Now, we mentioned the Lord's
sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love there a moment or two ago
in our hymn, and I wanted just to speak to the boys and girls
for a few moments about the love of God. The love of God. You know, boys
and girls, One of the most wonderful things, one of the most wonderful
blessings that we will ever experience in this life is having someone
to love us. Boys and girls who have mummies
and daddies or grandparents who love and care for them should
always thank God for those blessings. There are many boys and girls
who don't have mums and dads to look after them and care for
them. And it is a big blessing that
we should thank God for, that he has given us those who love
us and care for us. And when we grow up, If God gives
us a husband or a wife to love, then that too is a great happiness
and a great blessing. It's a gift from God. And whenever
we think of love, we should think of God. For the Bible tells us
that God is love. And every form of true Good,
wholesome love is a picture of God's pure and perfect love to
his people. Before the first man ever loved
a woman, before the first mother ever loved a child, God loved
his people. Even before they were born, God
loved his people. The Bible tells us four things
about God's love that I want to leave with you this morning. The first one is this, that God's
love is everlasting love. Everything that God does for
his children, everything he does for his people, is done for them
out of his love for them. God loves his people. He says, I have loved you, saith
the Lord. And before ever we love God,
he loves us. In fact, we can only love Him
because He first loved us. God's love is everlasting, but
it is also a special love. God's love for His people is
special, and it is personal, and it is particular love. And you might wonder, well, what
does that mean? Well, what would you think, boys
and girls, if you said to your mother, if you said to your mum,
Mum, do you love me? And she said, of course I love
you. I love all the children in your
class at school. In fact, I love all the children
in the world. You would think to yourself,
I'm not sure that that's the kind of love that I was hoping
for. And the truth of the matter is
that we all desire special love. Love that comes to us especially. A love that comes personally. to me and that's the kind of
love that God has for his people. It is a special love. God loves
his people especially and personally. His people are special to him
and he loves them with a special love. God's love is everlasting
and it is special and it is powerful love. This is something that
we should remember. How do you know if someone loves
you? Well, because they care for you,
because they help you, because they provide for you, because
they protect you. These are ways that we can see
love being evidenced. And sadly, sometimes, because
we are weak, we can't provide for or protect those that we
love as much or as well as we would like to. But God is strong. God is stronger than we are and
he is able. He cares for his children. And the greatest example of the
care, the greatest example of God's love for his children is
when he sent the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. to pay the price
of their sin and to set them free. When the Lord Jesus Christ
died on the cross, it was a picture of God's love and provision for
his people. John chapter three and verse
16 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. Then a little bit later in the
Bible, Paul says to the Romans in chapter five, verse eight,
God commendeth his love towards us. This is how God shows us
his love, how God teaches us about his love. In that, while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. for the love of his people,
for their salvation, for their care and protection from sin
and from trouble. God the Son took our sin, all
our guilt, and he died in our place on the cross. God's love
is everlasting, it is special, it is powerful, and it is faithful. God's love is faithful. You know,
all true love is faithful. It is sacrificial and it is long-suffering. It always wants to give more
than it takes. In John chapter 13 verse 1 in
the Bible we read, Jesus having loved his own which were in the
world, he loved them unto the end. Our God, having loved us,
will always love us. He will love us eternally. He
provides for our needs. and he will never let us go. He has done everything for our
salvation and he gives us everything in this life and everything in
heaven. And we have the promise of his
faithfulness because of his love to us. May the Lord show us his
love, whether we're very young or whether we're very old. Might
we experience that love in our own hearts and in our own spirits. May he apply it to us and teach
us in turn to love him. Amen.