by Ms. Anastasia Rebello
Love is an important feature in everyone’s life, no matter the position you are in, how prominent you are, every human being desires to be loved. From the book of Genesis in the Old Testament right through the New Testament you will read about the love of God. God loves you and again I want to say God loves you. Not only does he love you but has a definite plan for you. We live in a love starved world where we meet people who are crying out to tell them God loves them. As Christians you and I are called to share the love of God with these hurting people. But most of the times we are not aware of exact meaning of love. There is a complete cycle of love it begins with God and then reaches out to others.
When I was asked to preach on the topic of God’s love an essential attribute of God, the capstone of His personality I felt challenged and overwhelmed by the task of trying to put into words this incredible quality of God. God’s love is the only reason you and I exist. His power is the HOW of creation and His love is the WHY of creation. There are few Scriptures I would like to quote before I get into the topic of the Love of God. The reason I started with that God Loves you is because
Ø Isaiah 49v16: Behold I have carved you on the palm of my hand. Just as a proud parent or grandparent carries the picture of his children so also God carries you in the palm of His hand.
Ø Luke 12v7: Jesus said God has numbered the hair on your head
Ø Psalm 56v8: David says that God collects the tears in a bottle and records them in His book.
To think of the billions of people living on this earth today and God is so concerned and mindful about small details, that is only because God loves and cares for us.
In the beginning Man was Lost to Sin and God sent his son Jesus who dies on the cross to bridge the Gap and fellowship with God was restored to mankind. Let us begin by comparing Jesus love with Human Love
Jesus Love Human Love
Ø Healing
Ø Compassionate Conditional
Ø Restores life
Ø Experienced at all times
Ø Unconditional
In the New Testament, there are three primary words for love:
Ø Eros- Romantic Love
Ø Phileo- Brotherly Love
Ø Agape- Unconditional Love
In our culture love today is primarily focused on romantic or brotherly love but God’s love which is Agape is rarely focused on or sometimes taken for granted. If you search the Bible there are about 550 references on love. Here are a few them that I would like to quote:
Ø Psalm 36:7: “ How priceless is your unfailing Love”
Ø Psalm 63:3: Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you”
Ø 1John 3:1: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
Ø John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
So what is this Love of God? How does one define it?
Human love is generally a response to conditions and circumstances around us. We love because someone loves us or because they are good looking or because of what they can provide us. By contrast, God loves us because He is Love. Nothing in us causes Him to love us. A person once said “The Great God not only loves his saints, but He loves to love them.” If one has to understand the Love of God, first;
1.GET A REVELATION OF GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR YOU
A lot of people sing “Jesus loves me this I know” but don’t really have a revelation about the love of God. They may feel God loves them when things are going well, but they are not convinced when things get rough. But scripture tells us that God is love, and he who dwells in love continues in God, God dwells and continues in Him.
(1 John 4 v16)
One of the clearest passages in the New Testament on God’s love is Romans 5: 6-8.
“You see, at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly die. But God demonstrates his own love for us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Ø Powerless – Our basic human nature is that we can’t change on our own
Ø Ungodly- No desire to change –We are not only helpless but also vile and obnoxious
Ø Sinners- Meaning that we are desperately in need of change- We could not make it even if we wanted to. We were neither good nor righteous.
So then why does God love us?
God’s Love is not something He does but something He is. We by nature are not naturally loveable people. Sin has affected our lives. So there is no reason for God to love us except for the kind of God He is. In fact, in my own life I feel God’s love especially when I’m corrected. Initially every time I made a mistake I ran for a confession till one day I was reminded of 1 John 4 v 18 …Perfect love cast out all fear. When we are convinced of God’s love then we can rest in His love regardless what happens to us.
2. LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF IN A BALANCED WAY:
Mt 22:39 says Love your neighbour as yourself. It is a very great difficulty to love other people if you don’t love yourself because you cannot give what you have not received. I am not talking about self-centered love always thinking of ourselves. But on the other hand we shouldn’t put other’s first that we cannot see good in ourselves, but to love ourselves, in a balanced way. So that when we reach out to others as we walk in God’s love, we will be sharing something that we have.
What are the “things” that stop us from loving one another?
- Attitudes
- Anger
- Behaviour
- Expectations
- Jealousy
- Pride
- Self righteousness
- Status
3. LEARN TO LOVE GOD, MEANS TO OBEY HIM:
A lot of people try to do what is simply right because they are trying to get God to love them, but how can you earn something you already have. It is like trying to sit on a chair you already have. How can you buy a gift that is free? So if we say we love God then it means we have to obey his commandments – John 14:15. Loving and obeying requires a certain amount of sacrifice in the flesh. That is why many grow cold as mentioned in Matthew 24:12 – cold love is words without action. Words are easy, but action requires sacrifice. Talk is cheap but love is expensive. Real love costs something, so be willing to show God that you love Him by always being obedient.
4. COMPLETE THE CYCLE OF LOVE BY LOVING OTHERS:
In John 13:34 – “A new command I give to you: Love one another, as I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Until we understand and believe what the word says about love, it is difficult to love others. Only when we get a revelation of God’s unconditional love, learn to love ourselves, and love God can we truly love others with that agape love of God. This kind of love is the Love of God rising up in us and going out to other people. It is not a gooey feeling that is in your heart, it is something real. You show God’s love in you by doing things for others. Love encourages people; it does not tear them down.
1Corinthians 13:2 says that you may even have prophetic powers, possess all knowledge and have faith enough to move mountains; we are nothing unless we have God’s kind of love.
Love your enemies – Matthew 5:44 , “But I tell you; love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
I once read about a Baptist pastor who was a friend of George Washington and lived in a small Pennsylvania town during the American Revolution. In that same town there was also a man who constantly opposed and humiliated the pastor. His name was Michael Whitman, and he was an evil kind of guy. One day Michael Whitman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die in Philadelphia . When the pastor heard about it, he traveled 70 miles on foot to plead for the life of the traitor.
The minister went up to George Washington and asked that Mr Whitman be set free. Washington said, No, Peter, I cannot grant you the life of your friend.” The preacher shouted out, “My Friend! He is the worst enemy I have.” Washington was flabbergasted and said, “What? You walked 70 miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I’ll grant your pardon. The pastor took Whitman back home that day no longer as an enemy but as a friend.
What about you this evening:
Ø Is there anyone in your mind whom you find difficult to love?
Ø Anyone in the church/ prayer group you have a conflict with?
Ø Anyone at your job, or at school that you consider to be an enemy?
The Bible is clear that we are called to an unconditional love just as Christ loved us, even when we were put at war with him, so we too are called to love your enemies.
Your relationship with God and with other people are all interconnected, when you say, “I love you, you love me, God’s love has done it’s full course and is doing what he intended it to do”. Amen