One of the most powerful statements on the love of God is found in Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
We learn four things about the Love of God just from this one verse.
God’s Love is:-
1. An intervening Love
2. A demonstrative love
3. A focussed love
4. An indiscriminate love
1) An Intervening Love
I love the term in the bible…."But God ..."
Eph 2:1-8
2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
When we were unable to save ourselves – the intervening love of God came to our rescue.
Divine Intervention in the depravity in nature and sin.
But God…..
We were unlovely but God loved us anyway
We were ungodly but God loved us anyway
We were unspiritual but God loved us anyway
But God is concerned for us even when we were unconcerned about Him.
2) A Demonstrative love
Love that does not demonstrates is not really love.
Love can only be known from the actions it prompts
One of the deepest needs of our hearts is to be loved by others. Not only do we want to be loved, but we want also for others to make that love known to us. We want to see a demonstration of their love. We want to hear others say something or do something that lets us know they love us. We need for others to be concerned about us, to act in our interest, and to surround us with understanding.
An even deeper need is to be loved by God and to see a demonstration of His love. People who believe in God usually will admit that they desire to experience His love. Even when people deny the existence of God, they need His love. They may not admit they have this need, but the need is still there. We must realize that even when others do not love us, God intensely loves us.
The cross shows this.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:16 shows God’s demonstrated love
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life
How is God’s Love demonstrated toward us.
1) Through Creation –
Gen 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God loved us so much that He not only created us, but He created us in His image, and with the purpose of ruling, having dominion, over all the earth.
We were created for a purpose, by a loving creator.
He created things like colour, music, taste, an ability to touch. This is something to consider. God could have made humanity not to have taste, or not to be able to see colour or not to be able to hear things like music. But we have all these things because God loves us and so His love is demonstrated in the richness of creation and our God give ability to enjoy that richness.
He created life so that we would enjoy it.
2) Salvation and heaven –
The fact that we are saved and we get to go to Heaven for eternity is a demonstration of God’s love.
John 14:1-4
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
There is a specific place prepared in heaven for us. I remember when Melanie, my wife was pregnant…we spent a lot of time, money and energy preparing a place for our new little baby. Why? Because we loved the baby and we wanted the nursery to be just perfect. This is similar to God….he is preparing a place for us.
3) By the intimacy of relationship with him
We are not friends with God. We are not acquaintances. We are not companions.
We are family
God is our Father –
We are told to address God as our Father. This name describes the characteristics of God and the intimacy of our relationship with Him.
Loving, Caring, protector, provider, one that leads & guides us.
The term Father is an intimate name that signifies the close relationship we have with God & the love He has for us.
He Adopts us into His family
Romans 8:15
o “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Galatians 4:5
o “to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
Ephesians 1:5
o “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”
Galatians 3:26
o For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
4) Jesus Love of People is Recorded throughout the Gospels –
Many times in the Gospels, Jesus’ love for humanity was displayed and often it moved Him…..’And Jesus was moved with compassion’.
Jesus had love for Lazarus, the Rich young ruler, Israel, the Disciples, people in general
5) God Sent the Holy Spirit for Us –
John 14:16-18
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Jesus is saying that when He leaves earth, God will send another (of the same kind) helper.
This Helper, the Holy Spirit, will be with us for ever, individually, living on the inside of us.
This is more beneficial to have the Holy Spirit on earth than Jesus. Because Jesus as a man could only be in one place at one term, with one group of people, holding one conversation.
The Holy Spirit however can be everywhere at once holding a billion different conversations with a billion different people, all at once.
The fact that He sent the Holy Spirit is a demonstration of His love
So, so far we have seen God’s Intervening Love and his Demonstrative Love, Now:-
3) A Focused love
Love that is toward us.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
You need to acknowledge God’s passion for you.
What do I mean by that? You need to realize how much God loves you. It all starts with you understanding how amazingly extravagantly God loves is toward you. God’s passionate for you.
A lot of people think God is mad at them. God is not mad at you. He’s mad about you. The whole issue of the cross explains that.
1 John 4:9 says
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him
God didn’t just say He loved you. He showed He loved you.
He proved He loved you in the most expensive way – by sacrificing His own Son for you.
But God’s love for you ia all through the Bible and through Jesus’ example explains that His love is four-dimensional for you.
Eph 3:18 -19
“May you be able to feel and understand how long, how wide, how deep and how high [that’s the four dimensions
God’s love really is and experience this love for yourself.”
God says, “I don’t want you to just know I love you. I want you to feel that I love you.”
How long is God’s love?
Long enough to last forever. That’s what makes it different from human love. Have you noticed human love wears out? God’s love will never stop loving you. It is long enough to last forever.
It is wide enough to be everywhere. There is no place that you could go in life that God’s love is not with you. You will not always feel it. In fact, sometimes you’re going to feel alone. But you will never be alone. Because God’s love is everywhere. It’s wide enough to be everywhere. There’s no place that you can be where God isn’t. It’s wide enough to be everywhere.
It’s deep enough to handle everything. No problem, no pressure, no stress, no difficulty. You say, “I’m in the pits right now!” God’s love is there. There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.
Then it is high enough to overlook your mistakes. God loves to forgive. He loves to help you start over.
4) An Indiscriminate love
Romans 5:8
While we were yet sinners.
Matthew 9:13
13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, [a]to repentance.”
1 Timothy 1:15
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
God loves you as you are.
God’s love doesn’t choose.
God doesn’t just love those who are trying hard to live right.
God doesn’t just love those who are rich
God doesn’t just love those who are from a certain race.
God loves everyone.
The Love of God is unable to be influenced.
Malachi 3:6a“ I the Lord do not change.”
You can do nothing to influence the love of God
God loves you
God Loved you as a sinner
God loves you as a saint.
Nothing you do can get God to love you any more
Nothing you do can get God to love you any less.
He loves you and his love toward you is not because of anything you do or don’t do…
See we don’t have to wait till we are good enough to come to God….we can come as we are because God loves as much now as he can ever love us.
Wrapping up.
One of the most powerful statements on the love of God is found in Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
God’s Love is:-
1. An intervening Love
2. A demonstrative love
3. A focussed love
4. An indiscriminate love
I love it. What a short powerful verse that contains much rich revelation.
