Divine Love
Introduction
A) From the book, “Knowing God,” by J.I. Packer
-- There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me. There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow-men do not see (and I am glad!), and that He sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, He wants me as His friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given His Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose.
B) Divine Love
-- Today, I’d like to talk about God’s love for us. As much as is possible I’d like to look at it from His perspective rather than ours.
Transition: It is hard to reconcile in my feeble mind why, if God knows time inside and out (past, present, and future), why is it that He would still choose to breath a creation into existence that would cause him so much pain. In our generation, we terminate lives if they are simply inconvenient before we know anything at all about them. But, for some reason, He still chose to create me though He knew I would betray Him, not once but often.
I) The Father’s Creation.
-- What an amazing thing to know that He created all that is around us basically with just willing it into existence.
A) For His Pleasure.
-- Genesis chapter 1 describes the process, but words are so inadequate at conveying emotion and drama sometimes. Read Versus 1-2.
-- Verse 3 “He made the light.”
-- Verse 6 “He made the sky.”
-- Verse 9 “He made land.”
-- Verse 11 “He made plants.”
-- Verse 14 “He made other lights.”
-- Verse 20 “He made birds and fish.”
-- Verse 24 “He made land creatures.”
-- Verse 26 “He made man.”
B) For Our Pleasure.
-- He gave you life!! That’s the greatest gift that has ever been given to anyone or anything ever!
-- Then, he put the first people in a beautiful paradise of absolute perfection with no limitations other than to love God and obey him on one single command.
-- They had constant access to God on a personal level that no one after Adam and Eve ever experienced again.
-- Keep in mind that this world you are in now is not the way it was in the beginning. We are living in a fallen world corrupted by sin
Transition: The world is corrupted because we just couldn’t accept that the Father knew best and wanted to spare us the knowledge of good and evil. We reached out for that tree with a disobedient heart and all creation must have moaned in agony because it knew we blew it. Just like a break in a damn spells doom for those below it, one small sin tore a hole in the fabric of perfection that spelled doom for all creation, because sin meant death had arrived on the scene.
II) The Father’s Sorrow.
-- Your God had poured himself and His creativity into this beautiful place and took the time to breathe into your nostrils. He gives you only one command…trust and obey Me. And, because we were too selfish to simply do what He asks, we turned His joy into sorrow. Do you ever wonder if He wept? His Son wept…John records it in his gospel. I think He wept…and I think He still weeps today every time I sin.
A) Our Disobedience.
-- Our disobedience causes Him pain that we probably can’t totally understand.
-- Becky told me a story about a man, his camel, and his tent.
-- Any parent could tell you that a little disobedience today can make it easier for a lot of disobedience tomorrow.
B) Our Rejection.
-- You know the part of disobedience that must hurt God the most is the fact that it is a rejection of Him.
-- Probably the only people who can even come close to understanding what this must feel like is a parent who has had their child turn his back on them.
-- You poured your life and love into this child only to have him curse you and walk away…that’s what God experiences every time you sin against Him.
Transition:
--“Grandpa walked into the family room and found his little grandson, Jeffy, standing up in his playpen, crying.
--“He looked so pitiful, standing there in his little baseball T-shirt and diaper. His face was red and tear-stained from crying. When Jeffy saw his grandpa, his face lit up in a way that smote the old man’s heart. He immediately reached up his chubby little hands in supplication.
--“Out Papa, out!”
--“What grandpa could resist such a plea? Not this one! He walked over to the playpen and reached down to lift his little buddy out of captivity and distress.
--“Just then, however, Law and Order stepped into the room.
--“Jeffy’s mother walked out of the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hand and spoke sternly. “No, Jeffy! You are being punished. You have to stay in bed! Leave him right there, Dad.”
--“Oh, fine.” Now what’s a grandpa to do? His grandson’s tears and reaching little hands tugged mightily at his heart- but he didn’t want to interfere with a mother’s discipline either.
--“He couldn’t stand staying in the same room with the boy, reading his newspaper and pretending to be aloof. Nor could he turn around and walk out the door without feeling like a betrayer to his little pal. What could he do?
--“Love found a way.
--“Since Grandpa couldn’t take Jeffy out of the playpen, he climbed in with him. “If you’re in the playpen, Buddy, I’m in the playpen. What’s your sentence? How long are you in for?” And finding a big, jolly grandpa suddenly filling his little prison cell, the little boy found comfort even in his captivity.”...
III) The Father’s Redemptive Plan.
-- You know that the Lord could have left us out in the cold and darkness just wallowing in our sin and guilt. It would have been just, and it would have been fair. But, He didn’t want this relationship to end that way. He wanted you back.
A) Costly to Him.
-- Redemption requires that a price be paid or something be lost. Your redemption was very costly to Him.
-- His Son came as the only sacrifice that would satisfy the price of sin for all mankind.
-- John the Baptist made that call the moment he saw him in John 1:29, “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
-- The sight of His first-born Son hanging on a wooden cross with the weight of generations worth of sin heaped on Him was a sight so awful that God could not bear to watch as evidenced by the words of His son. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!?”
B) Free to Us.
-- The cost of your redemption has been paid in full. You owe nothing… NOTHING!
-- You just believe it and accept the gift in the way prescribed.
-- Months later, in Jerusalem a great crowd of many languages heard a mighty wind in the city and gathered bewildered to a location where there were men speaking in languages that all could understand regardless of where they were from. In the middle of this chaos a man named Peter stood up and told them the story of another man named Jesus…the lamb whom they had slaughtered. Peter explained to them in simple words that pierced the hearts of all who heard it, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
-- They all, then, asked what they must do to be saved and Peter’s prescription recorded in Acts 2:38 was very simple, and is the same for us today. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Transition: For something that was so grievous, how incredible it is for the process of salvation from sin and death to be so easy. The Father experienced rejection from His creation and the death of His first-born to redeem it, and yet He requires so little of us to receive His pardon from the damnation that we deserve.
Conclusion
A) Where do You stand in all of this?
-- Have you stepped out of the slave cage at the Father’s beckoning already, or are you still holding onto the bars that confine you and will eventually lead you to death?
B) Repent Today.
-- Once and for all…repent today.
