The Love of God -- 9/27/08

Sunday, September 28, 2008

THE LOVE OF GOD

In recent years there has been a “back to the basics” movement in education. Because our public education system in this country is deeply committed to a social agenda, some are saying, “Forget all the extra curricular things, and get back to reading, writing, and arithmetic.” Sooner or later, that cry is heard is almost every area of life. As I have shared with you before, I was a sports fanatic when I was young. When I played baseball, we spent time working on turning the double play, executing the squeeze bunt, hitting the cut-off man, and other fine points of the game that are foreign to most non-baseball players. Nevertheless, we were always reminded that the key to success in baseball is performing the basics – hitting, pitching, and fielding. No player is ever too advanced to work on those fundamentals.

This morning we want to take some time to be reminded of one of the great fundamental truths of the Christian faith. Though we may learn many other wonderful truths from the Word of God, we must never forget this one. No matter how we may grow and mature in Christ, we will never outgrow our need to remember, to meditate upon, and to proclaim the love of God. Perhaps the first verse you ever memorized from scripture was about God’s love. Say it with me: “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” (Jn. 3:16). As we read twice in I John, “God is love” (I Jn. 4:8,16).

We are going to spend our time this morning looking at a broad overview of God’s love, beginning with the creation of mankind and continuing into eternity. We won’t have time to give great details in each area, but we will spend enough time to remind us of the great reach of God’s love. So let’s take our Bibles and explore this precious truth.

I. God’s Love Seen in His Creation

We have asked this question before. Let’s ask it again: Why did God create? And since man is at the climax of His creation, why did God create man? Was it because He was lonely? Absolutely not. God the Father and God the Son were perfectly content in their fellowship with one another. If you want to see that, just read the Gospel of John and look for those passages which speak of the fellowship between the Father and the Son. God didn’t create man out of need.

Then why? God created man out of love, love for His Son and love for His people. We’ve talked about this before. When I say “love for His Son and love for the human beings He would bring into existence,” the order is intentional. First, it was out of love for His Son, as He would provide a bride for His Son through the creation of the church. But that fact does not diminish God’s love for His people; it enhances it. Everything God does for His Son Jesus is also for us, because we are in Christ. And don’t forget those words that Jesus prayed to the Father the very night of His arrest. John 17:23, "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." Though it seems unbelievable, Jesus indicated that the Father loves us who are His own even as He loves His Son Jesus.

See the love of God in the creation of man. Not only did God create Adam, but He noted, “It is not good for that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). And then God created a helper suitable for him; He made Eve and brought her to Adam. I’m glad God did that out of love. Don’t let the beauty of God’s love be clouded by the sin of mankind, which is seen in lust and immorality and divorce. All of that can never change the fact that God loved Adam and gave him a wonderful wife, and He has been doing that ever since.

Not only did God create man and give him a wife, but God gave them something to do. Go back to chapter 1, where God obviously is looking forward to the work of both Adam and Eve. Let’s read it again in Gen. 1:26-28…
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God blessed them. How? By giving them the privilege of being fruitful, multiplying, and having dominion over all the creatures on the earth. These are no small things. Their relationship was fruitful. Adam and Eve shared life together. And they were blessed with the privilege of having children, for “children are an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Ps. 127:3). And there was no chance that they would ever become bored, for they were charged with the care of creation. God gave them meaningful work to do. It was a loving God who poured out these blessings upon them at creation.

II. God’s Love Seen in His Mercy

It isn’t long before we see God’s love demonstrated in His mercy. We only have to go to chapter 3. We won’t spend much time here, because we have looked at it recently. In spite of all their blessings, Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and there were immediate consequences. They were cut off from God because of their sin. In light of their ungratefulness for all His blessings, who could have blamed God, if He had wiped them out on the spot and announced that they would forever be banished from His presence? Such action would have been perfectly just.

Instead, we find that God had mercy on Adam and Eve. Though they died spiritually as God said they would, they were not destroyed and consigned to everlasting darkness apart from God. You will remember that as the Lord spoke to Satan, He included a wonderful promise. Let’s read it again in Gen. 3:15, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." God promised that Eve would have a descendant who would crush the head of that lying, deceiving serpent.

You will remember that this is not the end of the story. Adam and Eve were still hiding from God and from one another, full of guilt and shame because of what they had done. Their make-shift, fig-leaf covering was likely not very effective. But God did something. Yes, the Lord had mercy on them. In His mercy, the Lord killed an animal to provide clothing for them. And the blood of that animal served as the sacrifice that covered their sins, looking forward to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. God didn’t have to do that, but He chose to do it in His mercy.

Look down the road a few hundred years. The descendants of Adam and Eve multiplied and began to replenish the earth. However, there was a problem. Gen. 6:5, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Again, it would have been perfectly just and right for God to destroy the entire human race. Surely that is what they deserved. But there was one man who found favor in God’s sight. That one man was Noah. Through Noah, God expressed His mercy upon all mankind. You know the story. Knowing what He was going to do, the Lord instructed Noah to build a boat. He told him exactly how to build it, so that it would withstand the flood that was coming. God gave him every detail. A small houseboat would not have weathered the flood, but the ark God designed and Noah built was sufficient to save 8 people and representatives of all the animals. What mercy God demonstrated.

Praise God that He didn’t exhaust His mercy at the time of the flood. He has continued to pour out His mercy down through the ages. Let’s read it from Ps. 103:8-14…
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

We deserve to be destroyed by our Creator, against whom we have rebelled. Praise God that He has shown mercy. Surely His mercy is an expression of His love.

III. God’s Love Seen in His Wrath

So far, so good. No problem. We can see His love in the creation. We see even more of that love, when we look at God’s mercy. But now I am suggesting to you that we also see God’s love in His wrath. God’s wrath is simply His settled disposition against sin. God hates sin. His wrath rests upon sin and upon all those who are ruled by sin.

Before we go any further, let’s establish the truth that our God is indeed a God of wrath. The word “wrath” occurs in the KJV 198 times. My count was not absolutely precise, but I counted about 60 uses of the word “wrath” which did not refer to the wrath of God. That would leave roughly 135 or 140 references to God’s wrath in the Bible. And if you think God’s wrath is confined to the Old Testament, just check out the references to His wrath in Revelation.

Let’s read a few passages about God’s wrath. In Matt. 3:7, we read about John the Baptist: "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Now let’s read Rom. 2:4-8…
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6. Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath…

Now look at John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." In both the Old Testament and the New Testament we read of the day of God’s wrath.

So our God is a God of wrath. For many people, that creates a great problem: How can He be a God of love, if He is a God of wrath? Most often, these two attributes of God are seen as direct opposites. However, that is not the case. If He is a God of love, then He must be a God of wrath. To put it another way, if He were not a God of wrath, He could not truly be a God of love. You say, how can that be?

Those of you who have a young child, do you love your child? Certainly, you do. Because you love your child, you hate those things that would harm that child. When you think of someone kidnapping him or her, you become a parent of wrath. When you think of what internet pornography might do your child, you become a parent of wrath. We read in Ps. 97:10, “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.” If we truly love God, we hate the things that God hates. Though not a perfect illustration, that gives us a glimpse into God’s character. Because His love rests upon His saints, His wrath rests upon everyone and everything else.

Consider Satan. God’s wrath is upon Him and someday He will cast him into the lake of fire. That is perfectly consistent with God’s love, because Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Because He loves us, His wrath rests upon Satan and all those who will ultimately choose to follow Satan. God’s wrath is the “Amen” to His love.

IV. God’s Love Seen in His Redemption

Now we better come back to more familiar territory for some of you. God’s love is seen in His redemption. The scripture teaches that before a man comes to Christ, he is a slave to sin, Satan, and the world. Rom 6:17, 20… "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you… For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness." Speaking to Christians, Paul reminds them that there was a time when they were the servants (slaves) of sin. To see our former relationship to the world and Satan, let’s look at Eph 2:1-2, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" Did you catch that? In time past, we lived according to the course of this world. And who was calling the shots for the course of this world? It was the ruler of the power of the air. And if you have trouble identifying him, look at the next description: “the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” Paul is talking about Satan. He was our master. The situation was so bad that Paul says we were dead in our trespasses and sins (verse 1). We weren’t sick; we weren’t afflicted; we were dead.

Can you see the desperation of our situation? We were slaves. Satan had us bound effectively. We were ruled by sin. But maybe we could rise up and rebel against the tyranny of Satan and sin? One problem – we were dead. A dead man cannot rise up and rebel. All he can do is lie in the casket. We were absolutely helpless. If we were ever to be anything other than the slaves of Satan and sin, someone from outside the casket would have to come and rescue us.

I will sing of my Redeemer! I know that my Redeemer liveth! Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer! In the latter chapters of Isaiah the Redeemer is mentioned no less than 13 times. And that Redeemer is identified as “the Holy One of Israel” (Is. 41:14; 43:14; 48:17; 54:5), as “the mighty One of Jacob” (49:26), “the Lord of hosts” (44:6; 47:4). Yes, the Lord Jehovah is the Redeemer. But we read in Is. 59:20, “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion…” But how so? He will come as the Son of God, even as Jesus of Nazareth.

Remember when those two men were walking on the road to Emmaus. The risen Jesus appeared on the road and was walking with them, but they didn’t know it was Jesus. Jesus asked them why they were sad. They said, “Are you a stranger in Jerusalem? Don’t you know the things that have happened?” When Jesus asked, “What things?” they began to recount the story of how their Lord had been a prophet mighty in deed and word and how the chief priests and rulers had delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and how He had been crucified. Then they spoke these words, “But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel…” (Luke 24:21). They were just sure that this Jesus was the Redeemer, but now He was dead. Praise God that wasn’t the end of the story. He was indeed the Redeemer, and He rose from the grave to prove it. And now we look “for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:13-14). Yes, our Redeemer has come. He lived, died, and rose. Now we can say with Peter, “We know that we were not redeemed with corruptible things… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:18-19).

We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God has redeemed us through the blood of His Son. Yes, the Lamb of God has taken away our sins. We were dead, but not any more, for “if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Rom. 6:5). We were dead in our sins, but because of this great redemption, now we are dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:11). Now we rejoice in the words of Jesus our Redeemer, who said, “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19).

We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to righteousness (Rom. 6:18). Sin and Satan ruled over us, but now we have a new Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. We gladly give Him all our allegiance, because He is worthy. We eagerly await the day when we will be there with the 24 elders, and we will join them in their praise, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power…” (Rev. 4:11). We will cry out with the thousands upon thousands before Him, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain…” (Rev. 5:12). Even now we will sing of our Redeemer!

V. God’s Love Seen through Eternity

For the most part, it seems that time is the enemy of all mankind. Oh yes, we have the saying, “Time is on our side,” but it seems that we don’t find many opportunities to use it. At a very young age, we begin to battle time. Parents take their child to see Grandpa and Grandma. It is absolutely wonderful… until they say, “Okay, it’s time to go home.” A couple of weeks later, they go to the roller rink and it is great fun. But again, time sets a limit, and they have to leave. Dad comes home from work, the family eats supper, and then Dad lays everything aside and plays with the kids. What could be more wonderful than that. But (you guessed it), before long Mom says, “Time to go to bed.” How the children wish they could kill that thing called time.

As they get a little older, time becomes even more real. Little Johnny really wants to have a horse to ride. Dad says, “Johnny, we will consider it when you are 10.” The trouble is that Johnny is only 8. He learns to hate time. Sally is 14. She sees no reason why she shouldn’t be able to drive a car. She has the mental capability to learn all the facts in the driving book; she is plenty tall enough to see over the dash. So why shouldn’t she be able to drive? Because she isn’t old enough. She will have to wait for some time.

Later on, something else happens. It happens at different ages for different people. After some of us couldn’t wait to become adults, we find that there is a shift. Perhaps for some it is age 40. “I have lived 40 years on this earth, and what do I have to show for it?” Or maybe you’ve lived 60+ years and you begin to say, “I’m running out of time. I have always wanted to serve the Lord, but there isn’t much time left. Time used to be too long, but now it’s too short!”

Some of you here have a different battle with time. Whether you have lived 15 years or 85 years, you understand that time as we know it will run out. You know that Jesus died for you, but you do not belong to Him. You have no confidence that Jesus will say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Instead, you know you are in great danger of hearing Jesus say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” O the hopelessness of those words from Jer. 8:20, “The harvest is past; the summer is ended; and we are not saved.”

Time is short; eternity is forever. That is why we read in the scriptures: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2). We often remind you of that great promise, “You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). But we must also remind you that the time is limited. If time runs out before you repent and believe, before you give up on yourself and cast yourself on the Christ who died for you, you will spend eternity in hell. Now you want more time; then you will wish time could be condensed. Jesus commands you to repent and believe.

I have good news this morning for you who are in Christ. The millions and billions and trillions of years of eternity will not exhaust the love of God.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun;
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.
Nor will our God have any less days to love His people. Listen to what the Lord said to His people Israel through the prophet Jeremiah… (Jer. 31:3) "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Does He love any less those who have trusted the blood of His Son Jesus Christ? He has loved us with an everlasting love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can take great comfort in this. God doesn’t promise us a smooth path after we are reconciled to God through Christ. Paul made it clear “that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). He further states that all who want to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (II Tim. 3:12). He tells us to rejoice always and to rejoice in tribulation. Make no mistake about it – a good bit of rejoicing will be in the midst of tribulation. In light of those facts, can we say that God loves us? Certainly. What is love? It isn’t making the beloved comfortable. It is doing what is best for the one you love. God is doing what is best for us right now. God isn’t looking only at today; He is looking down through eternity and working to enlarge our joy forever and ever. He is multiplying our capacity to enjoy Him for eternity. That is love. We may not fully appreciate it now, but we will when we see Him face to face.

In short, the end of this life will not be the end of God’s love. For what do we read in God’s Word? Let’s read it again from Rom. 8:35-39…
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Praise God for His everlasting love in Jesus Christ our Lord!

It is common for people to speculate about heaven. Books are written to try to tell us what heaven is like. People tend to think something like this: “Jim loves to work in his garden. Since God loves Jim, he will give him a garden in heaven.” Brothers and sisters, I don’t know whether Jim will have a garden in heaven, but I do know that kind of thinking misses the beauty of God’s love. God didn’t make us to garden, or to cook, or do any of those things. Those are temporary earthly pleasures. God made us to worship Him. For those of us who are in heaven, we will be consumed with the glory of God. That’s love, because there is nothing better for us than to worship our Creator and Redeemer. There is nothing that can possibly compare with the joy of falling at His feet and proclaiming His praise. That’s heaven!

Conclusion

So we see God’s love in His creation. Some of us meditated on God’s creation this past Wednesday night. “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained… What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? (Ps. 8:3-4). What love that God would stoop down to care about us. And, of course, we see God’s love in His mercy. We deserve destruction; but in His mercy, He has given us glory. And yes, we see God’s love in His wrath. When God destroys the devil and all who follow Him, He will be demonstrating His love for us, as He rids our existence of everything that could possibly defile. God’s love is seen in His redemption through Jesus Christ. We were slaves of sin and Satan, but God bought us out of that slavery and is fashioning us to be the bride of His Son. And this unfathomable love will never end. Our justification is just the beginning; there will be no end.

Let’s close by recalling the powerful words of the song writer. Turn to page 286. Please follow along, as I read the third verse…
Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Tho’ stretched from sky to sky.

Oh love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forever more endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Now let’s sing it together…

Prayer