LOVING GOD & MAN
6-23-02
Rom 5:1-11, 2Cor 5:14-21, 1 John 2:1-2
In our hymnals, we have the song:
"The Love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;"
"Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made.
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Tho’ stretched from sky to sky."
Fredrick Lehman, in these verses, has captured the very essence of the infinite love of God.
God’s love is very difficult for us to imagine.
The love that we conjure up in the flesh is limited.
We are limited.
God is limitless—infinite!
He is beyond measure.
His love is measureless—going on forever in every direction.
This love… that longing within the heart of God… is what put Adam in the Garden.
That same love gave Eve to Adam.
Because, God said it was not good that he live alone.
This great love of God… was focused on a single spot…
· When God put his only begotten son on the cross at Calvary,
· When he heaped our sin upon him,
· When he stripped him of his righteousness,
· And gave it to us…
He did it all… just so we could recognize his love… receive his blessings…
And, so we could forever live in his family… under his protection… within his provisions…
By our faith in the completed work of Jesus as our Christ… that love is transmitted through us… so we can love those
· Who are misguided,
· Who are stumbling through life,
· Who are hopeless… helpless…and empty.
The reality of God’s great love shines no brighter… than it did that day on the Damascus Road… when the resurrected Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus—the one Jesus called Paul.
Paul… who through the blindness of religion… put Christians to death in order to keep his religion pure.
Jesus… blinded Saul with the Glory of his very being… to strip the scales of religion from his eyes… that he might experience the love of God unfettered.
Today… I want us to…
1. See the love of God explained;
2. See the love of God experienced; and
3. See the love of God expressed.
The love of God explained
In Romans 5: 1-8…Paul explains how this love works for us.
It starts with where we are: Sinners.
A sinner is anyone…and everyone…who is out of step with God… his plan… his purpose for us.
Sin is universal!
Paul tells us in Romans 3:23… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We are born with a sin nature…an egotism…
· That magnifies self,
· That defies authority,
· That belittles others, and
· That opposes God’s intentions.
To deny that we are sinners… is to lie in the face of God… because he said we all fall short.
We miss the mark.
We don’t measure up.
And as far as God is concerned… we are totally unacceptable.
Let’s read: Rom 5:1-8
5:1 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 "through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Paul starts with the good news.
He begins with those who have denied self…and have expressed faith in Jesus as their Christ.
We stand in his Grace… motivated by his great love for us…and that makes us a child of God.
3 "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 "and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Bad news… and bad situations and circumstances… are like the darkness before the dawn… like the storm clouds before the sun shines through.
For those who trust Jesus as their Christ… trouble is temporary.
Sometimes it is a test… to see what we are really made of.
But we have the assurance that we will not be tested beyond what we can endure.
5 "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
God knows we are human.
He knows we have a sin nature.
He gives us his Holy Spirit—a counter balance.
We have God within us…
· To help us through the difficult times;
· To strengthen us when tested;
· To guide us when we are unsure.
6 "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
Until Christ went to the cross… we were powerless to do anything about our condition.
We were without strength.
We were ungodly—doomed to destruction!
We were incapable of pleasing God.
Christ died for the ungodly!
As Jesus put it: He came to heal the sick.
Paul… in these first 6 verses… lists ten results of our justification.
These are the possession, profession, and potential of us as believers.
1. Peace, v1
2. Access to God, v2
3. Grace, v2
4. Rejoice in Hope, v2
5. Rejoice in Adversity, v3
6. Perseverance, v 3-4
7. Proven Character, v4
8. Hope or Confidence, v5
9. The love of God, v5
10. Production of the Spirit, v6
7 "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
There is a divine plan!
It is motivated by love.
while we were opposed to God…rejecting… rebelling…Christ died for us.
That’s how great God’s love works for us.
The love of God experienced
Next… we see the benefits of God’s love:
9 "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Justified means that God can now accept us without defiling his own holiness.
He delivers us from his wrath—his judgment!
He brings us into his family—the universal Body of Christ… his Church.
He lifted us off the path to judgment and condemnation… and onto the path to everlasting and abundant life.
10 "or if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
We were not getting better.
We were getting worse.
We were his enemies… when Christ died for us.
But… when he died… he reconciled us to God.
That is…we were brought back into an open fellowship with the living God…
Like a child cuddled on the lap of his father.
11 "And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."
When Jesus surprised Paul on the road to Damascus… Paul was carrying warrants to arrest Christians… so they could be put to death in Jerusalem.
Paul was, perhaps one of the most intelligent people of his day.
He had long been a student of the law.
He studied under the very best rabbis.
He was well respected as a master of the law.
The big problem was… he like the remainder of the temple leadership… was so wrapped up in the letter of the law… that they were blinded to the spirit of the law—the heart and soul of God’s love.
The law was to be a guide:
· To illustrate God’s purposes;
· To lead them in worship; and
· To bring them into a saving knowledge of their Messiah, when he came.
The vast majority of the temple leadership served and worshipped the law… rather than the God who gave it to them.
The brightness of Christ’s appearance to Paul blinded his eyes…
But it also opened his soul… and he saw who Jesus really was.
Paul also realized how misguided he had been… and he realized the error of his ways.
He turned from hating Christians… to loving Jesus as his Christ.
Paul was completely changed.
This man, who had devoted himself to the destruction of all Christians… now finds himself yoked with Jesus, himself… in spreading the good news of Jesus as the Christ throughout the gentile world.
The love of Jesus… completely turned Paul around. When we accept Jesus as our Christ… it give us new life.
It creates within us a Spirit life—a dimension that we never had before… a capacity to know and love God.
It infuses us with the love of God.
And… like Paul… it should change our attitudes… our actions… our priorities… and our destiny.
The love of God expressed
2 Corinthians 5:14-21 "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
15 "and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."
If we call ourselves Christian… what motivates us…what compels us… to serve him?
None other than the love of Christ.
When you fell in love with your significant other… something within made you bring flowers… call night and day… watch your figure… change you language… adjust your priorities… set a new agenda.
The same is true in our relationship with God through Jesus as our Christ.
Love within… compels us to change… to listen… to act.
It’s no longer just me!
Christ has been added!
We now live for him… for this relationship that we have.
That is…
· If you really have a relationship…
· If you’re not just giving lip service…
· If you’re just religious… and not in love with God.
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer."
Here is a marked change in behavior.
We see each other in the Spirit of Christ.
We look beyond the flesh.
We see with the eyes of Christ.
We love with the heart of Christ.
We serve in the strength of Christ.
17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
Literally, none of the old… none of the egotism… none of the selfishness… the self-serving… went into the making of the new.
Everything we are in Christ… came straight out of Heaven… straight from God, himself.
Our new life—our Spirit life—all came from God.
The sin nature that plagues us in the flesh… in no way taints the Spirit life.
18 "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation."
It is the new you… the new me… that is reconciled with God.
He couldn’t stand the old you… and me.
His is Holy!
We are sinners!
That kept us apart.
Now, he created us anew… and reconciled us to himself.
And the result is:
20 "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God."
We not only reside in the royal family of God; but we also have a royal job.
We are his ambassadors.
We are his official representatives here on earth.
And how do we represent him?
As we move about in our daily routines… we are to share Christ.
We are to teach those who respond.
We are to disciple those who learn.
And key to this Gospel is:
21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
This is the result of the cross!
Jesus… God’s sinless son… was made to be sin. WHY?
It was our sin that God heaped upon Jesus.
Then he took the righteousness of Christ… and infused us with it.
Now he sees us as sinless as Christ, himself.
God… in all of this holiness… can embrace us without being tarnished by our sin… because our sin was put on Jesus.
It was buried with him. That is how God expressed his great love for us.
John assures us in…
1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
We are still human.
We still have the old sin nature.
It will plague us until the day we die.
But… not to worry… agree with God about our sins—confess—is the word John used earlier and God forgives everything that we confess.
Plus … he cleanses all those sins that we are not aware of—sins of ignorance. WHY?
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
That big word: propitiation simply means paid in full.
Jesus… in his death on the cross… fully paid for every sin that has ever been… or ever will be.
Sin is not the issue. FAITH is!
When we accept Jesus as our Christ… we accept the cleansing of our soul.
We accept the NEW life—the Spirit life.
We accept the responsibilities as God’s representative here on earth.
We accept his life… his leadership… his energy… and his will.
Thus… may we…as Jesus said: "Not my will… but thine be done."
Living IN Jesus… that’s the abundant life!
Live it fully!
