Okay, the name of the message
is The Love of God. I'm gonna read the verse here
that I'll be speaking about. It's in 1 John 3 1. Behold, what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. This verse is kind of hard for
me to wrap my mind around because why should I be called a son
of God? I mean, I'm nobody special. I'm
just a sinner. There's nothing special about
me that would make God call me a son of His. None of us can
say that we are special, special enough to be called a son, or
I'm sure they mean daughters too. But Ephesians chapter 1
verse 4 and 5 tells us, according as He hath chosen us in Him,
that in him is Christ before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself according to the good pleasure of his will. These two
verses tell us that God chose his children before the beginning
of the world, before any of us were even born. So we are special
in the eyes of God, because he sees us in Christ. If you're
not in Christ, you're not a child of his. He chose us, and he loves
his children. So that just clearly explains
why we are in Christ, that he chose us. We had nothing to do
with that. We cannot do anything to save ourselves. It is all
of Christ, or all of God, that God chose a people to be saved
by Christ, and Christ will not lose any of His people. Religion
talks a lot about the love of God. We see billboards along
the highway, God loves you or Jesus loves you. And, you know,
to look at those, it makes it sound as if God loves everybody
in the whole world. One of the most famous popular
quotes that anybody sees is John 3.16, for God so loved the world.
Well, that, some people take that, that God loves everybody.
And that's definitely not the case. They want you to believe
that God loves everybody without exception and is trying his best
to save everybody, but the sinner will not cooperate. Well, the
God of the Bible does not try to do anything. He does what
He pleases. He never fails. If we try to
do something, we often fail and sometimes we succeed, but more
often than we fail than succeed. But the idea that a sinner could
resist God's call for His chosen people is insane. If we had the
ability to resist that call, that would put us on equal footing
with God, and that's totally not what the Bible says. You
know, if we're a child of God, he will save us. We're in Christ,
and Christ will not lose a single child of his. And he also, when
he died on the cross, he wiped away all the sins of his children
so that we can be in Christ. So we are definitely not on equal
footing with Christ, and that's a resounding no. I have ten points
here that describe the true love of God to His people. The first
point is, the love of God is manifested and revealed in Jesus
Christ. Romans 8.35 tells us, Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or phantom, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? Verses 38 and 39 goes on, For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, or things to come, nor heights,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians tells us in chapter
one, verses three to six, blessed be the God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us.
He chose us, we didn't choose him. before the foundation of
the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him."
And by being without blame, that means that Christ washed away
all our sins with His blood on the cross. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, so that makes
us a child of God so that He can call us His children. the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of God, of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved in Christ." That tells
us that we were chosen to be his children, but only through
Christ. And that is the only way you
can get there. Point two, the love of God is sovereign and
given to whom the Lord pleases. God is in total control. Let's
turn to Romans chapter 9, and let's read verses 13 to 16. Okay, in verse 13 it starts, as it
is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
This clearly tells us that God chooses a people and that he
does not choose everyone. He clearly states, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. So that clearly destroys the
bulletin boards that they put out there that God loves everybody.
I do not want to be on the side of God's wrath, by any means.
Hebrews 12, 21 says, for our God is a consuming
fire. When we are in Christ, we are
protected from the consuming fire of God. There's many people
that think that they can do things on their own to save themselves.
You know, they walk an aisle or say a prayer or something,
and that just does not, you know, is not the way it works. The
Bible doesn't tell us that we have to walk an aisle. It doesn't
say anything about that. Point three, the love of God
is eternal and will never be discontinued. In Jeremiah 31
verse three, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. God himself
is eternal. That means that he lasts forever.
He's, you know, has been there from the beginning and through
the end. There is no end. Therefore, his great love must
be eternal and everlasting for us. So his love for us never
changes. in Ephesians 2.4, but God who
is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us. When God shows believers mercy,
he shows us his great love. You know, we have… God gives
us mercy, and it's very much undeserving mercy. There's none
of us that deserve the mercy that He has bestowed upon us.
Hebrews 13, 5, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. The word
never in this verse means that His love is eternal, just like
God Himself is eternal. Point four, the love of God is
a sacrificial love, and Christ will not maybe or might but will
redeem all, and that also means but not some or most but all
his people from all their sins. These are two words, will and
all, that are kind of like shall that Wayne uses all the time.
It leaves no doubt about what Christ will do. He will do what
he wants, he will save all his sinners, and he will wash away
all of our sins. Not just most of them, but all
of them. And he will not leave any of
his children behind. He will save all of them. They leave no doubt about what
Christ will do. He will redeem all His chosen
people from all their sins. Not a single child of His will
be left behind or a single sin not be forgiven. Psalms 103 verse
12 says, as far as the east is from the west, so far hath He
removed our transgressions from our sins. He never sees our sins
when we are in Christ. There is something that we are
not able, that is something that we're not able to do. Somebody
does something to us that we don't like, we may say we forgive
them, but it's always in the back of our mind for most of
us. But that's not the way it works with Christ. When he forgives
the sins, washes our sins away, they are never to be seen again,
never to be thought of again. But as from a human point, we
can't do that. In 1 John 4.10, herein is love,
not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be a propitiation for our sins. 1 John 3.16 also says,
Hereby I perceive we the love of God because Christ laid down
His life for us. Another verse that shows the
sacrifice of Christ. is in Ephesians 5, 2, and walk
in love as Christ hath also loved us and hath given Himself for
us as an offering and sacrifice to God for the sweet savor. Christ
tells us Himself in John 10, verse 15, I laid down my life
for the sheep, His sheep are His children, and that that He
gave His life on the cross for them. Point five, the love of
God is permanent and will always abide in the believer. Hebrews
13.8 tells us, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and
forever. Christ never changes, therefore
His love for us does not change, nor can it change. That has to
be a comforting thought for believers. You know, no matter what we do,
you know, we're maybe a safe center, but we still continue
to sin. But Christ still loves us no matter what we do. But
we are constrained. We are not free to go out and
sin and do whatever we want. We have that, the Spirit gives
us an awareness of our sins and that puts in our heart, you know,
that we try not to sin, even though we do, but, you know,
it helps us to constrain us. I think that's the right word
to say there. Malachi 316, for I am the Lord,
I change not. If something does not change,
then wouldn't that mean that it is permanent? I lost my thought there. If something
does not change, then wouldn't that mean that it's permanent?
Christ's love for people is a permanent love. John 13.1 states, having
loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them until
the end. So God's love to us is there
forever. Point six, the love of God is
electing love that unconditionally chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. Second Thessalonians, to 13. because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. God chose you in the beginning.
We had nothing to do with his choice. We hadn't even been born
yet, so how could we have had anything to do with our salvation?
John 15, verse 16 tells us, ye have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you and ordained you. Again, Ephesians tells us, In
chapter 1, verse 4, according as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. So we had nothing to do with
whether we're a child of God, because He chose us, we did not
choose Him. Verse five goes on, having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
his goodwill. And that goes back to the opening
verse that we are a child, that we are children of God. Predestination
and election are related and connected, but they are not interchangeable. Predestination is the foreknowledge
of what will happen in the future, where election, on the other
hand, involves God choosing us, a particular person or group
of people, to a particular task like eternal salvation. He elected
us before the foundation of the world, but He predestinated that
we be here at this particular time. So, point seven, the love of God
is unmerited love. We've never done anything to
deserve His favor or His mercy. Titus chapter three, verses four
through seven, the kindness and love of God, our savior towards
men appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have
done, but according to his mercy. He saved us by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. That being
justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the
hope of eternal life. And in Romans 5, verses 8 and
9, it says, but God commanded His love towards us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. much more than being
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of him. So if you are not in Christ,
those that are not in Christ are gonna face the wrath of God.
They are facing a judgment day. much more than being justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through him. The
only reason for his love to us is found in himself, Christ,
not in us." Verse 8, the love of God is constraining
love and motivates everyone who believes the gospel to obedience
to him as a willing. Looks like I lost part of my
thing here. The constraining love is, he
loves us, he's unrestrained, but our love is a constraining love in that we
love him because he first loved us. Let's go on to verse 9 there,
because I lost part of my message there. Verse 9. We are a loving bond slave. Okay. The love of God is a constraining
love. It motivates everyone who believes
the gospel to obedience to Him as a willing, loving bond slave
to Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, 14, 15, for
the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that
if one dies for all, then all were dead. We're all dead. And that he died for us, for
all, that they which lived should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them and rose again. We should be
living for Christ more than for ourselves. This is a hard thing
for us to do, living in this world. But the more we learn
about Christ, what Christ has done for us, the more we can
live for Him. Psalm 65, 4, blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee that he
may dwell in thy courts. So the more we learn about Christ,
the more we want to learn about Christ, the more we want to serve
Christ. Before we are saved, you know,
we live for ourselves, 100%. You know, we're out in the world,
Doing whatever we want and not having to care about who Christ
was or what He'd done for us. But as we learn about Christ,
you know, we want to think about and study Him more and more all
the time. My point 10, the love of God
is a holy love. God in Christ is both a just
God and a Savior. Isaiah 45, 21, and 22 tells us,
there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is none besides me. Look
unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God and there is none else. What else is there to say after
a statement like that? All the other gods that man created
over the centuries are not real. They were just figurines, you
know, all the Greek gods and the Roman gods that they had.
It was hundreds of them. They could do nothing for them
because there was only one living God, God over everything, the
Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the three-in-one
triune God. All the other gods were just
graven images. They had gods for fertility and
gods for rain and just name whatever you can think of, and they had
a god for it. But there is only one true living God, and that's
God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What more can we merit upon His
great love to us, to its character, its fullness, its blessedness,
the more our hearts will be drawn out in love to Him. We love Him
because He first loved us. That's 1 John 4, verse 19. In 1 John 4.10, it tells us,
herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and
sent His Son to a propitiation for our sins. Here are a few
reasons why God's love to believers is wonderful. part of the wonder
laws and the object of that love. It is a wonder that Christ should
love anybody, but it is the greatest wonder to the sinner that Christ
should love him. Who am I and what is in my house
that Christ Jesus should love such a sinner as me? Romans 5,
6 says, Christ died for the ungodly. Verse 8 continues, but God commanded
his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Christ bled and died on the cross
for his chosen people. There are many reasons why His
love should have passed us by, but His sovereign love singled
us out and drew us to Him. The Holy Ghost will definitely
draw us to Him and reveal everything to us. Considering who the one
Consider who the one is that that is loving us that love to
me was wonderful God in Christ is the giver of his love of this
love for a fallen creature to love one Another is no miracle,
but for a holy creature creator To love is a sinful creature
Such as us is indeed a miracle of sovereign grace. God has total
grace for us and If we are not shown that grace, we will not
love God at all. Behold, what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons
of God. And that goes back to the verse that we read there
at first in 1 John. Considered to what length Christ
loved his elect, having loved us own which were in the world,
he loved them to the end. John 13, 1. Our Lord took human
nature to himself, which is a great mystery, but he also took the
sins of his people to himself and suffered the wrath of God.
for them. This is the wonder that our Lord
Jesus Christ would take the sinner's place and die as his substitute,
putting away his sins. He took on himself all the sins
of all his people throughout eternity. And he didn't have
to do that, but Sin must be answered, and Christ took that on himself
to save his people. Consider that there is no end
to his redeeming love. Nothing shall separate the believer
from this love. Unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood. Revelation 1.5. I usually try to back up everything
that I say with scripture, so that's the reason I read so much
scripture there. But after all, we are talking
about a sovereign God that who created the entire world with
just a few words. He is all-powerful and he deserves
our total devotion.