Show the video "Confused about love."
Let’s begin today by reading John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
We discussed last week about this act of giving of himself as being the greatest Christmas present we could receive. The passage says that this gift was given because God loved the world so much.
But what did this world look like? The Scriptures tells us that the world was “his enemies, separated from him by --- evil thoughts and actions.” (Col 1:21). That the world’s “sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will” (Romans 8:7). The world asks the question “Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?” (Job 21:15). We are told that the world is filled with “wicked people (who) are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.” (Psalm 58:3-4).
We are reminded that the world is filled with the children of the devil who love to do evil things (John 8:44). And James warns us “that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God--(James 4:4).
So can we agree that this sounds like the world we continue to live in today? And while we may be able to go through a checklist and declare that we are not certainly like that, we must admit we once were. After all Psalms 58 reminds us, we are “born sinners.” And if any doubt remains Paul speaks clearly, when he writes, “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son”. (Romans 5:10)
We were all the enemies of God, from the moment we were born until we accepted the offer of salvation. The death of Jesus restored for us the friendship of God.
There are two words at play here. God loved the world. The world was his enemy. God so loved his enemy that He gave himself to save them. Let’s try to understand the significance of these two words.
Love, by definition means, “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.” Enemy means “a person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another.”
Therefore, we can surmise that God felt a profoundly tender, passionate affection for those who felt hatred toward him, plotted against him, and engaged in activities to antagonize him.
Then we hit a snag. In Psalm 5:4-6 we read O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked. Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil. You will destroy those who tell lies. The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.
And Proverbs 1:24-25 states “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
and anguish and distress overwhelm you. “When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.”
Here lies the conflict. Is God a God of love who has affection toward the wicked? On the other hand, is God a God of intolerance when it involves the sins of the wicked? Can He stay true to his nature and be both? Here, like the character in the video, we can get confused about love.
We must understand that God has emotions, as do we. We are created in his image and I believe our emotions come from that creation. God loves; He hates; He grieves; He weeps; He rejoices; He feels acceptance and rejection as we do. So how is it that He can love his enemies? How can He love those that He hates? Understanding that will help us to be more like Jesus.
Jesus said, “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:43-45)
Paul in Romans 5:20 reminds us from the Old Testament “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
Some of you may be thinking, “I defiantly would like to put some burning coals on a particular persons head.” But this was actually intended to turn an enemy into a blessing.
In the time of Solomon when this was first written in Proverbs, there was a person in every village who tended a fire all night. This person, in the early morning hours, would load all the hot coals from the fire into an urn, balance it on their head for warmth, and go house to house to deliver the coals so each house would have fire for that day. They would bless each household daily.
Therefore, God was informing us through the Scriptures to pray for, feed, quench the thirst of, and bless our enemies. Notice these are all action words. Well, love is listed also but not as an emotion but rather an action. We cannot do these action commandments with our emotions. We can do them out of our obedience to Jesus.
God looked upon a world filled with his enemies. He looked at a world with people full of evil thoughts and deeds; a people hostile toward him and his laws. A world filled with people who belonged to the devil and in partnership with his worldly schemes. He looked at a world filled with evil people that deserved his hatred, rejection, and scorn. And He decided to make love an action instead of an emotion and sent his Son to be born into a very evil world that grieved him.
To love your enemy, to love someone who has hurt you, rejected you, perhaps nearly destroyed you does not require your emotions, just your obedience to Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13:4-6 instructs us on the nature of love.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.”
All of these are action words. Show your enemy patience when they are being harsh toward you. Try to understand their perspective on the conflict. Live Romans 9:22 “In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.”
Be kind to your enemy. When they have a need, meet that need if possible. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:41 “If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.”
Go beyond the expectations of your enemy to show your kindness.
Don’t be jealous of your enemy’s success. If it seems that their mistreatment of you has benefited them, remember Proverbs 14:30 “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.” Your actions lead to you having a peaceful heart.
Don’t make arrogant boast toward your enemy. Say like David “I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart.”(Psalm 34:2) Consider your enemy hopeless and boast, silently, about the strength that you gather from Jesus.
Don’t allow yourself to appear better than your enemy. Pride leads to comparison. Proverbs 16:5 “The LORD detests the proud; they will surely be punished.” Be humble before your enemy.
Don’t be rude to your enemy.
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
Look at your enemy as one needing compassion.
Don’t give ultimatums to your enemy
Luke 6:31 “Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”
How do you desire your enemy to treat you? Then treat them that way first.
Don’t be a grouch toward your enemy.
James 1:20 “Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” God’s desire for you is to set an example of right standing with God for your enemy. This is impossible if you tend to fly off at the handle.
Don’t keep records of your enemy’s attacks.
1 Peter 3:9 “Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.” When you pay a loan back, the amount borrowed is forgotten by the lender. So let it be when attacked by your enemy.
Rejoice when your enemy becomes your friend.
Numbers 14:18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.”
The day may come when you have turned your enemy into your friend through your kindness. Don’t be like Jonah and be upset over God’s compassion but rather rejoice in wining a friend.
This is the challenge. To go to your enemy and begin to fill his urn with hot coals of love and be a blessing to him.
