Today is the fourth week of Advent. This is the day that we celebrate the coming of Love into our realm from heaven.
Isaiah 43:1-15
1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.4 Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.5 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west.6 I will say to the north and south, ‘Bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth.7 Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.’ ”8 Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.9 Gather the nations together! Assemble the peoples of the world! Which of their idols has ever foretold such things? Which can predict what will happen tomorrow? Where are the witnesses of such predictions? Who can verify that they spoke the truth? 10 “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the LORD. “You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God— there never has been, and there never will be. 11 I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no other Savior. 12 First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. You are witnesses that I am the only God,” says the LORD. 13 “From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.”
There are some amazing statements made in this passage.
Here’s what I want you to notice
I created you, I formed you, I ransomed you, I called you by name, you are mine. I will be with you.
For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave, I gave, in exchange for you, I traded, you are precious, You are honored, I love you, I am with you, I will gather you.
I have made them, I created them, you are my witnesses, You have been chosen, I saved you,
“From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.”
This is a passage that tells us how much God loves us.
The New Testament which is built upon God’s love for us says…
Romans 8:35-39
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So how do you answer the question, “Does God loves me?”
John 3:16-21
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
If God so loves why do we refuse to come to Him? Why is there such a battle over the celebration of Christmas each year? Why are people so offended by the Christ?
The Scripture tells us, “but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”
God sent His Son to save us. Let’s look at the passages that announce the coming of Jesus.
Luke 1:26-35
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
Matthew 1:18-21
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Now that we know that God loves us and to what extent God loves us what should our response be?
Mark 12:29-31
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. 30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
1 Corinthians 16:22a
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed.
This is pretty extreme. God so loved us and due to His love for us we have been made right with Him if we believe. Since we believe and are now right with God we must love the Lord and our neighbors as ourselves.
So, what is love?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
I want you to repeat after me, I am patient. I am not jealous. I am not boastful.
I am not proud. I am not rude. I do not demand my own way. I am not irritable.
I keep no records of being wronged. I do not rejoice over injustice. I rejoice when
the truth wins out. I never give up. I never lose faith. I am always hopeful.
I will endure through every circumstance.
My question this morning is, Do You Love?
We are so worried about God loving us but that should not be a worry at all.
The Scriptures repeat and assure us that God loves us.
What we need to be worried about is our love for the Lord and others.
We are loved but do we have Love?
Through our salvation we should have our hearts of stone turned into hearts of flesh.
Our hearts of flesh should be so filled with a love for others that we hurt for them and with them. We should so desire that they come to know the Love of God that we would be the ones to portray it to them.
Do you have Christ’s love in you?
Let us pray.
