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
2 comments:
Hi Brian,
It totally amazes me that God chooses to love us. I know He gets upset with us, mad even but He still chooses to love us. This quality alone shows us the sovereignty of God's character, something Satan does not have. God is never swayed by emotions like we are and that is why we are not to go by our feelings alone. We need to choose to obey God even when it hurts.
Blessings brother,
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God's love and grace never ceases to amaze me. How big is our God? How Great is our God? I see what you mean, Child of God, when we slow down and sit down to think and really understand who God is, what He is saying to us and how we are a part of what He is accomplishing in this world, it is nothing short of amazing. God is worthy of our love and obedience. Thanks for the great point.
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