Pictures of God's Love

Back in the Garden of Eden, Adam sinned and disobeyed God.  I know you remember the story.  God created a beautiful garden paradise.  He created Adam and put him in the Garden to tend it and keep it.  The He gave him Eve, because it is not good for a man to be alone.  In the Garden he placed a tree called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and He commanded them not to eat of the fruit of that tree. 

He gave them the choice to obey.  Why?  He did that because their choice was a measure of their love for Him.  He wanted to know that we love Him.

It’s the same with us today.  Our obedience to His will and His calling are a measure of our love for Him.  We have a choice whether to obey or not.

The Garden of Eden was a place where God demonstrated His love for us.  He met every single human need in the Garden.  He loved us and wanted to know that we chose to love Him.

Then there as a problem in the Garden because Adam and Eve chose to disobey God.  They were removed from the Garden, but God’s love and care for us didn't end there.  God still loved them.

Today I want to post a sermon about God’s love for us.

Romans 5:7-11 (NKJV)
^5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

God’s Love

Here in our text we see how God demonstrates His love for us, because while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  While we were still in rebellion:  While we were rejecting Him He died for us.  That’s what sin is, it’s rejection of God.  It’s just like Adam and Eve in the Garden rejected God through disobeying His one command.  God had to judge their rebellion but He didn't stop loving them. 

There’s an interesting moment when God gives the command not to eat the fruit:

Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV)
^2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

God tells him you can eat of the fruit of any tree in the Garden except the fruit of that one tree, or what?  “You will surely die.”  You can look at this and say that God is saying, “If you eat the fruit of that one tree, I’m going to kill you!”  I don’t think that that’s what God is saying here.  I think God is warning them.  You can eat of any fruit in the Garden except that one fruit, and the consequence of eating that fruit is that you will die.  Death will come into the world.  It’s not a threat it’s a warning.

It is the same as we as parents do.  We tell our kids, “Don’t run out in the street without looking because you will surely die.”  I’m not telling them, “If you run out there I’m going to kill you.”  I’m just warning them that running out into the street without looking can get you killed.  Do it often enough and you will surely die.

God’s just laying out the consequences for them,  “If you eat of the fruit of that tree over there, nothing bad will happen; or that tree over there the fruit is good to eat.  But if you eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, if you eat that fruit, death will come.”

After the sin we see God searching for Adam in the Garden.

Genesis 3:8-11 (NKJV)
. ⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" ¹⁰ So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." ¹¹ And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"

God comes into the Garden and Adam and Eve are hiding from Him.  So God calls out to him looking for him, “Adam, where are you?”  Adam had never hidden from God before.  Adam and God had met in the Garden together before.

Somebody once said, “You can never be a preacher if you read this as though God were a policeman.  Read it as though God was a broken hearted father looking for a lost child.”

Do you think God was crashing through the Garden yelling, “Adam, I know you’re in there!  You better come out now….Oh boy are you going to get it.  Where are you!”?  I think God called for him with concern in His voice.

Have you ever been somewhere and turned around and your child was missing?  Did you run around, yelling, “When I find you, you’re going to pay for this!”  No you didn't,  you looked for that child desperately until you found him/her.  I know this is true because it happened to me.  Adam was gone; he had never disappeared before.  God is a father, isn't He?  He’s not an action movie villain.  He’s a Father.

When Jesus came to earth He taught us about His Father.  He taught us to love our enemies, remember that?

Matthew 5:44-45 (NKJV)
^5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Love your enemies bless those who curse you.  Do good to haters, pray for those who persecute you.  Why?  The next scripture gives us the reason, “That you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”  Do that so you can be like your Father.  God is a Father.

Then our text tells us that God put this command into action Himself, when He sent Jesus.  Jesus died on the cross for His enemies.  When we are involved in sin we are enemies of God. 

Romans 8:7 (NKJV)
^8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

Sin is carnality; it’s putting the needs of our flesh before the will of God.  Being in sin is being God’s enemy.  Jesus died for us while we were enemies of God. 

Think about this for just a moment.  When Jesus was dying on the cross, what did He cry out to God?    “Father forgive them they don’t know what they’re doing.”  He was asking for forgiveness for our sin.  He was even asking for forgiveness for those who put Him on the cross.  That’s really, “loving your enemies,” isn't it? People may be willing to die for their friends, for their loved ones, for those who care about them but how many would be willing to die for those who hate you. I would venture to say not many of us would.  That’s how much God loves us:  Enough to suffer an agonizing death on the cross for us.

Examples of God’s Love

Remember the story of David’s sin with Bathsheba?  This was God’s chosen man.  This was a man after God’s own heart.  Do you remember what happened?  In the time when the kings went to war David stayed back.  He was up on the roof of the palace and he saw Bathsheba bathing.  Bathsheba was the wife of one of David’s mighty men, Uriah the Hittite. 

So he sends some people to have Bathsheba brought to the palace, where he sleeps with her and gets her pregnant.  Then to cover that sin David sends for Uriah the Hittite and sends him home to sleep with her, but Uriah refuses.  So David sends him back to the front with instructions for Joab to send him to fiercest part of the battle then pull back and allow him to be killed. 

This is great sin.  What a huge disappointment to God that His man would act like this.  The sin had to be judged and God did that, and the child died.  David repented of the sin with Bathsheba and look what happened:

2 Samuel 12:24-25 (NKJV)
^12:24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, ²⁵ and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

Jedidah means beloved.  David felt the love of God through the birth of Solomon.  Solomon became king after David, even though he wasn’t the first-born son.  God restored David back into the relationship with Him.  We would even say that God reconciled with David.  Even though we have lived in sin, we have also been reconciled with God.  Look at our text again in verse 10.

Romans 5:10 (NKJV)
^5:10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

While we were involved in our sin we were enemies of God, but because Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we are now reconciled with God.

Do you know what it means to be reconciled?  Two that were separated are brought back together.  A married couple that separates and then come back together are said to be reconciled.  We were separated from God by our sin, but when Jesus died he opened an opportunity for us to be reconciled with God.  When we repent like David did, we are reconciled and brought back into a right relationship with God once more.

Isn’t that a demonstration of God’s love for us?  Why did the couple that separated come back together?  Because they realized that they loved each other.  Why are you able to argue with your wife and kids and still remain a family?  Because you love each other and forgive each other.  Forgiveness is a demonstration of love. 

God showed His love for David after his horrible sin, by forgiving him and restoring him back into relationship.  Jesus showed His love for those who were murdering Him by crying out for their forgiveness.  God shows His love for us, by sending His Son to die for us and pay the price for our sin.

John 3:16 (NKJV)
^3:16 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.

We know that Jesus loves us because He laid down His life to restore our relationship with God.

John 15:13 (NKJV)
^15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

How much more love does it take to lay down your life for your enemies?  How much love does it take to sacrifice your only son for those who hate you?  That’s how much God loves us.

How Can We Exemplify that Love to Others?

So God has called us to exemplify that love to others.  We’re to be a reflection of God’s love for mankind, through our love for other people.  We are called to exemplify that ultimate love:  Love for our enemies.

Matthew 5:44-46 (NKJV)
^5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

How easy is it to do that?

Those that are looking to ruin me?  God says, “Love them.”

Those that curse me, gossip about me, and slander me?  God says, “Love them.”

Those that use me, take what they can from me and throw me aside?  God says, “Pray for them.”

Why is God looking for us to do that?  Why is He asking us to do something do difficult?  So that we can be like our Father in heaven.  So that we can demonstrate His love:  That He might be glorified that others will see Him through us.

There is a man in Iran, a pastor, who was arrested and is being beaten for his Christianity look at this from a letter he wrote to his wife:

...Naghmeh described in detail how he's been mistreated at Iran's notorious Evin Prison. He described how he saw his face for the first time in the mirror of an elevator.

"I said hi to the person staring back at me because I did not recognize myself," Abedini wrote. "My hair was shaven, under my eyes were swollen three times what they should have been, my face was swollen, and my beard had grown." 

The pastor explained how, despite his situation, he is trying to focus on "forgiveness." He said he forgave the "interrogator who beat me" as well as the doctor who "did not give me the medication that I needed."

Abedini wrote that a nurse would not provide him with treatment because she said "in our religion we are not suppose to touch you, you are unclean." He wrote that he could not fall to sleep one night because of the pain, as he listened to the sound of "dirty sewer rats with their loud noises and screeches." *

This is a picture of the love of God in our times.  This is what God calls us to do.  This story is receiving worldwide attention.  This man is reaching people through his forgiveness of his persecutors.  People are seeing God’s love through him and his actions.  This is what we are all called to do.  This is part of being Christ-like.  It’s easy to love those who love you, but it’s much more difficult to love those who are your enemies. 

These days,  forgiveness is difficult.  Recently, we met a young woman who is battling severe depression.  Ken told her that depression comes from unforgiveness.  She knew that, she agreed that it does.  When Ken told her, “Then forgive that person and be healed.”  She said, “No. I hate them!” 

This is not an uncommon story in our day and hour, but what would God require of us?  Nothing more than what He has already done.  Forgiving those who killed His Son, forgiving and loving His enemies.  Can you forgive and love yours.

* http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/22/american-pastor-jailed-in-iran-says-was-beaten-refused-treatment-because-his/#ixzz2OL4waTFW

Our Lord and Rescuer: The Straight Skinny

I listen to a lot of preaching and I read a lot of sermons and books, and I find it surprising how much of it is on the deeper things of God:  Deep heavy theological thoughts, on obscure passages and ideas.  For the place where I’m ministering these things are too deep and complicated to get across with all the cultural and language barriers.  It’s not because people couldn't grasp it, but because I have a difficult time communicating it to them within their cultural context.  The problem is mine, not theirs.

But in reading these things I realize that the gospel was meant to be simple. It’s meant to be understood in all cultures and by all people.  The Gospel works everywhere it’s tried, but a failure to reach people is usually the fault of the communicator.  So in thinking about this today, I want to approach the Gospel with some simplicity.  The Gospel is intended to be straightforward; it’s good news. 

In the US we have a term for that, it’s called the “Straight Skinny.”  That term merely means the unembellished truth.  I’m going to tell a story that I think will illustrate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  So here it is, the straight skinny…

In 1991 something took place that rarely happens.  Three storm fronts collided to create a situation that meteorologists referred to as the “The Perfect Storm.”  During this storm in 1991, a warm front, a cold front and a hurricane combined to create 100-foot waves, high winds and torrential rains. 

If you know anything about sailing this is a very bad time to be at sea.  However, in this storm a thirty-two foot sailing vessel, the Sartori by name, found itself in high seas.  The crew consisted of a very experienced captain and two somewhat inexperienced women.  The women became frightened as the vessel slammed its sail against the sea and then righted itself, and called the US Coast Guard, who came out in a helicopter to rescue the crew of the Sartori.

What makes this a powerful story isn't that the people needed rescue, but it was the action of the Coast Guard that’s important.  The Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter into the high winds of the hurricane.  They flew out to the Sartori, and then a lone man, called a rescue swimmer, jumped into the high winds and huge waves to evacuate the crew: A lone man swimming against the power of a hurricane and 100-foot seas. 

This man put his life at risk in order to rescue these people.  He was jumping into an extremely dangerous situation; not for himself; not for the glory or recognition, but selflessly for other people.  He was fully prepared to give his life to rescue them; he was the first into the water and the last one out.

John 15:13 (NKJV)
^15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
 

We have a friend that was willing to do exactly that:  To give His life for us.  That’s what I want to declare to you today our Lord and Rescuer.

1 Timothy 1:12-15 (NKJV)
^1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, ¹³ although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

God Can Use Us, Even Though

In verse 12 of our text, Paul is speaking of the trust that God has placed in him.  I am often amazed by the grace of God.  God’s gracious, Paul is a blasphemer and a persecutor, and yet God is using him.  I want you to take a moment and think about this, because we are in the same boat as Paul.  We love Jesus and we’re trying to live out his will…now.  But it wasn't always that way, was it?  At one point we were as bad as Paul.  Look at this scripture.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NKJV)
^6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

That pretty much sums most of us up.  We all are at least one, if not all, of those things.  We were opposed to the will of God.  We were at enmity with God.  We were opposed to living the will of God; in fact, we were opposed to anything other than what made us feel good.  Am I right or am I wrong?

Even though we were all that, now God has entrusted us with His purpose and will on earth.  We are God’s plan for salvation for the world.  It’s up to us to draw others.  It’s up to us to lead others to Jesus.   It’s a sacred trust between God and Christians.   Maybe you’re reading this and you’re not a Christian.  Maybe you’re just here, on this website, exploring what this is all about.  Maybe you've been attending church, but you still don’t see the value in Christianity.  The value in it is right here in what Paul is saying.  Even though we have been a rebel and a sinner, God has had mercy and given us a way out of the punishment of our sin.  The sin and the filthiness are all taken away.  It’s not just that we are forgiven; the Bible tells us that the sin is removed; washed away.  We’re cleansed, we’re sanctified, (holy; literally made as saints), and we’re justified; made innocent.  God did that for us, even though.  Even though we were rebels and enemies of God, because we did those things in ignorance.  We didn't know what we were doing. 

Isn't that what Jesus said, as he looked at those who brutalized and crucified Him.  In the midst of all that he looked down from the cross at the people who were murdering Him and called out, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.”  Look at His words:

Luke 23:33-34a (NKJV)
^23:33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. ³⁴ Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."…

He said, “They don’t know what they’re doing.”  They didn't know what they were doing.  Do you think if they knew they were crucifying God that they would have done it?  That’s just like us; we don’t see our sin from God’s perspective before we have Jesus in our life.  We don’t know we’re offending God.  It just doesn't occur to us.  If we knew God was real and that we were offending the Creator of the Universe, we wouldn't do it, would we?  Some of us maybe, but most of us wouldn't want to offend the creator.  After all, we’re ignorant; we’re not crazy. 

God used Jesus in the same way the US Coast Guard uses rescue swimmers.  Think about this, rescue swimmers jump out of the relative safety of a helicopter, into the storms and troubles that others are facing, risking death, in an attempt to rescue them.  That’s what Jesus did.  He became man:  He took on the troubles and storms of life that we are facing to rescue us.  We face certain death…the Bible says we are dead in our sin.  He jumped into the world from the safety of Heaven to rescue us from certain death.

In this same storm, another man, another rescue swimmer, in the midst of another rescue died.  He disappeared into the storm and was lost at sea.  The people were rescued but the rescue swimmer died.  He gave his life for those people.  This is exactly what Jesus did.  His death rescued us:  His spilled blood was the payment for our sin, our wrong behavior.  Because of his death we are rescued; saved and then we are entrusted to be a part of the rescue of other people.  “The grace of our Lord is exceedingly abundant.

God’s Mercy is Abundant

That’s what mercy is all about.  The whole thing is amazing to me.  In the beginning of time, Adam and Eve rebelled from God.  They did the one thing He told them not to do and because of that they lost the Garden.  They lost the place that God gave them that met every one of their needs, because they chose themselves over God’s will.  That’s basically what happened.  They chose to be like God rather than to obey God.  That’s the choice that they made and it cost them the Garden.  They were kicked out.  God separated Himself from them.

The tree of life was now off limits for them.  The thing that gave eternal life was now out of reach.  We can’t have eternal life and sin at the same time.  It’s one or the other.  So they were separated from God and they were to remain separated for centuries. 

So about now you might be thinking, where’s this mercy, you've been hearing about; this exceedingly abundant mercy.  The mercy is found in the beginning, immediately after they sinned.  This is an interesting moment:

God is laying curses on them.  Eve would have pain in childbirth.  She was crested to be the mother of all, that’s what Eve means, mother of all.  But now that blessing would be the curse.  God had given Adam food, shelter, and everything he needed.  He even gave Eve to him.  Now Adam is going to have to work for it.  What was freely given before would require sweat and struggle.  There will be thorns and thistles, pain and setbacks. 

He said these things after he had cursed Satan.  What He told Satan was that an offspring of Eve would come and destroy his power.  His power was the power to lead us into hell; to keep us in the bondage of rebellion:  A slave to sin.  That’s what we all are:

John 8:34 (NKJV)
^8:34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

We all do things that we know are wrong; even though we know we shouldn't do them we do them anyway.  We’re slaves to it.  It’s sin and we’re slaves to it.  This is what God’s mercy is all about; we didn't deserve what God did for us.  What would we do if someone did something wrong that hurt us?  We would want to get revenge.  That’s what we do when we’re angry…”It would serve them right if ______________ (fill in the blank with something horrible.)

Look at what God did.  He said, they did wrong and they hurt Me, so I will send someone to make it right.  Someone who will pay the price for what they have done. Someone to take their punishment for them, even though they hurt Me.  Someone who will go to His death so they won’t have to, just the same way that the rescue swimmer who died to rescue other people did.

In the storm, the people who were out in the in Sartori shouldn't have been there.  They’d heard about the storms converging.  They knew what was coming.  They were ignorant.  They ignored the warning, that’s ignorance.  Even though they knew all that, a rescue swimmer was sent to go in after them.  A man was sent to rescue them…even though.

That’s mercy, they didn't deserve it but a rescuer was sent for them anyway.  That’s mercy.  That’s also what God did for us.  We didn't deserve it but it was done for us, anyway…that’s God’s mercy.  What makes it exceedingly abundant mercy is the price that God paid to rescue us. 

Think about the family of the rescue swimmer who died trying to rescue those people who were out where they shouldn't have been.  Do you wonder how they felt?  “ We've lost a heroic, selfless man, because he wanted to rescue some idiots who had no business being out there in the first place.  Look what we traded for them.”  That’s what they were thinking, probably.  That’s what I would have been thinking.  Look at the price we paid for them.

Look at the price God paid for us.  Some of us though, we make that sacrifice of little value because we continue in sin. We remain ignorant of the price that was paid for us, or we neglect to help others to understand the price that was paid for them.

I was reading something on the Internet the other day that made me want to throw my computer on the floor:  Made me want to just toss it out the 10^th floor window.  Some guy, some pastor said he hates when we say things to people about their sin and the ultimate result of sin…hell.  He said we shouldn't do that.  He said we should let people just find his or her own way to God.

That goes against everything I believe as a Christian.  There was a price that was paid for that sin; a heavy price.  As a Christian I shouldn't let that price be wasted by not bringing it to people’s attention.  Otherwise, how will people know they’re doing it? 

Jesus confronted the woman at the well.  She’d been married five times and now she was shacking up with another man.  Jesus said, “Bring your husband to me.”    She’s telling him how religious she is and he says, “Bring your husband to me.”  That’s confrontation.  Jesus didn't hold back and neither should we.  They don’t know what they’re doing.  They don’t realize that it’s sin and that they will have to pay a heavy price for it.  Somebody needs to tell them, so they can escape the price.  When we continue to sin or refuse to warn others we make that price that was paid worth nothing.

What if the people who were rescued through the death of the rescue swimmer, went into the next storm, and the next, and continued to need to be rescued.  It would mean that that man gave his life for nothing.  Those people would be frivolous with the lives of those who risk it all to rescue them.  When we continue in our si,n or allow others to do the same we are being frivolous with God’s mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.

Jesus went to the cross to free us from slavery to sin. He did it to destroy Satan’s power over mankind.  He did it to rescue us

He Saves Sinners

Finally, here’s the good news.  That what the Gospel is, that’s what I said at the very beginning of this.  Gospel literally means the good news.  So here it is:

1 Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)
^1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Paul says that Jesus’ purpose was to come into the world to save sinners.  Then he says that he’s the worst of the worst:  The Chief of all sinners.  He’s saying that if Jesus can save him, He can save us, too.  You haven’t killed Christians just for being Christians, have you?  Paul did.  He stood by and consented to their death, that’s the same as throwing the stones.  God forgave him and he can forgive you.  In fact, there are many people whom we would consider to be horribly evil sinners:  Murderers and rapists.  People who have done horribly evil things and God forgave them.  

They've repented and they’re saved.  They've been given a second chance.  They are free from sin.  If they could be forgiven what would hinder you?

I talk to people sometimes and they tell me, “God can’t forgive me.”  But the Bible says that if we will confess our sin, God is faithful to forgive.  “But you don’t know what I've done, is the response.”  No I don’t, but I know what Paul has done.  I know what others have done and God forgave them.  God can forgive you as well.  That’s the good news today.  Jesus came to save sinners like you and I.  He came for us.  He’s our Lord and Rescuer.