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God always had a plan!

In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. 

God LOVES us DEEPLY!

Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another. 

No man has at any time [yet] seen God. But if we love one another, God abides (lives and remains) in us 

The LOVE of GOD is made evident in OUR lives!

and His love (that love which is essentially His) is brought to completion (to its full maturity, runs its full course, is perfected) in us! 

The HOLY SPIRIT assures us of OUR CONNECTION with GOD.

By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit. 

WE Know.....that WE Know.....that we KNOW........ WE ARE SAVED!

And [besides] we ourselves have seen (have deliberately and steadfastly contemplated) and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son [as the] Savior of the world. (1 John 4:10-14 AMP)

In John 3:16 (ESV) Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It is only one sentence. And that sentence contains only twenty-four words. Yet that one sentence is packed with so much truth that we literally will not have time to fully unpack it’s contents this morning. But I will try. 

From this one verse we can find at least seven truths (probably more) about the love of God. Let’s look at them now.

1. THE LOVE OF GOD IS UNCONDITIONAL.

For God so loved the world,

The Greek word for world (kosmos) is defined as “the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and thearefore hostile to the cause of Christ.” This is the world that God loved. It doesn’t say that God loved all the good guys. Or that God loved all the Jews. Or that God love all the saints. It says, “For God so loved the world.”

That God should love the world only heightens the mystery of this love. Were we to imagine a pristine world, fresh from the hand of the Creator and uninfected by evil, we could more easily comprehend God’s desire to save it. But a wayward world which not only failed to recognize its maker (John 1:10) but openly hated His approach to it (15:18) would seem a poor choice for love. 

So God’s love clearly isn’t based on our spiritual condition or our moral predisposition. It isn’t based on our behavior or our attitude toward him. Rather we see here that God’s love for mankind is universal and unconditional. He loves everyone. And this is one of the things that sets him apart from every other god held up by every other world religion.

Only Christianity dares to proclaim God’s love is unconditional. An unconditional love that we call grace. Christians boldly proclaim that grace really has precious little to do with us, our inner resolve, or our lack of inner resolve. Rather, grace is all about God and God freely giving to us the gifts of forgiveness, mercy, and love.

So God’s love for us is unconditional. It is as Philip Yancey once wrote: “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less.”

2. THE LOVE OF GOD IS SACRIFICIAL.

that he gave

According to a footnote in the English Standard Version of the Holy Bible an alternate translation of the first part of John 3:16 is as follows: “For this is how God loved the world…” How did God love us? He loved us by giving, by serving, by sacrificing. So here we learn something important about the nature of true love. Some people think they love others because of what those people do for them or how them make them feel. But God shows us that true love has nothing to do with what you can do for me, but everything to do with what I can do for you.

3. THE LOVE OF GOD IS VALUABLE.

his only

Here we see the value of the Father’s love for us. Not only was he willing to give, but we see here that he was willing to give the only one he had. When you give to someone out of your abundance that is one thing, but when you give out of your poverty that is quite another. If you had several vehicles it might be seen as a noble thing if you were to give one of them to a family who had none. But if you were to give them the only vehicle you had that would be seen as something more than noble – something above and beyond the call of duty – it would be seen as real sacrifice. 

How many times have you heard or even said yourself: “I can’t give you that because it’s the only one I’ve got.” We’ve probably all said that. But we learn here that God didn’t have a back up. God didn’t have a spare. But he loved us so much that he was willing to give us the only one he had. “The power and passion of God’s love comes across, not through a supposed special meaning of the Greek word involved, but through the length to which God was willing!

4. GOD’S LOVE IS PERSONABLE. 

Son,

God’s love is not merely some abstract concept. It isn’t just a philosophy. God’s love was made manifest in this world through the person of Jesus Christ the only Son of the Father. Jesus Christ came into this world to reveal to us the love of God in human form. 

A child was once trying to quote from John 3:16 in the King James Version, which says, “his only begotten Son.” But the child misquoted it and said, “his only forgotten Son.” It was one of those slips of the tongue that carried more truth than we would care to admit. For by most people in the world today Jesus Christ is truly forgotten. His life is forgotten. His love is forgotten. His sacrifice is forgotten. It is our job as Christians – as God’s ambassadors – to help them remember.

What a great story and what a powerful way to live. Are you living your life in such a way that you are reminding people of the only ‘forgotten’ Son of God? 

God’s love is personable on the one hand because it was made manifest through a person – Jesus Christ – but also because it is bestowed on a person – you.

There are many reasons God saves you: to bring glory to himself, to appease his justice, to demonstrate his sovereignty. But one of the sweetest reasons God saved you is because he is fond of you. He likes having you around. He thinks you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while… If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart. And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you!

5. GOD’S LOVE IS ACCESSIBLE.

that whoever believes in him

IT IS NOT only accessible to those who were born with right color of skin or on the correct continent. Nor is it difficult to obtain. It is not reserved for only the intellectual elite or the power brokers or financial wizards. No, the love of God is accessible to “whoever believes in” Jesus – the only Son of God. 

From the human perspective, when you compare [God] to the other gods of the other religions in the world, you have to say our God is really sort of odd. He uses the most common of people, people that aren’t any different from any of us here; he comes in the most common of ways, when by his Spirit an anonymous young woman is found to be with child. And the strangest thing is that he comes at all … he’s not the Above-Us-God, too holy to come down. This God’s love is so immense that he wants to come down. And he has proven his love by the fact that he did come down and touch our ground.

God has come down to our level. Not in the sense that he has lessened his holiness or lowered his standards. But only in the sense that he has made his love accessible to the average, ordinary person like me and like you. He is not a distant God who loves us only from some mystical, far away place that is completely removed from us. Rather he has entered into our world and he longs to enter into our lives. 

Will you believe in his Son who made the ultimate expression of God’s love by giving his life on the cross for your sins? By choosing to believe in him you access the love of God, the grace of God and the forgiveness of God. By believing in him you access the new life that only he can provide.

6. GOD’S LOVE IS NONJUDGMENTAL. 

should not perish

God’s goal in sending his Son from heaven to earth was not to condemn you are to show you how bad you are, how unworthy you are or how hopeless you are. God’s only desire in sending his Son was to show you his love and draw you into a love relationship with himself. Jesus didn’t come into the world in order to rebuke you. He came to rescue you. He didn’t come to criticize you. He came to cleanse you. He didn’t come to punish you. He came to pardon you. He didn’t come to destroy you. He came to deliver you.

However this does not mean that God is not a God of judgment. For there is a huge difference between recognizing right and wrong and being judgmental. There is a difference between judging the unrepentant sinner and being judgmental. Being judgmental means that one has a critical spirit that only looks for the bad in people and then is quick to condemn them when it is found. God on the other hand will judge us for our sins and even sentence us to hell, but only as a last resort – only over his Son’s dead body – only if we refuse to accept his offer of forgiveness. Another way of looking at it is that it isn’t so much that God sends us to hell as that we choose hell over heaven – we choose Satan over God – we choose sin over righteousness.

7. GOD’S LOVE IS BENEFICIAL.

but have eternal life. 

We are promised by God to have life eternal. What a wonderful God we serve! He has provided everything we ever needed in His Son!

What does the Bible Declare you can have?

Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them Mark 11:24

Direct your conversation to God for his very best (His will) for your life!

1 John 5:14-15
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

What does the Bible say I can do?

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Matthew 18: 19 
Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

Prayer (conversation with God) changes things! Spend some time with The Lord this year! 2014 is a year of favor and harvest!

Sherri and I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! Today is a joyous occasion. Jesus came to this world to redeem all humanity. 

We are truly blessed to have an intimate, life giving long term relationship with God! 

Let us take time today to reflect on the goodness of our Lord and the love he displays in our lives daily! Spend time with The Lord today.

Thank him for all of his acts of kindness! For truly the child that came through the Virgin Mary, born in a stable, visited by angels and humanity, grew to minister to and save the lost!

 Born to die on a cross has certainly Changed our lives. 

JESUS CHANGED MY LIFE!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 ASV)

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The Goodness of God  Psalm 34:1-10 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

DAVID RECALLS HOW GOOD GOD HAD BEEN TO HIM IN DELIVERING HIM FROM THE CLUTCHES OF KING SAUL.

DAVID HAD BEEN ON THE RUN BECAUSE KING SAUL HAD ISSUED A WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST.  DAVID FOUND HIMSELF HIDING IN CAVES, A REFUGEE FROM INJUSTICE;

HE WAS ON KING SAUL’S EXTERMINATION LIST. BUT WHEN HE CONSIDERED THE GOODNESS OF GOD, HE CRIES OUT IN ADORATION, “O MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME, LET US EXALT HIS NAME TOGETHER.”

DAVID PRAISED GOD FOR WHAT HE HAD DONE AND FOR WHO HE IS.

Psalm 145:  8 The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. 9 The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.

God’s goodness toward us is more than we can comprehend! In-fact, because of God’s goodness we are alive today.  No one is just saved or healed; it’s because of God’s goodness.

When deliverance comes it’s because of God’s goodness. When a person isn’t saved it’s not because God hasn’t tried to reach out to them.

Vs.9 say’s, The LORD is good to all.

Everywhere you read in God’s word you will find time and time again a God that goes the extra mile.

The text say’s, The LORD is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, great in mercy, He’s good to all, His tender mercies are over all His works!

Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.

 There’s a decision to be made!) Make the choice today. To remember God for all of his Goodness.

Let us look at a few areas that God’s goodness can be seen.

Through Salvation:

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4: 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.

God sent His only Son to give the world living water!

God’s goodness can be seen Through His creation.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Isaiah 55: 12 For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Think about that, all of creation applauds as you allow Jesus to take control of your circumstances!

Surrender to him today! Let him be Lord of your life!

1 John 4:7-12 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Seeing God Through Love 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

THE LOVE OF GOD

There is nothing like the love of God! It is the most overwhelming thing I have ever encountered in my life. It is the greatest gift God ever gave us!

The reason I can say that is this, because He loved us, He was moved to do everything else that He has done.

Let me mention that John’s epistle has a 4 fold purpose. •  That our joy in Him might be full -

1 John 1:4 •  That we might not sin against Him -

1 John 2:1 •  That we might know that we have eternal life -

1 John 5:13 •  That we ourselves might love others the way God loves us -

1 John 4:11 •  There is a fifth, and that is to share the great love of Almighty God.

 HOW GOD’S LOVE IS DESCRIBED

It Is Unending - Jer. 31:3.  The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

There is a difference between infatuation and love! God’s love is eternal!

.  It Is Unselfish

It asks for nothing in return! However, it leads man to repent and turn to God in love -

Rom. 2:4; Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

1 John 4:19.     19 We love Him[a] because He first loved us.

It Is Unmerited - Cannot be earned or deserved! God loved us because He desired a people to love.

His love is based in His grace!

 God loves us because He chooses to love us.

It Is Unconditional - It is not based on what we can or cannot produce, it is a product of the heart of God.

Man can never reach a place when he will not be loved by God!

God loved us first, He loved us anyway and He loves us eternally!

Nothing can separate us from the love of God,  Rom. 8:38-39.   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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  

HOW GOD’S LOVE IS DEMONSTRATED God’s love can never be fully understood, but it can be seen!

It is best seen at the cross!

  He Stood In The Gap - The Lord Jesus placed Himself squarely between guilty sinners and the wrath of Almighty God,

  4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.   V.11-12

 HOW GOD’S LOVE IS DISPLAYED

Beside Calvary, the greatest canvas for the love of God is the lives of those redeemed by grace.

If we are saved, and posses the love of God, it will be visible in our lives! •

 Men are limited in their ability to love, but God possesses every shade of love imaginable! When the love of God is present in the life of a believer, it will be visible in 5 different areas.

•  Love For The Savior -

•  Love For The Scriptures - Psa. 119:105;  Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.   I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil,” Psalms 119:162.

•  Love For The Sanctuary - Not that we honor a building, but we honor what happens in this building.

David - Psalms 122:1   A Song of Ascents. Of David. 122 I was glad when they said to me,“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

•  Love For The Saints - 1 John 4:20-21;    20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can[a] he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

 John 13:35  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” 1John 4:12   No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.When the saints walk in love, the world sees God.

Jesus had a heart for sinners - . Nicodemus, Man with withered hand, Blind man, etc. •  God’s love is more than just being loved!

It is opening our lives so that the Lord can love through us. So that He can reach a world for Himself.

 We ought to praise the Lord for His overwhelming love!

  Matt. 22:39.37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]