Will You Let God Love You?

December 2, 2007

Morning Worship

Text: Romans 8:28-39

Subject: The Love of God

Title: Will You Let God Love You?

Open your bibles to Ephesians 3. This is not the passage I am going to preach from today but it is going to lead us up to it. As I read I want to put an emphasis on just a few words in the passage. 14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Let’s look at the phrases I emphasized. 1) His whole family – that’s talking about Christians. 2) His glorious riches – God has great things, great promises, great riches in store for you. 3) He will strengthen you with His power – We should never be satisfied with being smart enough or strong enough or clever enough or charismatic enough, we need God’s power in our lives. 4) Through faith – everything we receive from the Lord we receive by faith. If you don’t receive by faith you don’t really receive anything from God. 5) Rooted and established in love/the love of Christ/the love that surpasses knowledge; be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

That’s where I want to take you today. When was the last time that you sensed the all consuming love of God in your life? I’m sure that every one of you knows that God loves you. I’m sure you probably know just how much He loves you, but when was the last time you felt loved like that? Do you know how much God wants you to experience the fullness of His love? He wants you to experience it on the spiritual plane. (He loved you enough to save you from hell) He wants you to know it on a physical plane. (He wants to provide for all your physical needs.) He wants you to acknowledge it on an intellectual plane. And I believe this is very important, He wants you to feel His love on an emotional plane.

Now turn to Romans 8. Starting with verse 28,

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I want to show you today how everything that God does in your life is grounded in the love He has for you. So let all the junk go out of your life today and let’s take a journey into the love of God.

I. GOD WORKS IN THE LIVES OF BELIEVERS. (28-30) Let’s connect verse 28 to the context of the previous section in Romans 8. That section is talking about suffering and bondage and weakness. 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Now I want you to understand something – God does not bring sickness and suffering and persecution on His people. Well Pastor Mike this says that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him… That must mean that He is working good through the bad that is happening to us. That’s right. And God chastises those He loves, right? That’s right. But God doesn’t bring evil upon you. First of all, it is satan who brings all kinds of evil against you. 1 Peter 5:8, your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour… Romans 5:12, …sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men… Exodus 23:25 says that God doesn’t bring sickness – he takes it away. 25Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you… What the enemy of your souls intends for destruction God will turn it around and make good come out of it. Secondly, it is because He loves you! Not only does God love you now, He has loved you from the beginning of time. Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart… That’s the foreknowledge and predestination that Paul talks about in verses 29-30. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Predestination does not mean that before God created mankind He looked down through history future and said, “I’m going to save this one and that one – this one over here…” Foreknowledge/predestination means that God, in His infinite nature, has always known who would trust Him and so He chose to bestow His love upon them from the beginning. That salvation that we have received is His love poured out into the lives of all who would accept Him by faith. Thirdly, God not only did a work in you, He is still working in you. Go back to 28, God works for the good of those who love him… it doesn’t say, “God worked” but that He works… and He works because He loves you with an everlasting love and He has called you with His lovingkindness…(Jeremiah 31:3) That’s God’s love at work in your life and He wants you to know it.