THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD

THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD TEXT: 1 John.4: 7-13 OUTLINE:  Introduction  The Dimensions of God’s love  The Characteristics of God’s love  The acc...
Author: Simon Baker
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THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD TEXT: 1 John.4: 7-13 OUTLINE:  Introduction  The Dimensions of God’s love  The Characteristics of God’s love  The accompaniments of God’s love  Our response to God’s love  Conclusion Introduction In line with the results of a recent survey, it has been estimated that approximately 141 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second most popular cardsending event after Christmas. Most people in the world will tomorrow be celebrating St. Valentine’s Day. Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius 1 in 500 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, but its religious observance is still permitted. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards. The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. Last year, millions of lovers exchanged gifts on Feb 14 who, today are no longer in love. Separation and divorce are the order of the day. This is the world’s definition of love and it is very sad indeed. In other words, what most people celebrate particularly on Saint Valentine’s Day appears not to be love, but most likely, lust. Interestingly, the love of God operates in a different manner. Let us examine what the Bible says about the love of God. “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. 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. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (1John.4: 7-13). There is no greater way to define love than what we have in 1John.4:7+8. The Holy Writ clearly says that love is of God and God is love. 1John.3:1 says: ‘Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, SOLA_ADEOSUN_GREATBARR_COC_13022011

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THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD because it did not know Him. The love of God is absolutely incomparable, indescribable, difficult to fathom. In fact, it is second to none. He loves us so much that He made us His children, the children of promise, the children of the kingdom of light, the citizens of heaven, priests and priestesses. According to 1Peter.2: 9+10: ‘But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. It can be deduced from this passage that the love of God has indeed shed priceless blessings on our heads. The Dimensions of God’s Love Quoting from the lyrics of the song written by Frederick Leyman in 1917 and arranged by his daughter while in California, based on the Jewish poem, Haddamut: The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell; The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin. O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure, The saints’ and angels’ song. When years of time shall pass away, And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, When men, who here refuse to pray, On rocks and hills and mountains call, God’s love so sure, shall still endure, All measureless and strong; Redeeming grace to Adam’s race— The saints’ and angels’ song. Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.

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THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD Paul spoke about the dimensions of God’s love in Eph.3: 14-19: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; {and} that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” Fanny .J Crossby, the blind musician, in her song, ‘Take the world, but give me Jesus’, sang of ‘the heights and depth of mercy, and the length and breadth of love! One of the most popular verses in the Bible, John.3: 16, expresses the dimensions of God’s love: “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”. The love of God is so great that He gave us His only Son. It is so tall that it took Christ to the cross. The love of God is so deep that it brought Christ out of the grave and we can joyfully sing: Hallelujah, Christ arose! The love of God is so wide that it covers the entire world – everyone is included. God rejects no one. The love of God is so long that it endures forever. It is sufficient to see us through the whole of life. It is so long that the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2Pet.3:9). What an incomparable love God has demonstreated? The Characteristics of God’s Love The Holy Writ gives us an undistorted picture of the features of God’s pure love. I Corinthians.13: 18: ‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. 4Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. This passage summarises the features of the love of God and to this extent, it never fails. Let’s reflect on each of the verses of this passage. We will truly appreciate that good deeds amount to nothing if the underlying principle is not based on love. The Accompaniments of God’s Love The love of God is accompanied by several elements. We would consider a few of them. The most important one seems to be the grace of God. This is the nucleus of our salvation. God’s word tells us unequivocally that we are saved by grace through faith. Paul clearly expresses this fact in Ephesians.2: 1-9:

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THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast. The Bible talks of three elements in 1Cor.13: 13 and these are faith, hope and love. We understand that the greatest of all these is love. Faith and love may therefore be seen as other accompaniments of love. We are encouraged to have faith in God and in His Son because without faith, it is impossible to please God as whoever will come to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb.11: 6). It is absolutely essential that we always take God by His word. Jeremiah says ‘blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord’ (Jer.17: 7). Now let us see the way the Holy Spirit through Paul the apostle introduces a fifth element, ‘peace’, and how He connects all of them together : Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Rom.5:1). Our Response to the Love of God 1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and {attaining} to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, {resulting} in a true knowledge of God's mystery, {that is,} Christ {Himself,} 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col.2:2 In addressing the Christians at Thessalonica, Paul says: ‘we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is {only} fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows {ever} greater (2Thess.1: 3). This directly shows what our response to the love of God should be. It should automatically stimulate the enlargement of our faith in God and also an increase in the love we have for God and for one another. The love of God should also stimulate us as God’s workmanship, to show some compassion for lost souls and be genuinely concerned for those who are lost in sin and woe. The love of God should propel us to extend mercy to those outside and do all we possibly can to ensure that we take the word to the world. SOLA_ADEOSUN_GREATBARR_COC_13022011

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THE INCOMPARABLE LOVE OF GOD The attributes of the love of God should help us reflect on the love we have for one another and encourage us to strive to be Christ-like, considering the incomparable nature of God’s love. Conclusion Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as {it did} also with you; 2 and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil {one.} 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will {continue to} do what we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ (2Thess.3: 1-5).

GOD SAID IT. THAT SETTLES IT, I BELIEVE IT, AND THE BIBLE IS PERFECT!

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