Who Loved Us?

I. EXORDIUM:

Who loved us?

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that our Lovers are FATHER GOD, and the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

IV. TEXT:

2 Thessalonians 2:16 (Amplified Bible)

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor),

V. THESIS:

Our Lovers are FATHER GOD, and the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

VI. TITLE:

Who loved us?

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: Apostle Paul

B. Date written: 50 to 54 A.D.

C. Purpose: To correct the coming of the LORD as not having taken place yet and is still a future event for all of us living in the last days.

D. To whom written: Thessalonica church, 2nd epistle

E. Main Theme: Second Coming of CHRIST

F. Keywords: Day of CHRIST

G. Key verse:

2 Thessalonians 3:5 (Amplified Bible)

May the Lord direct your hearts into [realizing and showing] the love of God and into the steadfastness and patience of Christ and in waiting for His return.

VIII. MAIN BODY:

A. Lovers: LORD JESUS CHRIST and GOD, our FATHER

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father,"

1 Corinthians 8:6 (Amplified Bible)

Yet for us there is [only] one God, the Father, Who is the Source of all things and for Whom we [have life], and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through and by Whom are all things and through and by Whom we [ourselves exist].

1 Corinthians 12:3 (Amplified Bible)

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:5-6 (Amplified Bible)

[There is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

One God and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [Sovereign over all], pervading all and [living] in [us] all.

B. Loved us and by His Grace

"Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation"

GOD's Love for us.

Romans 5:8 (Amplified Bible)

But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.

If mercy has no action, then it's just sympathy. But GOD demonstrated His Love not only in words but in action: sending of His Only Begotten Son.

Ephesians 2:4-5 (Amplified Bible)

But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,

Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).

1 John 3:1 (Amplified Bible)

SEE WHAT [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him.

GOD's Grace for us.

1 Timothy 1:14 (Amplified Bible)

And the grace (unmerited favor and blessing) of our Lord [actually] flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure for me, accompanied by faith and love that are [to be realized] in Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:4 (Amplified Bible)

Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

Ephesians 1:7 (Amplified Bible)

In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor,

Ephesians 2:7 (Amplified Bible)

He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.

C. Gave us eternal encouragement and good hope

"and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor),"

Good hope = well-founded hope

Eternal Encouragement:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (Amplified Bible)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement),