Love of God
1 John 4:10-12
Introduction-
1 John 4:10-12
The greatest love ever shown to mankind is the love of God.
The love the Father had in sending His Son Jesus Christ, and the Son of God sacrificially giving His life for our redemption.
Between Christmas(birth) and His death on the death Good Friday, to His resurrection has He shown His love for each one of us.
The world has a different idea of love.
It is not sacrificial, it is selfish.
Instead of what God did for us, in which we can never repay or match, the world idea is what is in it for me.
When it does not directly give back to them, it is thrown out for a better, or younger, or more expensive model.
Poets and song writers have tried very hard to put words what love is and have probably tried to look at it in every angle.
We know that love is a powerful force and we never grow tired of hearing about it, but we all at times still struggle to be able to comprehend and express love on a daily basis.
The word of God gives us insight to God’s love.
I believe the Bible is full of ways that God says that He loves us.
I believe that it is full of ways that God tells us how we should love God and how to love others.
Most people act like they can pick and choose what parts they like, which parts work for them and their current situation.
The Bible opens with 4 words “In the beginning God”
Before mankind, and /or anything else there was God. It says that God created all things, people, animals, earth, water, fish, and every step of the way, He said it was good. By His Standards!
The Bible assumes and never argues the fact that God exists and that God created. Although everything else had a beginning, God has always been. God by issuing His own degree, brought all things into existence, so we can see that when God said, “Let it be” that the next step to happen would be whatever God wanted to happen.
I say all that to tell you when you are looking for love, that you will want it to be defined by God, and not of your own.
The authority of almighty God.
The world
Love is a rose and you better not pick it.
Love is all you need.
Love is a 4 letter word.
Love is in the air.
Writers have written some mushy stuff.
“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you- Roy Croft.
“To the world, you may only be one person, but to one person you are the world.” Bill Wilson.
“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.” A.A. Milne
All these cute sayings, when in fact it is temporary.
They have all but taken the phrase “till death due us part” out of marriages because so many are broken and they are offended that you actually have to be that committed to someone.
On the authority of God’s Word our text it says that the best example of God’s love was when Jesus died for our sins.
This world has had a hard time grasping that.
Every year, this year no exception, that someone has found the tomb of Jesus and his family. The greatest love was when Jesus died and was resurrected and they try to mare and destroy that by accusations that take away from His love and sacrifice and take away His hope we have in Him.
Words have a way of being abused. The English language does not have a good way of defining love.
We love chocolate- we love our children. The same, of course not.
We love baseball- we love God. The same- hope not.
These are different levels of love. From like to sold out.
These different levels of love hold different spots in our hearts.
I love my car.
I love my house.
I love candy.
I love my grandchildren.
They cannot be at the same level of love.
God took the Greek word Agape and infused it with new meaning “God centered love.”
God centered love is expressed by Jesus on the cross.
God centered love was what God had in mind when He loves sinners who have no way to get to God but by showing them God’s love.
God centered love so that we do not have to live in this world without the power of God working in our lives.”
God’s commitment to love us-
His expression of love and how we need to love God and love others.
God’s love is
I. Unconditional
God’s agape love is not dependent on love being given back.
Jesus did not take a poll before he went to the cross and see how many would love him.
Out of love God went to that cross because He loves each one of us. There is a phrase “Love has to be a two way street.”
Well it wasn’t, it was one sided. He was going to that cross for all, that all would have an opportunity to except His gift of love.
Roman 5:8-
“God demonstrated his own love for us in this; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
We are not righteous or good in ourselves. We are sinners saved by grace because of a God who loved us.
The key idea here is that we will be committed to our relationship with God because of His commitment to us.
Marriages today are based on feelings, and often are temporary.
Relationships with others have no firm foundation. They are far from unconditional.
They are I will love you until I find better, until your ill, until you are out of money. People may do that but God’s love is unconditional.
Illustration-
A college man walked into a photography studio with a picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. The photographer looked at the back of the picture. “Dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more every day. I will love you for eternity. It was signed Helen. And it contained a P.S. “if we ever break up, I want this picture back.”
That for sure was not unconditional love.
Ruth from the Bible lost her husband to death at an early age.
This is what the Bible records as the words of Ruth to her mother in law.
“Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”
At that time, Ruth could of remarried- she was young.
They did not have Medicare, welfare, IRA’s.
No such thing as a prenuptial agreement.
No lawyers separating everything.
That is unconditional love- God gives it and admires it in us.
II. Sacrificial
Agape love places other people first.
Sacrificial love puts itself out there, regardless if other people response.
God reached out to us and loves us and gives us a choice of wither we will respond.
Sacrificial loves gives up their rights.
Righteous Jesus gave up His right to heaven so that we may experience God’s love.
He laid down His life.
God’s love keeps people together when things are tough. Illness , financial problems, because like Christ, you are willing to lay down your life.
Apostle Paul challenges us Ephesians 5:25-
“Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her.”
Wives love your husbands!
Jesus love gives itself up, takes risks, cares for others. Jesus love is sacrificial and unconditional.
Sacrificial love denies itself in order to love others.
If you truly love someone, you not only want to make yourself happy but desire to see the other person happy. A mother’s love will take a bullet for their children.
Would rather experience pain than someone else they love.
Jesus loves each one of us.
He went to that cross for each one of us. Weather we accept Him and come in a relationship with Him is our choice, but nothing would keep him from going.
We either accept it or reject it, but we can never say that He did not sacrifice for us.
III. Forgiving
In most relationships, we set people up for failure.
We expect them to be perfect.
We expect them to act better than we ourselves can act.
We want forgiveness but often don’t give forgiveness.
We expect perfection , but want grace when it comes to our lives.
Randy Frazee
Talking about God’s love- “you don’t have to be perfect for me to love you and stay in a relationship with you. In fact, I expect you to be imperfect, so I will forgive you and you do not have to earn my love. I factored in your mistakes and will allow for them.”
For a Christian, forgiveness is a lifestyle because God has forgiven us so many times.
Jesus love that he gave us enables us to love others, to love the unlovable ,to love those that have hurt us.
“you have heard that it was said, “love your neighbors and hate your enemies, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you , that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
Closing,
This world has no idea what love is.
They don’t express it to each other and have no idea how much God loves them and they should love God back.
This world has no idea how to love those less fortunate because they center on themselves. When we love God properly, giving him the love he desires, it causes us to look at our relationship with each other and want to spread the love of God to those we come in contact with.
I have to tell you, the community has no idea how much God loves them or churches would be full. We struggle with the love of God in our lives or we would be telling others how good God is and what Jesus means to us.
You cannot give out what you do not have inside.
You cannot give out what you are yourself looking for
