Love – what is it????
What does God want us to know about love??
What does God want us to do about love???
How does Jesus love?
How can we love like Jesus??
What’s so amazing about love??
Reading 1 Corinthians chapter 13.
Many words have been spoken about love throughout history.
One thing is for sure – if you take people from almost any walk of life, any situation, any place on planet earth – scratch the surface of their life and you will find a deep need and concern for love.
I once knew a grumpy and rather somber old man. Most of the time he looked like he had been sucking lemons for a very long time.
But then I observed him with his Grandchildren and a new personality, indeed a new love shone through.
Even the most terrible terrorist will profess that their actions have been directed by a misguided desire to express love.
Recently a satelite – space probe called Genesis crashed to planet earth and all but destroyed 340 million dollars worth of effort and technology. All of that effort and technology was spent to try and find out about the source of the universe.
The Bible has already given us the answer to that. The answer is not in outer space it is found in the Bible – Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Who created the heavens and the earth?
God.
What is the character or nature of God??
The bible tells us God is love:-
1JN 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1JN 4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Gold to be pure is refined again and again.
As it is heated up, the dross – I understand is skimmed from the top and the gold is purified and purified until it gets a different look and character altogether.
Pure Gold is very beautiful!!
Pure love is very beautiful.
Love is often purified through the heat that lifes situations bring to bear on us.
Of course we would all like to think that we are very loving people but the truth is the further that we get from the source of love – the author of love – the more distorted and mutated love becomes.
On planet earth there are many terrible mutations of love on show.
You can read about them in the paper everyday. People guided by a misguided sense of love distort the planet.
The 1930’s gangster Al Capone said once – “All I wanted to do was to give people a good time.’
In so doing he spread terror and hatred through Chicago.
Yet in it’s most beautiful state love is a tremendous thing.
A young woman once described her Mother’s love for her Father
“My own Mother used to be very busy the whole day, but as soon as evening came, she moved very fast to get ready to meet my Father. At that time I didn’t understand; we used to laugh; we used to tease her; but now I remember what tremendous, delicate love she had for him. It didn’t matter what happenned that day; she was ready with a smile to meet him.”
You would think that a love like that would produce a secure environment for children and therefore produce great kids
This picture of love was written by the woman who became known to the whole world as -
Mother Teresa.
What then can we learn about love?
The first thing is that you cannot love without God.
Big statement.
1JN 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
You might argue that you know an agnostic or athiest who loves perfectly well without any acknowledgement of God.
That is true.
I have a twelve volt rechargable drill.
It works perfectly well without being plugged into the mains.
It was plugged into the mains – but now it isn’t.
Eventually that drill will run out of power.
Without God you will run out of love.
The reason, you have disconnected from the source of love. God Himself.
If you don’t believe me – recently I had the priviledge of praying for an unconscious dying man.
On his walls and in his album were all kinds of pictures of love.
His life.
Pictures of happy days family celebrations and all kinds of things he had done.
His photo’s expressed love.
But now he was running out and, in fact died the next day.
What happens next?
He has to face God covered by the love Christ has expressed to him on the cross.
Or not!!
You see the cross is God’s great love recharger – it plugs us in to the source of love God – for eternity.
When you give your life to Christ you are now a DC christian.
The Holy spirit is your source of power now and a sign of God’s love with you.
Love is from God.
Without God all love even the most beautiful love story is a shadow compared to the love that God has for us.
This is what the world’s love is like:
A wealthy old man had just recently married a lovely young lady and was beginning to wonder whether she might have married him for his money. He asked her, “If I lost all my money, would you still love me?” She said reassuringly, “Oh honey, don’t be silly. Of course I would still love you. And I would miss you terribly.”
This pictures the fickleness of love without God.
God’s love is greater as we read in 1 corinthians chapter 13 Love endures all things.
WE Secondly learn that when you have God’s love there is a call to pass it on.
1JN 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
To love another is not a feeling – it is not always getting the best for ourselves it is not looking out for yourself.
As Rick Warren says in his Purpose driven life.
It is not about you!
But can I suggest that it starts with you.
You can’t practice selfless love untill you have learned to love yourself.
It is only the full work of the cross that can make you at peace with yourself and your maker and release you to love others.
Until you are at peace with God your love for others will always fail.
CS Lewis in Mere Christianity says.
I admit that this means loving people who have nothing lovable about them. But then, has oneself anything lovable about it? You love it simply because it is yourself. God intends us to love all selves in the same way and for the same reason: but He has given us the sum ready worked out in our own case to show us how it works. We have then to go on and apply the rule to all the other selves. Perhaps it makes it easier if we remember that that is how He loves us. Not for any nice, attractive qualities we think we have, but just because we are the things called selves. For really there is nothing else in us to love creatures like us who actually find hatred such a pleasure that to give it up is like giving up beer
Or tobacco…..
The loving of others in the Christian sense is all about passing on of unreasonable undeserved love – it certainly isn’t about waiting for it to be deserved.
Humanly that is not likely to happen.
It is only in christ that one can love like that.
A man called John Bradford – lived in England in 1535.
He was the well loved Pastor of St Pauls in London, he was thrown into prison for hisbeliefs that differed from the state church during Queen Mary’s reign.
Eventually they decided to burn him and the following is what happenned at his execution.
Bradford got up, kissed apiece of firewood and then kissed the stake itself. In a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: “England repent of your sins!” Beware of idolatry. Beware of false teachers. See they don’t deceive you!” Then he forgave his persecutors and asked the crowd to pray for him.
Turning his head towrads John Leaf, he said, “Be of goodcomfort, brother, for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord tonight!”
(Jesus Freaks.)
The key to this passage was
Then he forgave his persecutors and asked the crowd to pray for him.
Jesus calls us to love our enemies many today struggle even to love their friends.
The third thing that I believe we learn in this passage is that
Love produces courage.
If you want to be a truly bold person then can I suggest that you learn to love as a Christian.
Listen to these words from the Apostle John
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Fear and love in this passage are enemies.
This is backed up, and we mentioned this passage a few weeks ago, by the passage in 2 Timothy chpater 1 and verse 7
God has not given you a Spirit of fear but one of love power and a sound mind.
It is also backed up by 1 corinthians chaqpter 13
. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1CO 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
This passage is often misunderstood.
Love is beautiful – true it is caring and all these things but embedded in this passage is a strength and courage that also is love.
For example when we read:- . 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1CO 13:8 Love never fails.
We are reading of an attribute that requires incredible courage.
Let me give you an example:-
Mary Slessor of Calabar was a woman of great courage.
On one occasion there was a brawl going on during a church service – she left the church service and walked into the brawl and broke it up. She rescued a man who was lying on the ground.
Often babies were killed though barbaric rituals or because they were simply girls – she rescued them.
Such love requires courage.
It takes courage to walk into the midst of an angry mob.
It takes courage to hang from a blood stained cross.
It takes courage to stand for Christ in a desolate place.
But as Paul wrote.
Love never fails.
If we do the three things that we have suggested this morning.
1. Understand that you cannot love without God.
2. 2.Realise that for love to flourish it must be passed on.
3. 3.Practise love with Godly courage.
If we do these things then we will come into a whole new experience of love that is quite different to what the world has on offer.
