Therefore, God loves everyone the same. Nothing could ever change his love for us. Rom. 8:35-39. What an encouragement; what a comfort. No matter what happens, it will not separate you from God’s unfailing love.
5) Let me count the ways. It’s important to recall the ways in which you experienced his love in your life. His love over you in protection. [ex. Drunk and rolled car into ditch]. [I can’t boast about my love for God because I fail him every day but I can boast about his love for me because it never fails.] His love over you in blessing. I was out there screwing my life up but he kept me and was patient with me and eventually I came around and he blessed me with a beautiful wife and a beautiful son and a wonderful ministry. His love over you in comfort. Psalm 119:76, “May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.” His love over you in guidance. His love over you in discipline. Heb. 12:6 says that God disciplines those he loves. I’ve suffered consequences because of my foolish behavior but I came to the point to realize that it was God loving me so that I would not continue in my folly. I would not be standing here today if God had not disciplined me. I would still be out there living in sin and continuing to make a mess of my life. Through all my folly, God never stopped loving me. May I never take that love for granted. May I never abuse God’s grace.
CONCLUSION: My six-year-old son, Nicholas had spent weeks memorizing songs for his school’s "Winter Pageant." I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d be working the night of the production. Fortunately, they were having a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation where all the parents who were unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. So, on the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken back by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row- center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love." The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed a small, quiet, girl in the front row-totally unaware that she was holding her letter “M” upside-down. The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W". Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and then we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: "CHRISTWAS LOVE". Christ was love; and He still is. That’s why we’re here today. It’s about his love. Jesus went to the cross; not because he was forced to, but because he was willing to-out of his great love for us. Oh, how he loves us.
