Can God’s Love Toward Us Change?
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Matthew 5:9-12
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
“Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you in the same way.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse(s) is(are):
Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Today we will be reading from Psalm 148
This past week we got back on Wednesday from our vacation. And, as is normal with vacations I came home exhausted. We were at the home where we will one day retire over in Honeoye with our two children, their spouses, ten grand children and three foster children. It was an amazing time.
Not all 19 of us were all together all the time but usually there were a good number around. It was great but it was also exhausting.
Now, keeping that in mind, I often hear about triggers. Not triggers on guns but ideas that will trigger a response in someone. The response to the trigger can be positive or it can be negative.
For those of you who were on the Wednesday evening online Bible study with us you were unfortunate to witness my response to a trigger. It was not pretty and I apologize to my beloved Karenlee for that and I also apologize to all who witnessed it. I am far from perfect, I know it and I regret it.
Pastor Karenlee is always talking about RESPONDING to a trigger event instead of REACTING to it and I reacted to it.
I would ask you as my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to make this a matter of prayer for your pastor, that whether I am exhausted or frustrated or whatever, that I would learn to respond with kindness instead of react with bluntness.
So, what was this trigger that caused such a knee-jerk reaction?
I was late arriving to the Bible study because I had spent 30 minutes on the phone trying to help someone get signed onto their computer so they could join the Bible study.
Here is the statement that I walked in on, “The underlying meaning of grace is that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make Him love us less than He already does. There is nothing so good about us that makes us worthy or able to earn God’s love, and there is nothing so bad about us that can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God doesn’t love us because we are good, and God doesn’t hate us because we are bad. God’s essential nature is holy love, which means God’s characteristic action is divinely self-giving, poured-out grace.”
Now, before we get into this discussion let’s read a great Psalm of praise for our great God and Savior: Psalm 148
(Prayer for help)
Here is the statement again …
“The underlying meaning of grace is that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make Him love us less than He already does. There is nothing so good about us that makes us worthy or able to earn God’s love, and there is nothing so bad about us that can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God doesn’t love us because we are good, and God doesn’t hate us because we are bad. God’s essential nature is holy love, which means God’s characteristic action is divinely self-giving, poured-out grace.”
There are some great truths in that statement, amen?
Did you realize that the word “love” is repeated six times in that one paragraph? When the word love is used in the New Testament there are at least three Greek words used and they each convey a different meaning.
The first word is one we will not include in this discussion and it is “eros” from which we get the English word erotic. And, although it is a valid word for love it does not apply to this topic.
The second Greek word for love is “agape”. A person with agape love never says what’s in it for me or this person doesn’t deserve it. Agape love is sacrificial love. It shows action. Agape is used in God’s relationship with us so it DOES apply to this topic.
The third Greek word for love is “Philos” or sometimes pronounced “philos”. The Greek word philos carries the meaning of a strong affection between friends or compatriots.
OK. So, we have those words in mind:
Agape - sacrificial love for others, this is unilateral, from one direction only and it may or may not be responded to
Philos - a strong mutual affection between friends or compatriots
Here is the problem that bothers me so much, in many churches around the world, especially in the “enlightened” cultures such as found in North America and in Western Europe, God has been reduced to a one-dimensional God, the God of Love … Love is presented as His one and only attribute and nothing else. And, without the understanding of the type of love that is found in a particular Scripture verse we see love as an affectionate attribute between two parties rather than a self-sacrificing attribute that is unilateral.
This leads to confusion.
So, let’s look at the phrases from that paragraph that pertain to our inability to earn God’s love for us.
“There is nothing we can do to make God love us more … There is nothing so good about us that makes us worthy or able to earn God’s love … God doesn’t love us because we are good …”
Now, let’s insert the type of love that may be used. In this case we will use agape which is a unilateral, self-sacrificial love.
“There is nothing we can do to make God (unilaterally, self-sacrificially) love us more … There is nothing so good about us that makes us worthy or able to earn God’s (unilateral, self-sacrificial) love … God doesn’t (unilaterally, self sacrificially) love us because we are good …”
Now, let’s look at the phrases from that paragraph that pertain to our inability to escape God’s love for us no matter how wickedly we might live.
“There is nothing we can do to make (God) love us less than He already does … There is nothing so bad about us that can separate us from the love of God … God doesn’t hate us because we are bad ...”
“There is nothing we can do to make (God) (unilaterally, self-sacrificially) love us less than He already does … There is nothing so bad about us that can separate us from the (unilateral, self-sacrificial) love of God … God’s (unilateral, self-sacrificial) love doesn’t (turn into) hate … because we are bad …”
What Scriptures teach us that in the unilateral, self-sacrificial sense of the word, love, this is correct?
John 3:16 starts out this way …
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son …”
Now, THAT IS a universal love. The unilateral, self-sacrifice of the Son of God given by the God the Father makes these statement true!
God’s unilateral, self-sacrificial love is sufficient for the salvation of every person who ever lived from Adam until the time when Jesus returns. This sacrifice of love was given regardless of how good we try to be or how wicked we try to be. The blood of Jesus was shed for your sin and for mine.
There is nothing we can do to deserve that salvation that was bought for us on the cross of Calvary. NOTHING!!!
And, there is nothing that we can do that is so wicked that will take away the availability of that salvation as long as we draw breath on this earth IF we turn to Him for salvation.
This salvation is available for you and for me! That is a blanket love. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it. It was given in a selfless act of love beyond our comprehension. THAT is God’s amazing grace. That is God’s unilateral, self-sacrificing, agape love.
And, that is the truth, but, if we leave it like that it becomes a half truth and a half truth is a whole lie.
Countless churches preach this very kind of Gospel. They say that it is nice to try to be good and God loves it if you do and you will go to heaven when you die.
They also say that since God is a God of love you cannot be so bad that this loving God would send you to hell so don’t worry, you’ll end up in heaven anyway! (Actually, they probably wouldn’t mention sin or the need of salvation or hell at all since they do not believe any of it to be true.)
So, if the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary is sufficient for the salvation of everyone, why is that statement a half-truth when we only read it as unilateral, self-sacrificial, agape love that demands no response?
It is a half truth because God’s amazing grace makes demands of us.
Ephesians 2:8 does not just say, “For it is by grace you have been saved”. Instead it says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith!”
Faith is our response to the unilateral, self-sacrificial grace that has been extended to us. And, we know that even the ability to place our faith and trust in Jesus for salvation is enabled by God’s amazing grace!
But a response is still required!
God is a relationship God!
I recently heard about a Grandmom who whenever one of her grandchildren says, “I love you” her response is “uh-huh”.
Imagine a life where someone unilaterally, self-sacrificially shows love to you all the time and you never respond.
We know from John 3:16 that God has declared love for us.
Listen to Romans 5:8 … “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God has demonstrated His agape love for us.
But, what about our relationship with Him? Is it possible to have only a one-way relationship? Is that what God expects?
What if you know that God has a unilateral, self-sacrificial, agape love for you but you have no love for Him and it is demonstrated in your life by rejecting Him and living in rebellion against Him.
Is it then true that there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less?
Looking back into the Old Testament we see this in the second commandment …
Exodus 20:4-6
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Is it true in the philos sense of the word “love” that there is nothing you can do to make God love you more or less?
What about when we look at John 14:23-24
“Jesus said, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.
“He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”
If anyone loves Me … My Father will love him …
In the philos sense of the word “love” is there anything a person can do to make God love him more?
We CAN respond to God’s love in obedience and the love for Him will increase in our hearts and God the Father WILL LOVE us!
Let’s look at another example.
God created everything, right? And, He saw that His creation was not only good but very good. He loved His creation.
Later on His creation became corrupted and this was how it described, “The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”
What happened? Did the Lord say, “There is nothing you can do that will make Me love you less?”
What happened? (Wait for an answer)
How do we maintain a philos love relationship with God?
We need to love Him above all else and obey His command to love one another.
That is what the Bible refers to as being “in Christ”.
In John 15 Jesus uses the analogy of a Vine and its branches to show the critical nature of remaining “in Christ”. Here He is speaking to those who would become believers …
John 15:5-8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
“If you do not remain in Me, (if you break the philos relationship) you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
“If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.”
Based on these verses do our actions of remaining in Christ or disowning Christ have any effect on our philos love relationship with God?
Does our obedience to the great commandments increase our love relationship with God? Would our abandonment of God have any effect on our relationship with God?
And here in 2 Timothy we can also see Paul writing to Christians when he says …
2 Timothy 2:11-13
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot disown Himself.”
“If we disown Him, He will also disown us.”
Do our actions affect our relationship with God and His love for us?
Yes, they do!
Are you counting on God’s unilateral, self-sacrificial agape love to save you while you thumb your nose at Him? Don’t! It won’t!
We know God loves you. Do you love Him? Is there any evidence?
Final thoughts and prayer.
