The Most Excellent Way
1 Cor. 13:1-8
Good Morning…
My Men’s devotional reading kicks off our time together as he makes a statement worth hearing- deciding what we want seems easy when we are young… I want a beautiful wife, a college degree, I want a good job, I want a child.
As these things come true, we check them off our list. But as we mature, we want things more concrete.
We want to be happy
We want fulfillment
Meaning, significance,
We want to belong, to love and be loved.
Without God, they get harder to obtain , and if we don’t get all we want, we need Him to help us through life.
The title of the message is “The Most Excellent way”
Our text from 1 Cor. 13 is a scripture that ends up in almost every wedding as two people stand before a preacher to put their lives together.
It is also how we should be living as believers toward other people and our love toward our savior.
We cannot love like Jesus if we do not know Jesus and we cannot love like Jesus if we do not let the love of God work through us.
God, who created the universe, loves you personally. Try to wrap your mind around that.
He loves you — not just people in general, but you as a person.
He cares about your life and wants to be part of it.
Even if you’ve spent your whole life running from God or done things you regret, He still loves you and wants to have a relationship with you.
God’s love is unconditional — Love far beyond what even the best of people are capable of. God commands those who follow Him to love one another.
Scripture- 1 Cor. 13:1-8 Reed slow and clearly
Prayer- I am asking Lord that we might get a glimpse of your love and it would lead us to go deeper in our relationship with you. We as believers in you and receivers of your love might love others with that same kind of Love. We know Lord that we cannot do that without you dwelling within us and empowering us to live by the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives.In Jesus Name Amen!
So Paul in these verses gives us insight into the love that God has for us and the love that we are to have for others.
If we are not loving like God, we will be like a clanging symbol that just makes noise and become annoying.
How many have heard people who talking about the things of God that they are annoying and like sandpaper to your nerves and senses. It is because the way that they did it was not godly. It was without love and the motives were not right.
He says that if it were possible to have all the gifts of the spirit (which I don’t think many people have) working in our lives that if we had not God’s love it would be for nothing.
We see in this verse that God does pour out gifts to less than perfect people and if we are not using them under the anointing of the Spirit of God, the gifts will not accomplish what the Spirit of God desires.
As commendable as the gifts are, they would fall short.
You cannot love like Jesus without Jesus. God’s love extends way past man’s ability to love.
Love is patient
Love is kind
Does not boast
Not proud
Not rude
Does not envy
Not self-seeking
Not easily angered
Rejoices in the truth of God
Protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres.
Love never fails
God’s love is perfect
God love never fails but we can certainly see why we fail to measure up to His love. We see quickly that most times our love without Jesus is just the opposite of his love and falls short.
If you are taking notes today I will be throwing them at you quickly because there is more than a 3 point message this morning.
Paul calls it the most excellent way- Loving like God is the most excellent way-
Love is God’s character- it is who He is. It is not just something He does.
Understanding the character of God will help us understand how much God loves us.
Let me try to explain this-
Holy Trinity- God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
All one working in perfect Love with each other.
The son glorifies the Father, the Father wanting His Son to be glorified. The Holy Spirit to bring glory to the Son. All before time began.
Heavenly Father decides that He will create mankind to bring glory to the Son and creates a people to worship and bring praise and honor to the Son.
Sin enters in the Garden of Eden through the deception of Satan and man falls and is separated from the Holy Trinity.
The Father says that He has to deal with sin but wants to redeem a fallen mankind so He sends His Son, His perfect Son to redeem mankind from the separation of God.
He allows His Son to be beaten, spit upon, later killed for the sins of man.
The very problem- sin in mankind is corrected by Jesus the perfect Son by dying on a cross for the sins of mankind. Jesus being raised from the dead allows us to have resurrection power in our lives.
There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus! 1 Tim. 2:5
Mankind is given again a way to experience the love and mercy of God through His Son Jesus.
That is love!
We cannot totally grasp that love because it is the kind of love that we only see after we experience the love of God for our lives and then attempt to love like God to others.
There is a freedom that we should experience when we become believers and start following Jesus- the freedom comes because we do not have to do things in our own strength. Amen! We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and teaching us daily to be more like Jesus!
1 Cor. 10:23-24
“Everything is permissible- but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible- but everything is not constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others”-
Here this verse is about eating all kinds of food but it applies also in God love. Just because you can doesn’t mean you do.
Can you imagine being loved like that? That is God’s love for you! Everyone desires this kind of love, but if you look for that in other people, you will be disappointed. God is the only one who can love you perfect!
God’s perfect love cast out fear.
1 John 4:18-
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”
The expression perfect love refers to being loved perfectly by God. We know how to love only because he first loved us.
God’s love is not only something we receive- it also transforms us and enables us to respond to God’s love.
Living in God’s love, we are enabled to love one another authentically.
Perfect love (God’s love) cast out fear. It originates from God, achieves its purpose, and returns back to God.
We are able to love God because He first loved us.
Perfect love comes from God.
Love for God is evidenced in our love for others. Especially in our brothers and sisters.
When people talk about Rosedale, they should not only say things about the preacher, sermons, worship service. The most important thing that can be said and will get God’s attention is “THOSE PEOPLE LOVE ONE ANOTHER AND LOVE PEOPLE COMING INTO THE CHURCH.
When we love others, we are loving like God- by our love for others, we are drawing closer to God.
God’s love takes time and it takes each one of us drawing closer to God and His love for us and the love He wants to work through us.
Illustration-
When you are not loving like Jesus, you better check yourself!
Thursday, I had to go to the bank and go through the drive-thru. Two lanes- one closed and I was the third car. Pretty soon three more cars are behind me and I am wondering to myself what is taking so long. After 20 minutes waiting, the second lane opens up and all three cars behind me go to the new lane. I get behind a business deposit and all three cars that were behind me have now come and gone. I want you to know that I did not have the love of Jesus well up in me! I had to get a check on it because I was upset that those people went ahead of me. We all have a ways to go amen?
Can you imagine the fear that a new person coming into service feels before they walk through these doors? They have beaten the unknown, (gone through the doors) they have conquered the risk factor and now want to experience for themselves what the Lord is to say to them.
They are already self conscience of not knowing anyone, where to seat, what is the proper way to respond in service.
You better check yourself before you tell them they are in your seat, they aren’t dressed to your liking, they may not be as clean as you would like.
The Lord sent them and he is breaking down fear barriers and you better not be adding more unto their plates.
When you know that God loves you, you realize that your failings will not make Him love you any less. His will draws you close to him and you will want to please Him.
God’s love cannot fail
Love cannot fail
Psalms 36:5-7
“Your love Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies, your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love.”
You have probably been hurt by someone or maybe a lot of someone’s. Loving and trusting is hard and is risky. One person hurts you it becomes harder to open up and risk being hurt again.
God’s love is so much more than the fuzzies- it is an unconditional promise that has been fulfilled and executed at the cross and is shown to us because it becomes personal.
You are a child of God. From the moment that you accept His forgiveness and you ask Him to come into your life.
You are a part of the family of God.
As a child of God, realize that God delights in you and wants the best for you.
He wants to fill your life with Joy and blessings.
He desires an intimate relationship where both you and Him draw close. To each other.
God chose to adopt you.
I heard one person say that you can have a child by accident but you cannot adopt a child by accident. Let that sink in a minute!
Many of us grow up doubting the love of God because of the relationships we have with others.
Broken relationships, hurt from others, or even our own bad choices can cause us to doubt why God would choose to love us.
Sometimes well-meaning churches even misguide us into thinking that we need to earn God's love by behaving or acting "good enough".
God demonstrated the greatest act of love when Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. We no longer have to work toward being loved, it is given freely for all.
You cannot earn God’s love
Ephesians 2:4-5
“ But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-“
You do not deserve God’s love- neither do I - no one does. Amazing He loves you anyway.
That is grace at work in our lives. He paid the price! God’s love is precious and to be treasured.
God’s love helps you grow to love like Him
The Lord speaks through Paul about the gifts operating in the church.
Most people believe the church is a place to come and attend as needed.
A place to get encouraged, energized, hear a sermon, worship, it is to be all that! And More!
Each one of us who becomes a part of a body of Christ (Church) has a function. We can’t all be the pastor, leaders, but we all have a spot of ministry.
Hands and feet, and everything in between all have a place.
In an active and anointed church all the gifts should be operating and all should be involved.
As you transition, you hear and respond to God’s Word- you ought to go from new believer to mature believer.
You ought to go from it’s all about me to it is all about Him!
God’s love is the Most excellent way…Amen?
Prayer to be filled with God love!
