What's So Amazing About Christian Love? Series

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.”