GOD’S AWESOME LOVE FOR US
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NASB
It is very difficult to select a text for a sermon that sets forth God’s love for every one of us because there are so many Scriptures from which to choose. John 3:16 always comes to mind when the love of God for mankind is discussed. Romans 5:9 builds upon what many of us believe to be the greatest verse in the Bible.
There are many, many ways that God has expressed His awesome love for us, but the three we are considering today are certainly among the more prominent ones.
FOR US, GOD SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD
“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.” Luke 4:18-20
The Lord Jesus stopped reading in the middle of the passage from Isaiah 61:1-3. The rest of the passage reads “...And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."
The reason He stopped reading at that point in the prophecy was because those prophecies were to be fulfilled during His first coming. The balance of the passage will be fulfilled when He returns in power and glory to destroy the army of the Antichrist and establish His kingdom on the earth for a period of one thousand years (Revelation 20:4).
Luke tells us that the words of Jesus resulted in great wrath on the part of the Jews in attendance at the synagogue to the point they tried to throw Him over the cliff of the hill upon which Nazareth was built. How powerful is the statement Luke writes in 4:30, “Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.”
John further confirms that God sent His Son. We read in I John 4:14 “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”
FOR US, GOD BRUISED HIS SON
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin,” Isaiah 53:10
Those of us who witnessed the film “The Passion of the Christ” will never forget the depiction of the scourging that Jesus endured in Pontus Pilate’s hall reminding us of the prophecy in Isaiah 50:6-7. “I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.”
Visualizing the suffering His Son endured for our sins, our minds cannot conceive the depth of the love that the Father had for us to allow this to happen…but praise God! He did!
FOR US, GOD SEATED HIS SON AT HIS OWN RIGHT HAND
“….what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:10-20
“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Romans 8:34
Notice, intercession for us…not testimony against us. If we have been saved with an eternal salvation, why do we need an Intercessor before the Father? Because Satan continually accuses us before God.
The Apostle John wrote, “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. (1 John 2:1)
CONCLUSION
It is impossible for the human mind to fathom the awesome love that God has for us, but the hymn “The Love of God” comes as close to expressing it as humanly possible. I think you might agree. This lovely song has its roots in a Jewish poem, written Germany in the eleventh century. The third verse comes from the lines penciled on the wall in an insane asylum. It was discovered there after the patient died. Frederick M. Lehman, an American evangelist had a handwritten copy of these lines and used them to compose this song in 1917.
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;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
Gods love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adams race,
The saints and angels song.
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,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints and angels song.
AMEN AND PRAISE BE TO GOD!
