What’s Love Got To Do With It? (February 12, 2023)

 

Ephesians 2:4-5 ~ “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”

Love ~ the work of God’s mercy which made us alive with Christ. We were dead to our trespasses and sins, but God has made us alive. Why has God made us alive? It is because of His very nature. God does not have a nature like most men picture him: distant, disinterested, unconcerned, vengeful and fearful. God is love; a selfless and sacrificial love; a love of the mind, of reason, of the will as well as of the heart and affections. It is the love that goes so far …

• that it loves a person even if he does not deserve to be loved.

• that it loves the person who is utterly unworthy of being loved.

• that it is compelled to sacrifice itself for its enemies

So let’s look at the Greatness of God’s Love:

• The WHO of God’s Love

God is Love

1 John 4:8, 16 ~ “8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” “16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

• God is the WHO of His love. He had no beginning and will have no ending. He is from everlasting to everlasting.

• God’s love is great because He is great. God created the heavens, the earth, and all that is contained therein.

• God is love and His very nature is love. Therefore, if a person loves God, he becomes a loving person; he takes on the very nature of God.

• The WHAT of God’s Love

God so Loved the World

John 3:16 ~ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

• The idea that God loves the whole world is a new idea; the Jews believed that God loved the religious and hated the non-religious. The same thoughts are held by many in every generation.

• Those that have a life of sin, believe that God loves them in their sin without wanting them to change and that God hates the church folks because church folks wants those in sin to change their life.

• The fact that God truly loves everyone – sinner and church folks alike – is shocking to many.

• The WHAT of God’s love refers to every person – the great and small, black and white, rich and poor alike.

• God’s love includes the vile, murderer, alcoholic, drug abuser, prostitute, terrorist, trans, gay, and alternative lifestyle, the liar and thief. All who repent and forsake their sins may be saved.

• God loves every person and He does not love only the people who love Him. He loves even the unlovely, unloving, unbelieving, the obstinate, the selfish, the greedy, the spiteful and the vengeful.

• The WHERE of God’s Love

You can’t go anywhere away from God’s Love

Psalm 139:7 ~ “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”

• The WHERE of God’s love is everywhere. His love went to Calvary, where He atoned for the sins of the world.

• God’s love extends to the uttermost parts of the earth. It reaches the haughty and proud and includes those in the depths of despair.

• The WHEN of God’s Love

When does God’s Love Work

Romans 5:8 ~ “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

• The WHEN of God’s love is at all times. God’s love continues forever, for He is eternal.

• Since God always was and always will be, His love is from everlasting to everlasting, for God is love.

Jeremiah 31:3 ~ “the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

• The WHY of God’s Love

Why ask Why

1 John 1:3 ~ “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

• The WHY of God’s love is beyond our comprehension. However, we do know that God desires to fellowship with His creation.

• Because of His great love, God gave His only Son to die on the cross for our sins and to bring us back into fellowship with Himself.