Sacrificial Love Of God - Evening Service For Feb 18

We’re going to talk about LOVE again.

• What are some characteristics of love?

• Do you recall the first moment you felt that deep love for someone else?

• What will we do for someone we love?

• What did God do for the ones He loved?

• Do we ever sacrifice things for loved ones? Put their needs above our own?

For many of us, the first LOVE verse that comes to mind is most likely John 3:16. Who can tell me what that says? It says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s probably the best known & most frequently quoted verse from the Bible. That verse tells us that God loves the world so much that He gave His Son. We could replace the word “whoever” with any of our names & it would still be true. God so loved the world that because John Doe believes in Him he should not perish but have everlasting life. He gave His only begotten Son. It’s awesome that the most supreme Being in existence loves us so much that He chose to sacrifice the life of His Son so we would have everlasting life.

We are going to delve into the transformative truth of God's love as revealed in His sacrificial gift. We’ll look into 1 John 4:10, which serves as a cornerstone for understanding the depth & breadth of God's love. Let us open our hearts & minds to receive this divine truth. <Prayer for the Spirit to speak to us>

1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Here, John beautifully paints a picture of the essence of God's love. It is not merely a response to our love for Him but originates from His own nature. God IS love itself (1 John 4:16). God's love is selfless, sacrificial, & unconditional. He demonstrated this love supremely by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. Romans 5:8 tells us “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

The great theologian Charles Spurgeon eloquently reflects on God's love, saying, "God's love is not drawn out by our merits but wells up from His own heart."

In Romans 5:8, the apostle Paul underscores the extraordinary nature of God's love. It wasn't prompted by our goodness or righteousness but manifested while we were still steeped in sin. Despite our unworthiness, God demonstrated His love by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. This sacrificial act reveals the depth of God's love & His desire for reconciliation with all of humanity.

The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ was not arbitrary but purposeful. It was to atone for our sins & reconcile us to God. Through Christ's sacrifice, the barrier of sin that separated us from God was removed, allowing us to experience restored fellowship with Him.

What was required of the sacrifice made for sin? Could it be any animal from the herd? What did God require of these sacrifices? They had to be perfect; without flaw!

In 2 Corinthians Paul tells us that Jesus met the flawless requirement for the sin sacrifice. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus did not sin!

Here, Paul explains the central theme of atonement & substitutionary sacrifice. Jesus Christ, being without sin, took upon Himself the penalty of our sins, thereby making it possible for us to be reconciled to God. Through Christ's sacrificial death, we are offered righteousness & forgiveness, bridging the gap between sinful humanity & a holy God.

OK, we’ve talked about what God did because of His great love for us. He chose to give the life of His Son in our place. Now to fully understand the price He paid we should dig a little deeper into the details of this sacrifice.

With Easter next month, we can learn more about the ultimate sacrifice God made for each of us.

How did God sacrifice the life of His only begotten Son? What did Jesus have to do? Jesus was crucified. What was a crucifixion like?

The word crucifixion comes from the Latin crucifixus which means “fixed to a cross.” Crucifixion was a brutal form of torture & execution in the ancient world that involved binding a person to a wooden post or tree using ropes or nails.

Before the actual crucifixion, prisoners were tortured by flogging, beating, burning, mutilation, & even the abuse of the prisoner’s family! The hands & feet were attached to the cross with stakes.