God Loved

John 3:16 “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.”

Pastor JJ is continuing with our Sunday Sermon Series on John 3:16 and this week he focus on the love of God. God has a profound plan for the world that is bigger than we could ever imagine. The reality of what God is teaching us is sinking into our adult heart. The plan all starts with God, without whom the rest makes no sense because without God nothing starts at all. Stop and think about the vastness of God eternal. How great thou art! We tend not to think beyond our planet. How big is your Creator, who spoke into existence this universe of over 100 billion stars? It would take us 70 year to reach our Sun going 150 miles per hour. And to reach the very next sun in our galaxy, it would take 15 million years.

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.”

The first thing that we need to know in our heart is that God exists. God is real and created everything. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Sure, some disagree, but don’t have answers. The beginning of the world has a problem: no one was there and science is limited. The truth is that the complexity of nature demands a Designer. The probability of happening by accident is so astronomical that it is mathematically impossible. Non-life cannot create life. Can conscious thought, intelligence and knowledge be created by time and chance? No, it’s our eternal Creator God.

Ephesians 3:17-19 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. “For God so loved the world” points to the fact that His love can reach us.

The second thing that we need to know in our heart is that God loves. God is love. It is His essential character. “For God so loved the world” is based upon a choice, not because we are so lovable, but because He chose to love us out of His character attribute, despite our faults, sins, hang-ups and bad decisions. We do not deserve His love, but He didn’t wait for us to stop sinning. We have no way to win God’s love and there is nothing we can do to deserve it. God loves because He chooses to, not because of who we are but because of who He is. The Hebrew word for love speak of a tethered love in a bond, a love attached to someone, saying: They are mine.” The Greek word for love here is “ἀγαπάω agapaō” (aka agape); not just an affection, but a deliberate choice and decision; not just a feeling, but an action, which lies in the nature of God Himself. God chose to rescue this world out of pure love. It is truly an unconditional love.

1 John 4:9 “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”

We are a part of this world and God offers love to us. Know how amazing and profound this love of God is. We need to drop the fantasy of our definition of love based upon conditions. God chose us to love, and specifically you. Take serious the free gift that God chose to give us. It will change our lives. Take it, embrace it, let it transform you; live in it and use it to make a positive impact on others, or reject it. You can refuse His love. But, why? “For God so loved the world”. May your heart be directed into His love.

2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”

In Christ, Brian