is not that I did choose. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. I've entitled the message for
this morning. Who does God love? A text is found in Romans chapter
five, verse eight. Paul, the apostle says this,
but God commendeth his love toward us. in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Who does God love? Now, it would be wrong to simply
presume that he loves everybody. Now, why do I say that's wrong?
because the Bible does not teach that. I realize that most preachers
say that God loves everybody without exception, but you won't
get that from the Bible. Psalm 5 verse 5 says, thou hatest
all workers of iniquity. We read in Malachi 1 and in Romans
9, God says, Jacob have I loved, But Esau have I hated. I think of that crowd on Judgment
Day. that our Lord speaks of in Matthew
chapter 7 verse 23 when He will say, Depart from Me, ye that
work iniquity, I never knew you. Now He knew exactly who they
were and He knew exactly what they had done, but He said, I
never knew you." Now, in the scripture, this thing of knowing
someone has something to do with an intimate relationship. Adam knew his wife Eve. Joseph knew not Mary. It has
something to do with an intimate, loving relationship. And the
Lord says to that crowd on Judgment Day, He's going to say this to
many, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. Who is it that God loves? I want to know the answer to
that question, and I want to know if I'm somebody that God
loves. Now, the scripture says in 1
John 4, 8, God is love. Now, although God has wrath,
Because of His justice, He must punish sin. There is a place
called hell where those outside of Christ will be punished eternally. God doesn't put sins in hell,
He puts the ones who committed those sins in hell. God has wrath,
but it's nowhere said in the scripture that God is wrath.
The Bible does say God is love, not here is love and God practices
it, but God is love. Now, the first thing I'd like
to say about God's love is that it is saving love. Those he loves, he saves. Ephesians 2, 4 says, but God,
who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved
us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace are you saved. That's what the scripture says,
all that God loves He saves. Jeremiah 31.3 says, Behold, I've
loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness, have I drawn thee. He would not let those he loved
alone. Now, if he could love somebody
individually and that person would end up being the object
of his wrath, that would make his love meaningless. You see,
His love is not generic. It's not general. It's special
and particular. And all that He loves, He saves. You could not say to anybody
in hell, smile, God loves you. No, He doesn't. They are the
objects of His wrath. Now, who does God love? Now, the only source of information
we have to answer this question is the Bible. So with his help,
I want to answer from the Bible who it is that God loves. But before I do that, I want
to give some things that the Bible teaches about God's love. First, God's love has no cause
outside himself. He doesn't love you because,
or he doesn't love me because there's something lovely in us
that draws out his love. Now, I love my wife. I love my
wife because she's lovable. I love my wife because of what
she does for me. I love my life, my wife, for
many reasons. God's love is not like my love.
In Deuteronomy 7, God said this to his people through Moses,
for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy
God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all
people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not
set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in
number than any people. For you were the fewest of all
people, but because the Lord loved you. Why does God love
his people? Because he loves them. His reason
is found only in himself. He does not have to find a reason
in you to love you. Isn't that good news? Hosea chapter
14 verse 4 says, Behold, I will love them freely. God's love. Now it's not unconditional. People say, I want God's love
is unconditional. No, it's not. His love's in Christ.
If he loves you, it's because you're in Christ. Christ is lovely.
And if you are in Christ, you're lovely. God's love is not unconditional
in that sense, but it's unconditional in the sense that he doesn't
have to find a reason in you to love you. God loves because
he is love. His love is eternal. He never
began to love anybody. He said in Jeremiah 31, 3, regarding
all of his people, behold, I have loved you with an everlasting
love, a love that never had a beginning. The love of God is always before. It was before predestination.
The scripture says in Romans 8, 29, for whom he did foreknow. whom he didn't know beforehand,
whom he loved beforehand. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. The love of God is immutable. It cannot change. He cannot stop
loving. He never began to love. He can't
love more. He can't love less. He can't stop loving because
his love is immutable. Malachi 3, verse 6 says, I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Now in human love, how many divorces
there are. And these people begin loving
one another. They sincerely believe they love
one another, but they stop loving one another. But God's love is
not like that. He cannot stop loving because
his love is immutable. And the love of God is a covering
love. Proverbs 12, 10 says, love covereth. all transgressions. Ezekiel 16
verse 8, God says, when I passed by thee and looked upon thee,
behold, the time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt
over thee. And when he does that, that means
all that can be seen is him. And I covered thy nakedness. Now my wife loves me. I talked about me loving my wife.
My wife loves me too. I'm thankful for that. And you
know, she knows a lot of my faults. She lives with me. You can't
live with someone and not have their faults discovered. She
knows my faults, but she does not tell others about them because
she loves me. Well, God covers all the transgressions
of all He loves through the blood of His Son. Blessed is He whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity, and in whose
spirit there is no guile. And His love is a sacrificial
love. a love that proved itself by
death. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." You know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, Yet
for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty
might be rich. Herein is love, not that we love
God, John said, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. His love It's a giving love. He gave Himself. Paul said, He
loved me and gave Himself for me. And in Him giving Himself,
He actually accomplished my salvation. And His love is a love that never
goes unrequited. All that He loves, love Him in
return. John said in 1 John 4, 19, we
love Him. We really do. Every believer
loves God as He is. He loves the Lord Jesus Christ.
He loves the Spirit of God. We love Him because He first
loved us. And everyone that He first loved
will love Him in return. And His love is a special and
particular love. Now if my wife said, Todd, do
you love me? And I would answer why, yes,
I love you like I love every other woman, there would be real
problems, wouldn't there? That's not a special, particular
love. God said concerning Jacob, Jacob
have I loved. But Esau have I hated." Now,
people have a problem with him hating Esau. Well, I know why
God could hate me. I really do. God's holy. God's
just. I know something about what I
am, and I can understand why God would hate me. And if you
have any honesty, you could understand why God would hate you. He's
holy. He's just. He's altogether pure. And we
drink iniquity like water. Esau didn't care anything more
about God than a bowl of soup. He sold his birthright for a
bowl of soup. He didn't care anything about
God. I understand God hating him. What I'm amazed by is him
loving Jacob. Jacob, the sinful, weak man,
the dishonest man. God said, I love him. Now that
is a special distinguishing love. I think of how John referred
to himself as that disciple that Jesus loved. That was his claim
to fame. Now Jesus loved Martha and Mary
and Lazarus. To make his love universal and
general is to make it meaningless. If he loves all men the same
and yet some are saved and some are lost, That makes his love
meaningless. If he loves all men the same
and some of those people he loves wind up in hell and some in heaven,
that makes his love meaningless. It didn't do anything for anybody.
It's something they did that made them saved or made them
not saved. Now, let me say this. I can say
this with full conviction. There will be nobody that he
loved in hell. Not a one. Not only is His love
eternal, it never had a beginning, not only is it immutable, He
can't stop loving, it is eternal. He will never cease to love His
people. It was said of the Lord in John
13, 1, having loved His own. which were in the world, he loved
them unto the end." Now, this will summarize everything I've
said up to this point. Nothing shall separate us. This
is Romans 8, 39. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, understand, all of God's
love is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Who does God love? Now the verse of scripture that
I read at the beginning of this message gives two identifying
marks of the people that God loves. Romans 5 verse 8, but
God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Now there are two distinguishing
marks of the people that God loves. Number one, they're the
people that Christ died for. And number two, they're sinners. Those are the people that God
loves. First, they are the people that
Christ died for. Christ died for us. Who is the
us? Does the us mean all men without
exception? No. The us is the same us of
whom Paul referred to in Romans 8, verse 31, when he said, if
God be for us, who can be against us? Who's the us? Well, in the
context, Romans 8, 28, And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, them he also did predestinate,
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we
say to these things, if God be for us? The us is determined
by the context. Those he foreknew, those he predestinated,
those he called, those he justified, those he glorified. If God be
for us, who can be against us? God commended his love toward
us. in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Now, the us are those people
for whom Christ died. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. They're goats and they're sheep. He said to one group of people,
you believe not because you're not of my sheep, as I said unto
you. He didn't say, you're not my
sheep because you don't believe. He said, you don't believe because
you're not of my sheep. Christ laid down his life for
the sheep. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Paul
said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 and 28, feed the church
of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Christ died for
the church, for the elect, for those the Father gave him. He
said, I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the
will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Christ
died for us. Now, what a stupendous, glorious,
incomprehensible thought Christ died. God sent his son. the darling of the Father, the
well-beloved, the one who is God's fellow, the brightness
of God's glory and the express image of His person, the one
who is altogether lovely, the rose of Sharon and the lily of
the valley, the servant, the Son of God, the Son of Mary,
the one who said, I do always those things that please the
Father. It was the Father's will to give Him to be the Savior
of those He loved. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved." Christ, the second person of the Trinity,
the God-man. It's Christ that died. Now, I wouldn't want to be callous
in any way about the death of anybody, but I'm saying this
about my own death, and I'm saying this about your death. In my
death or your death, there would be nothing remarkable. If I died,
no one would say, it's amazing that he died. It's the expected
end. It's the expected end of all
flesh. But Christ dying. Christ, the one who never sinned. The one who always did those
things that pleased his father, Christ dying. When he was drinking
the cup of God's wrath completely dry, he was doing that by his
death. Christ died. Oh, the shame he
felt as he was forsaken by God. Now, he never experienced the
commission of sin, but he experienced everything else about sin when
he was made sin on Calvary's tree. It's the Christ that died. There's only one reason for death,
and that's sin. It's Christ that died. What did
he accomplish by his death? Hebrews 1.3 says, When he had
by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of
the majesty on high, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. It's Christ that died. Now, who
did Christ die for? Or who does God love? The people
that Christ died for. Who is the us? Who did he die
for? Who does God love? I could say,
and I would be accurate in saying, the elect. I could say those
who believe, and that would be true. I could say those who repent,
and that would be true. I could say those who persevere
to the end, and that would be true. I could say those who have
been born again, and that would be true. God does in fact love
those people. The reason they do all those
things is because he loves them. But what does our text say? I
love this. I hope you do too. It says, for
God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. I want to ask you a question. I'm not asking you if you're
saved. I'm not asking you if you've been baptized. I'm not
asking you if you're a member of a church. I'm not asking you
if you have a life that is consistent with the gospel. All those things
should be. I realize that, but that's not
what I'm asking you. I'm asking you this one simple
question. Would you please hear me? Are
you a sinner? Now, I fear that many people
would answer that question with a yes. Yes, I'm a sinner in everybody. Of course, you know, I make mistakes.
I do wrong things. I do things I shouldn't do. Yes,
I'm a sinner. I have taken I guess psychology profiles and stuff
when I've been given certain jobs and they'll ask you the
same question in 10 or 12 different ways because it's kind of built
in that they know you're going to try to give them the answer
they're looking for so they'll ask you the same question from
10 different angles trying to get the truth out of you, trying
to trick you into telling what you really believe and how you
really are. So I want to ask you this question
about are you a sinner in a different way? What is sin? 1 John 3 chapter 4 says sin is
the transgression of the law. The Ten Commandments Are you someone who puts everything
before God? The second commandment has to
do with idolatry. Are you someone who is guilty
of having false concepts of God that fit in to make things more
comfortable for yourself? You think, well, God's this way
or God's that way. Not bowing to who God is according
to his word, but you make up things about God in order to
make you feel comfortable with yourself. A false God. It's called
idolatry. It's making a false God. Are
you an idolater? The third commandment has to
do with taking his name in vain, being irreverent. It's a lack
of fear. Are you an irreverent person? The fourth commandment has to
do with keeping the Sabbath, resting on the Sabbath day. It
represents resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, not working. You
completely rest. Are you someone who always rests? Are you someone who fails to
rest? The fifth commandment has to
do with honoring your father and your mother. Treating your
parents as they ought to be treated. It goes much further than that.
Respecting and submitting to all authority. Are you someone
who fails to submit to authority? The sixth commandment has to
do with murder. Thou shalt not kill. Are you
someone who's killed somebody? Someone says, no, I haven't broken
that commandment. Well, have you ever murdered someone's character
by gossip, by slander, by innuendo? Have you ever told a lie about
somebody? Have you ever become envious
or jealous of somebody because you didn't have what they had,
so you wished them ill? In God's sight, that's murder.
Are you a murderer? The seventh commandment has to
do with sexual purity. Have you been sexually pure in
your heart, in your mind, in your thoughts, in your imagination? Remember the Lord said to lust
after a woman in your heart is to commit adultery with them. Same thing. Have you been totally
chased to Christ and never looked outside of the covenant of his
grace for comfort and assurance? Are you an adulterer? Are you
the eighth commandment is a thief. One who takes what doesn't belong
to him. One who takes credit where credit
is not due. Are you a thief? And then the
ninth has to do with telling the truth. Are you a liar? Do
you lie? Even when you tell the truth,
do you put a slant on it to make yourself look better? And you're
not really telling the truth. Are you a liar? And the last
commandment has to do with covetousness, coveting that which God has not
given you, coveting your neighbors, whatever it may be, a failure
to be content and satisfied with Christ. Are you a covetous person? Now, somebody may think, well,
I'm a sinner, but I wouldn't consider myself in that light.
Well, what kind of sinner are you? You don't really believe
you're a sinner, because if you believe you're a sinner, you
believe you've broken every commandment of God continually. You haven't
kept one commandment one time. That's what a sinner is. He's
someone who hasn't kept one commandment one time. Now you can say, well,
I'm not like that. Well, okay, but that means if
you die believing that, God never loved you and Christ never died
for you. But if you're a sinner, a real bona fide sinner, all
you do is sin. You cannot not sin. You can't
look down your nose at anybody. You have no claims on God. If
you are a sinner, beloved, God loves you. Christ died for you. Look to him right now as you're
all in salvation. He died for sinners. Thank God for that. Now, we have
this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, email
or write, we'll see you at home. To request a copy of the sermon
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