God Wants Us to Love Our Enemies

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” 1 Chron 16:34

Western society is very analytical or deductive.  We build our thoughts and state our case precept upon precept, premise and deduction.  If A + B = C, then C – B =A and C – A = B.  This is to assume A = A and B = B and C = C, that is, they are constants.  Humans are not constants, they are variables, and human behavior is highly variable.  We do things for many reasons.  Sometimes we do things we don’t want to do because we are tired, worn-out, stressed, emotionally drained, over-excited, emotionally needy or emotionally super-charged.  Sometimes we are not even totally sure why we did something.  Yet we analyze the behavior and speech of others as if we were the sole arbitrator of what it really means, whether the author meant it that way or not.  Human nature has a predisposition to judge things.

On the surface this appears to be a good thing and certainly the Scriptures tell us to be wise about our situations (Matt 10:16; Heb 5:12-14).  However, it is all too easy for the judge to become overly critical.  John Maxwell points out that we judge others by how we perceive their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intent.¹  And there lies the rub, how could you possibly know another’s intent?  Jesus tells us in the sermon on the plain,

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expect-ing to get anything back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Luke 6:35-38

This is a tall order, and the passage above is just after the notorious passages “do good to those who hate you” and “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” and “turn the other cheek” and “takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.”  And perhaps the most renowned, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  (See Luke 6:27-31.)  But it is possibly the next few verses which illuminate these passages with dazzling clarity. 

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even 'sinners' love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even 'sinners' do that.  And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?  Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.

Luke 6:32-34

Jesus is telling us He wants us to do better than an eye for an eye (Matt 5:38-48).  He wants us to love our enemies.  He wants us not to judge others, for with the same measure we judge others with we will be judged ourselves (Matt 7:1-2).  He continues on in both Matthew and Luke to speak about the speck in our brother’s and the plank in our own.  Luke also records the blind leading the blind and both falling into a pit (see Luke 7:39-40, Matt 7:3-6; 15:10-20).  Think of it as the judgment trap.  You judge others and then you fall into the same pit.  The point is that no one but Jesus ever lived up to God’s holy standard, so when we apply this standard against our brother or sister (or enemy), we are setting ourselves up on a plain equal with God.  Remember this was Lucifer’s original sin.  Freedom lies in suspending what we believe is our right to judge.  Freedom lies in allowing the only true judge to extend us mercy at the same time as He extends (and expects us to extend) mercy to our enemies.  Let us not despise the goodness of God which draws men to repentance (Rom 2:4).  We must observer God is, again, not asking us to do for others what he has not already done for us.  We were His enemies when He decided to love us (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21)!

Footnotes

¹ Maxwell, John C. Winning with People: Discover the People Principles That Work for You Every Time. Nashville, Tenn.: Nelson, 2004. 71. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

God Invented Family

“The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make a helper suitable for him.’” Gen 3:18

“And God saw that it was good…” God uses this phrase over and over during creation.  Light was good.  Land among the water was good.  Plants and vegetation were good.  Sun, moon, and stars were good.  Life and animals in and on the water, air, and land were good.  (Gen 2:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 24)  But here toward the end of the account God stops and says “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him”  (Gen 3:18).  God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep and performs the first surgery.  He removes one of Adam’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then He made a woman from the rib he had taken from Man.  Then He stopped and admired creation and this He called very good. (Gen 1:31). 

So the question is, “Why did God say it was not good for man to be alone?”¹  It was not good because man was created in God’s image (Gen 1:26).  God is Spirit (John 4:14) and is invisible (Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17; Heb 11:27) so being created in the image of God probably had little to do with the physical likeness of man.²  The personal nature of God found in His designing, planning, communicating, feeling and acting on His will are some of the things we mean when we say we are created in His image.  We see more evidence of being created in His image in His personality comprising intellect, emotion, and will.²  Man has the ethical image of God in his conscience, his sense of right and wrong, that is so say in being a ethical agent. ²  Lastly, Man is made in God’s image in the sense of a social capacity.  Man was created to love and be loved.  He has a capacity and driving need to be social. ²  I think that this social capacity is the reason why God said it is not good for man to be alone.  Dr Tackett points out with one there is aloneness, with two there is relationship and intimacy, with three there is community and fellowship.  “Within the Triune nature of God we have everything, intimacy, union, communion, fellowship, love, community.”¹  And Man was created with a capacity, desire, and need for all of these things.

How incredible that God would custom make a helper suitable for man and with man’s own bone.  “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” Adam said of the woman God had created for him (Gen 2:23).  Then in the next verse God has recorded, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”   Here God is allowing a basic physical need for love, companionship, reproduction to be meaningfully met in a social structure which an entire society can be built upon without destroying itself and the self-worth of its members.  This is a sacred union which we do not enter or exit lightly.  Jesus warned us, “what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matt 19:6)  and, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.  But it was not this way from the beginning.  I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery” (v. 8-9). 

God created the first social institution upon which all of society is built.  Without a loving set of parents, one man and one woman joined together by God, a child is missing the context in which God meant for him or her to be raised and there are a host of problems that accompany this scenario.  Parenting is best done in relationship of mother and father, both submitted to Christ, to balance each other and help each other to see when they are in error in raising the children.  If there is only one parent raising the child, blind spots in parenting are not easily noticeable and even harder to compensate for once known.  God in His infinite wisdom put this social structure in place to ensure a loving, disciplined, ethical, spiritual environment for the raising of children.  What an incredible design!

This love, this fidelity, this relationship is to model for the child what our relationship to God should be like.  Paul compares the husband-wife relationship to Christ being the head of the church (Eph 5:22-33).  And he says this is a profound mystery the union of Christ and the church.  As Christ is head of the church, so the husband is head of the wife.  As the church submits to Christ, so wives should submit to their husbands.  As Christ loved the church and gave His life for her, so husbands in the same way should love their wives and lay down their lives for them.  And preceding all this Ephesians 5:21 says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”  Just as inside the Trinity the members all honor, love, and submit to one another and bring glory to each other (Jn 5:19, 30; 14:10, 13, 16; 15:26; 16:15; 17:5, 10), so also in the family all members should honor, love and submit to one another, thus bringing glory to each other and so please God.

Heavenly Father, help us to see the glorious place you have given the family to mirror Your Son and His Bride.  Help us submit to one another, love each other, honor each other as better than ourselves.  Help us to serve each other with your love and concern for their welfare.  Help us to understand submission as You do inside the Trinity, to honor each other above ourselves and to find joy in doing so.  Help us to understand and fight for the prominent place you have given the family in society.  We thank you for your excellent design.  May you be glorified in our relationships and lives.  Amen!

Footnotes

¹ Dr. Tackett poses and addresses this in The Truth Project.  Dell Tackett, The Truth Project. (Colorado Springs, CO: Focus on the Family) Lesson 7: Sociology: The Divine Imprint, 1 DVD.

² Duffield, Guy P., and Nathaniel M. Cleave. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Los Angeles, Calif.: L.I.F.E. Bible College, 1983. 121-123. Print.

Refereneces

Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 2003

God loves you as much as He loves Jesus

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”¹ – A. W. Tozer

Do you love your enemies?  Do you love them the same as you love your spouse, children or parents?  God does.  In fact, He commands us to do like wise in Luke 6: 35 and 36 “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  It doesn’t take Jesus to lash out at those who hurt us.  It takes Jesus to love our enemies unconditionally like He does.  You were once the enemy of God, remember?  Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We talked last time about how God’s love is unchanging and unconditional.  God loves everybody the same, regardless of what they do or don’t do.  Would it surprise you to know that God loves you as much as He loves Jesus?  Do you really believe that?  I have to confess I’m still in awe of that one, but I’m working on it.  Okay, so your wondering just how I came to such a grandiose conclusion.  Well, He tells us so. 

But before we look at that, let’s think about what we know to be true of God.  He has no favoritism.  His love is unconditional.  He does not change.  Therefore, the level of His love could not change.  He is faithful and true.  All these could lead only to one premise.  God loves you the same as everyone else.  Yes, including Jesus.  If He did not, His love would be conditional on who you are.  God is no respecter of persons.  He loved you before you trusted in Him for salvation, while you were His enemy, a sinful person. 

Let’s think about what else we know about God.  He gave up Jesus for you.  He sent Jesus to die in your place.  He sent the most precious thing He could to be sacrificed on you behalf.  Why, because He loves you the same as He loves Jesus.  That should speak volumes about how much He loves you.  Look at Romans 8:31-32,  “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

One more time let’s look at this from another angle.  Father calls us His children and co-heirs with Christ.  Father calls us his children (Rom 8:12, 1 Jn 3:1, Eph 1:3, Gal 4:4-7, Luke 20:35-36, Eph 5:1).  Father also calls us heirs (Rom 8:17, Gal 3:29, Gal 4:7, Eph 3:6, Tit 3:7).  We are co-heirs with Christ and one of the Father’s children.  Father loves all His children the same.

Lastly, and most importantly (for man’s reason is fallible, especially on matters of God), God’s word tells us that He loves us as much as He loves Jesus. OK, here it is: John 17:23 Jesus is praying to the Father (one of the few recorded prayers of Jesus), “I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  So God loves you as much as He loves Jesus.  Jesus said so.  It’s pretty hard to argue with that.  God help our unbelief.

 Father, please help me to understand and apprehend, to eagerly lay hold of, and count as my own, the truth that you love me unconditionally, as much as you love Jesus.  Give me the Spirit of revelation and understanding to strengthen me in my inner man that I might know and experience as my own the height, breadth, and width and deepness of your unconditional love.  For once I understand even a little of your love for me, I cannot help but give it away to those around me.  (See Ephesians chapters 1 and 3).

Footnotes

¹ Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. 1. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. Print.

God is Love

“The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.” – A. W. Tozer¹

Haven’t you done something you’re delighted with only to find yourself secretly thinking that others should admire you for what you’ve done, that somehow you deserve to be loved?  Come on now…fess up.  What about the time you shipped a perfect quality batch, or the time you finish shingling the roof minutes before the rain?  What about the job you got done in the time-frame they needed it when everyone else thought it was impossible and gave up?  Or when you brought the new guy up to speed and now their working on their own?  Haven’t you ever felt that way toward God?  After this accomplishment, He should love me…look at all I did…

Or what about the other side?  Have you ever done something so bad that you got that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach?  You know like when you were a little kid and had to tell your parents you broke Mom’s favorite vase playing hide-and-seek or lost Dad’s favorite tool in the woods playing gun-spy?  How about the time you crashed into that parked car or “totaled” the car because you were not paying attention to driving?  Be honest, weren’t you just a little (or maybe a lot) afraid that Mom and Dad wouldn’t love you quite the same after this one…???  Have you ever felt that way toward God?  After this sin there’s no way He could still love me….I’m such a failure…

Well…I’ve got good news: God’s love is immutable (unchangeable). Rom 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  This means nothing we have done, are doing, or will do in the future can change how much God loves us.  The most heinous sin, the most righteous behavior bares no affect on God’s love for us.  He already loved us in our most sinful state.  God never changes.  He never grows or learns something that changes His thinking or His love for us.  There is “no shadow of turning” in Him.  We don’t have to worry about waking up one day to find out He’s angry with us, or frustrated about something we have done.  His love for us is pure and undefiled.  It is untainted by negative thoughts in the back of His head.  (He has no negative thoughts.)  His love is steady and unchanging – UNCONDITIONAL!  No condition “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39)

“Anything not rooted and grounded in the unconditional love of God eventually leads to legalism and bondage. Your human effort does not get God to love you more.  It is not based on what you have done.  It is based on the benevolence and goodness of God.  It is not based on how clean you are, it is based on what Jesus has done.  Walking with God is not about anger, duty and discipline; it is about love.” – Jack Frost

You are His child and He eagerly chooses to love you, wholly, unchangeably, and unconditionally.  God loves you as much as He loves Jesus (Jn 17:23).  God looks at you and smiles!  I think He’s talking to you right now, “You are my child in whom my favor rests!  I LOVE YOU!!”  - Dad  (See Ps 30:5)

Oh great God of love, come and fill us now.  We give our hearts to you.  Fill them as only you can.  Smooth over the cracks, repair the broken places.  Be our Father and let your unconditional love surround us as we trust in You (Ps 32:10).  Amen! 

Footnotes

¹ Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. 3. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. Print.

Who is God?

"What comes into our minds when we think about God,

is the most important thing about us." - A.W. Tozer¹

Ever feel like you want to know more about God but don’t know where to start?  How do you think about God?  What is he like?  Where do we begin when thinking about God?  I mean it’s not like you can flip open your Bible and go to the section marked “all about God.”  I hope to talk about who God is here in these articles and I would like to suggest some extra reading.  A. W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy is excellent reading on whom God is.  I read somewhere recently that you could get a great deal of understanding who God is by looking at one of my favorite Psalms.  Let me encourage you to sit down for a few minutes and read through Psalms 103.  While you are reading, consider the following questions and write down your answers.  These are good questions for you to ask any time you are reading a passage of scripture from the Bible.

Bible Study Questions:

How does God reveal Himself in this passage?

Are there commands to follow, actions to take or to avoid?

Are there promises to claim?

How can I apply these truths to my everyday life?

Write out your answers and then compare them to the ones I found below.

How does God reveal Himself in this passage?

Lord	Healer	Righteous	Slow to anger	Knowledgeable
Holy	Redeemer	Just	Merciful (does not treat us as our sins deserve)	Eternal (from everlasting to everlasting)
Benefactor	Crowner	Compassionate	Abounding in love	Faithful
Forgiver	Satisfier	Gracious		Sovereign (Ruler over all)

Are there commands to follow, actions to take or to avoid?

Praise the Lord, O my soul

Fear (revere) Him

Are there promises to claim?

Forgiveness of sin

Healing of diseases

Redemption of life

Satisfaction with life

Righteousness and justice on our behalf

God would make Himself known to us

God treats us with grace, not as our sins deserve

God has great love for us if we revere (fear) Him

God has removed our transgressions from us

God has compassion on us

God’s love is with us for eternity if we fear Him and keep His commands

God rules over all

How can I apply these truths to my everyday life?

Ask Him to forgive your sin and fill you with love.  Ask Him to purify your desires and fulfill them.  Ask Him to make Himself known to you.  Ask Him for healing He has promised you.

Thank you, God, for revealing yourself to us in your Word, the Bible!  Help us come to know you better every day.  Help us to find You, follow You, claim your promises as our own and apply Your truths to our lives.  We trust in you.  Amen!

Footnotes

¹ Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. 1. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV).

Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. Print.

God's Dictionary: Love

If God had written a dictionary, the entry for Love would look like this:

(NOTE: Roll your mouse over the scriptures to read them!)

Origin:

Comes from God - 1 John 4:7-10

Is who God is - 1 John 4:7-10

Quantifiers:

Abounding - Exodus 34:6

Abundantly poured out - 1 Timothy 1:14

As strong as death - Song of Solomon 8:6

Better than life - Psalm 63:3

As great as the distance between the heavens and the earth - Psalm 103:11

Reaching to the heavens - Psalm 57:10

Enduring Forever - Psalm 100:5

Eternal - 1 Kings 10:9

Ever before me - Psalm 26:3

Everlasting - Jeremiah 31:3

Goodness - Psalm 69:16

Great toward us - Psalm 117:2

Greater than faith and hope - 1 Corinthians 13:13

More delightful than wine - Song of Solomon 1:2

Priceless - Psalm 36:7

Rich - Psalm 145:8

Surrounding - Psalm 32:10

Unfailing - Psalm 51:1

Unquenchable, of great wealth - Song of Solomon 8:7

Wonderful - Psalm 31:21

Described:

Faithful - Psalm 89:24

Life-giving - Ephesians 2:4-6

Gracious - Ephesians 2:4-6

Forgiving - Ephesians 2:4-6

Comforting - Psalm 119:76

Covenantial - Deuteronomy 7:9

Patient - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Kind - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Rejoicing with the truth - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Protecting - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Trusting - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Hoping - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Persevering - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Conquering - Romans 8:37-40

Preserving - Psalm 119:88

Protecting - Psalm 40:11

Our breastplate (protecting the vital organs of who we are spiritually speaking) - 1 Thessalonians 5:8

Quieting - Zephaniah 3:17

Restful - Deuteronomy 33:12

Satisfying - Psalm 90:14

Sincere - Romans 12:9

Supporting - Psalm 94:18

Fruitful - Hosea 10:12

Hearing - Psalm 119:149

Higher than the Heavens - Psalm 108:4

Clinging to good - Romans 12:9

Binds all virtues together in perfect unity (Love is the root cause of all virtue see Gal 5:22 fruit of the Spirit is Love.  See also I Cor 13:4-8) - Colossians 3:12-14

Fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23

Fearless:

Has no fear - Colossians 3:12-14

Drives out fear - Colossians 3:12-14 

Living in fear is NOT living in love - Colossians 3:12-14 

Fearless - I John 4:13-19

What it is not:

Hating evil - Romans 12:9

Never fails - I Corinthians 13:4-8 

Not envious - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Not boastful - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Not proud - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Not rude - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Not self-seeking - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Not easily angered - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Not forsaking - Psalm 37:28

Not withheld - Psalm 66:20

Not Hidden - (See Rev 3:19) Proverbs 27:5

Keeps no record of wrong - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Does not delight in evil - I Corinthians 13:4-8

Knowability:

Knowable and reliable - Colossians 3:12-14

Surpasses knowledge - Ephesians 3:16-21

Roots us (to strengthen with roots, to render firm, to fix, establish, cause a person or a thing to be thoroughly grounded,  to become stable) - Ephesians 3:16-21

Establishes a foundation in us (to lay the foundation, to found) - Ephesians 3:16-21

A three-dimensional tangible yet immeasurable object (profundity, that is, [by implication] extent; [figuratively] mystery, [metaphorically] deep, extreme, poverty, of the deep things of God) - Ephesians 3:16-21

Our Possession:

Maintained toward us - Exodus 34:7

Nothing can separate us from His love - Romans 8:35

Our possession - Romans 8:38-39

With us from everlasting to everlasting - Psalm 103:17

Redeeming Nature of:

Sacrificial - 1 John 4:7-10

Sacrificial - John 15:13

Christ laid down His life to explain to us what love is - 1 John 3:16

Compelling- Compelled God to send His Son to die so we might live through His Son - 1 John 4:7-10

Covering all wrongs - Proverbs 10:12

Covers a multitude of sins - 1 Peter 4:8

Delivering - Psalm 60:5

Saving - Psalm 109:26

Keeps us from the pit of destruction - Isaiah 38:17

Redeeming - Isaiah 63:9

Rescuing - Psalm 91:14

Appointed to protect - Psalm 61:7

Made us alive with Christ while we were dead in sin and seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms - Ephesians 2:4-6

Giving of eternal life - John 3:16

Demonstrated; while we were His enemies, He loved us and died for us - Romans 5:8

Appeared as a Savior - Titus 3:4

Proof we are God’s:

Proof we are born of God and know God - 1 John 4:7-10

How God sees me because of:

Calls us His children - 1 John 3:1

A banner over me - Song of Solomon 2:4

Crowning - Psalm 103:4

Directed toward me - Psalm 42:8

He finds me pleasing - Song of Solomon 7:6

He loves us as much as He loves Jesus - John 17:23

He is pleased with us - Matthew 3:17

His desire is for me - Song of Solomon 7:10

Betrothing - Hosea 2:19

Loved by God the Father - Jude 1:1

Extent of worth without:

Without love, I am nothing - I Corinthians 13:1-3

Without love, my giftings do not matter - I Corinthians 13:1-3

Great sacrifice without love is worth nothing - I Corinthians 13:1-3

Motivational:

Our motivation to love Him in return - Colossians 3:12-14

Motivation for all we do - 1 Corinthians 16:14

Commanded:

New Commandment - John 13:34

Greatest Commandment - Matthew 22:37

Chief aim of mankind - Deuteronomy 6:5

He expects us to live our lives in love - Ephesians 5:2

Test of if we live in God - Colossians 3:12-14

Disciplining:

Desire to love is 250 times stronger than His desire to punish - Exodus 20:5-6

Disciplining - Proverbs 3:12

Disciplining, accepts us as a Son - Hebrews 12:6

Rebuking and disciplining - Revelation 3:19

Effects of:

God gives us a spirit of love - 2 Timothy 1:7

Promises us a crown of life if we love him - James 1:12 See also PS 103:4

Predestines us to adoption as sons - Ephesians 1:4-5

Helps His saints grow and build each other - Ephesians 4:16

The only way faith can really express itself - Galatians 5:6

Leads us to find life, prosperity, and honor - Proverbs 21:21

God's Love - Part 3

This is part three about why we worship God.  We mentioned that we worship God for who He is and what He has done.  One of the best things He is is LOVE and one of the best things He has done is LOVE US.  We answered several questions about HIS love in the last two segments:

How do we know God loves us? (John 3:16; 1John 3:16; 1John 4:9-10; 1John 4:19).

How much does God love us? (Rom 8:31-32;  John 17:23; Ephesians 3:16-21)

What can separate us from God's love? (Rom 8:35, 37-39)

When did God start loving us? (Eph 2:4-6)

This time let’s look at a couple more:

What about when we sin, does God still love us?

Eph 2:4 God sent His Son while we were still sinners.  Sin cannot separate us from His love.  He loves us the same always, even when we sin.  It makes Him sad when we sin, but He still loves us the same.  We try not to sin because He loves us and we love Him too.  He is glad when we make the choice not to sin.  He loves as a function of His nature – that is – it is not ever a question He asks “Am I going to love them today?”  It is a foregone conclusion because of who He is.  He cannot be otherwise or He would cease to be God.  There is no shadow of turning in Him.  Discipline and punishment He doles out as needed but love is always a constant (Ps 32:7, Jer 31:3, Zeph 3:17; Heb 12:5-11)

Remember God’s desire to love is 250 times stronger than His desire to punish –

Exodus 20:5-6  5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

No matter what you do He ALWAYS loves you.  Sure, He can be disappointed with what you do (Do not greave the Holy Spirit Eph 4:30), but His love is constant.  You are always loved.  There is a place of security, safety, rest, peace and well being in your Father's love.

What does God do with our confessed sin?

Jer 31:34  "No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD.  "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Mic 7:19  You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea

Act 3:19  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Psa 51:1 and (  Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions…Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Isa 43:25  I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

Isa 44:22  I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Ps 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

There are others as well: Col 1:12 the forgiveness of sins. 1John 1:9  will forgive us our sins.

Are you rooted?  Do you know and believe in how much He loves you?  Do you believe He loves you as much as He loves Jesus? Do you believe nothing can separate you from His love?  Do you see His love as your possession?  Do you believe your sins have been trampled underfoot, thrown into the see of forgetfulness, remembered no more, blotted out and fully forgiven?  Do you believe He has always loved you?  That there has never been a time when He did not love you? 

God wants us to be secure in His love and know it as our foundation the thing that roots us to Him.  He wants us to know He has always loved us and nothing can take that away from us.  He wants us to experience His love in a tangible way.  He desires to quiet us with His love, to rejoice over us with His love.  His love is our exclusive possession.  He has made a way to always thing positively of us by wiping out our sin and remembering it no more.  God love you infinitely and he is pleased with you as His child!  Walk tall brothers and sisters.  Rest in Him, YOU are the beloved of God!

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

God's Love - Part 2

Last time we talked about why we worship God.  We mentioned that we worship God for who He is and what He has done.  One of the best things He is is LOVE and one of the best things He has done is LOVE US.  We answered several questions about HIS love

How do we know God loves us?

He sent His Son to die for us, in our place so that we could know and love Him.  He knew before He created the world it would cost His Son, yet He created it anyway (John 3:16; 1John 3:16; 1John 4:9-10; 1John 4:19).

How much does God love us?

As much as He loves Jesus!  He sacrificed Jesus for us (Rom 8:31-32;  John 17:23)! Ephesians 3:16-21 taught us God wants His love to be our stable, fixed and firm cause of grounding in who we are and why we are important. God wants His love to be our foundation upon which we lay the basis for who we are as a person, to erect a stable view of our intrinsic value based on His love for us. Paul is describing a three-dimensional love, an experiential love, a love far beyond knowledge,  infinite love.  Love that God wants us to build our foundation upon, keep on growing in, and resting upon.

Now for answers to some more questions:

What can separate us from God's love?

Rom 8:35, 37-39 ^“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

WOW!  There is quite a list here of things that cannot separate us from His love; trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, sword, death, life, angels, rulers, things present, things to come, any powers, anything above, anything below, anything else in all creation.  Paul purposely belabors the point to make it crystal clear: NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE!

When did God start loving us?

Before He created time and the universe, He loved us.  Before we knew Him, while we were still sinners, He loved us. There has never been a time when we were not loved(!); not in the worst moments of our existence, not in our greatest achievement when we were not sure we needed Him or His love, not in our deepest sin, our worst pain, our exceeding loneliness,... our every moment of existence and even before we existed we were loved!!  Remember God knew the cost before He created the world and yet He created it.

Eph 2:4-6   But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Jer 1:5  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..."

It is time to be rooted in His love.  It is time to build upon the foundation of His love.  It is time to believe we cannot be separated from His love. It is time to remember the timelessness of His love.  It is time to believe we are loved as He says we are loved; with an infinite, abounding, gracious, forgiving love.  Come into the arms of the Father and let Him love on you!



References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.