Title: The Love of God

By: Todd Bevins

Intro

We are not going to keep with any particular verse necessarily. However, there are some things I was thinking earlier. None of us would be here if it was not for the Love of God. If it was not for the Love of God, the joy that we have today—we would not experience it. The hope that we have and as we mentioned before…the other day, if you were here; then you would have heard him talk about the hope that we have is not a hope as in “One day I hope I will get to heaven.” It is an expectation of things to come. We know without a shadow of a doubt that one day we will get to go home. If it wasn’t for the Love of God, we would not have that hope. We would not have the service that we had this morning, the fellowship, the presence of our Lord was so near this morning in such a wonderful way, by way of songs and testimony, and the preaching of His Word. God was near unto us. Wasn’t He? We would not know what that would be like if it wasn’t for the Love of God. That is what we want to talk about tonight.

Seven things about the Love of God

We just want to mention seven different things about the Love of God.

The Love of God is everlasting.

In Jeremiah 31:3 it states this:

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

He does not only love us today, and not only before we came to Him; He loves us while we are with Him and Praise God, He is going to love us right on through eternity.

The Love of God was seen in action on the cross

Here is the next thing about the Love of God. The Love of God was seen in action on the cross. The Love of God does more than just—I am going to pause. We are here to say today or so many times; I love you is used so much. Love is an action word. Love will be seen. Love is evident. I said before over the years. A husband and wife, as they go to work; they do the things they do for each other because they love one another. They do the things as far as, the cooking, the cleaning, and certainly Kate just loves me to death. Anyhow, we do those things because we love one another. We do things for our children, not necessarily to spoil them, but a lot of things we do because we love them. Also, we discipline them because we love them. There are so many things that we do because we love them; or love will cause us to do. Love is action. It is well seen on the cross with our Lord.

In Galatians 2:20 it says:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

He did more than just tell me He loved me. He showed me that he loved me by what He did.

John 15:13 says:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

We know that He goes on to tell us that we are His friends if we do whatsoever He commands of us.

The next one is this:

The Love of God brings rest to the soul.

Listen to what Zephaniah 3:17 says:

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

With God’s presence always near through His love, you and I can know what it is like to find rest in Him. Can’t we?

Not only that, but Isaiah 41:13:

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

His love, because of His love, He has promised us; I am going to be with you no matter where you are at. Knowing that He is with us at all times, I can rest in that and rest in Him. Can you? Knowing that He has all things under control…

Listen to what the Song of Solomon says in chapter 2, verse 4:

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

His banner over me was love. What he is saying is this. He takes care of me in every way. It is in Him that I find rest. It is in His love that I find rest. It is in the fact that knowing that no matter what my need may ever be; He has all things under control. How do I know that? Because He loves me. How do I know that He loves me? Because of what He did for me on the cross of Calvary, for what He has done for me every day of my life since I have given my life unto Him. There are moments and times that I go to Him.

Do you know what I love about this in my relationship to the Lord? It does not matter what hour, or what time; it does not matter what situation or what circumstance that I come to Him, or that I bring to Him. When I do that, He is there listening all the time. Knowing that He is listening and knowing that He is taking in all that is being said and all the things that we are pouring out from our heart; even though He already knows it, He takes time to listen to us. Doesn’t He? That is amazing! Isn’t it?

I have said it before and I will say it again. There have been plenty of times that I have rattled on and someone has agreed—and I have been guilty to do the same, nod my head “yes” and not really be paying attention then in the end they are waiting for an answer because they asked me a question. That is a little embarrassing sometimes. However, the Lord is not like that. The Lord listens. Why? Because He cares. How do we know He cares? Because He loves us. He loves us and we know and see that every day of our life in how that He takes care of us.

The Love of God is life-changing.

Here is the next thing about the Love of God. The Love of God is life-changing. The Love of God is absolutely life-changing. Did you know that the Love of God—it tells us this—we love Him because He first loved us. He changed our life. We have talked here recently and not very long ago. As a matter of fact, I think the last time we spoke on Wednesday night, we mentioned and talked about falling head over heels for the Lord, just loving the Lord and all that He does for us and seeing Him for who that He is.

As the song was talking about this morning; we know Him. We know Him personally. We have a personal relationship with Him. He knows us. We do that and how did that happen? How did that come to be? How did that take place? Because His love was made known unto us. When we see His love in its entirety on the cross of Calvary—we believe in Him. Do you know what happened? The Bible said the Love of God was shed abroad on our heart. What takes place then? Our life changed forever. I then begin to love people that before; I didn’t like at all. I began to love those who may have done wrong and that I had been around, or those that were carrying on and living lives that were very sinful that I may have—at one time—been a part of. As Christ came into my life, I not only was not a part of that anymore but now I actually loved them. How do I know that? Because I began praying for them. I prayed for them that their lives would be changed so they would know what it was like to have Christ move into their heart, so that they would release and get away from these things.

It was not very long ago, that I was thinking about one of those individuals that we spent time with as a young. His life still to this day is upside down. He has been married and divorced several. His life is this and that. He is still dealing with a lot of different things. I can go on about that, but the thing of the matter is this. God can change all of that. He can change all of that if he would just receive His love and if he would accept what Christ had done on the cross of Calvary. You and I had experienced that and we know what we are saying tonight is true. The love of God is without question, life changing.

In 1 John 4:10 it says this:

Herein is love not that we love God but that He loved us.

How do we know that? Because He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Not His sin. Not His mistake. He came because of us. He came because you and I needed a Savior. He came because we were the sinful ones—not Him. He did not do anything wrong at all. What do we do? We must receive Him. If we will receive Him then we will love like no other.

The Love of God has brought hope to humanity.

Here is the next one. The Love of God has brought hope to humanity. We mentioned this earlier. Here is a familiar passage of scripture.

John 3:16 says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That is the hope you and I have because of God’s love that was made known unto us. Praise God! We have a hope that reaches beyond this veil of tears.

Listen to Romans 5:8:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Praise God! Thank the Lord for the hope He has brought to humanity. Without the Love of God there would absolutely no hope.

I could not imagine, living in this world today. Could you imagine living in the society and the world we live in today, knowing when life comes to an end that you are going to a lake of fire and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. I could not imagine what that would be like. However, praise God, I know today that I don’t have to worry about what it would be like. Why is that? Because God did what He promised He would do and He sent His Son. Through the sending of His Son, He has made hope available to all humanity. It does not matter nationality, color, kindred, their type, who they are and where they come from. It does not matter how they are raised. None of those things matter. How do you know that? Because He died for all. Hope has been made available for all who will receive Him and all who will trust in Him. Praise God! It is available to all.

The Love of God is in Christians.

Here is another thing about God’s love. I like this one. The Love of God is in Christians. The Love of God is something that you and I—Dan has mentioned before, when you look at the fruits of the spirit and begins with Love, Joy, Peace. Right? Do you know why? Because all those other things that come after Love are a product of God’s Love. They spring forth from the Love of God. The Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Meekness, Kindness, Temperance and it goes on. We find out that all those things flow from the Love of God.

I appreciate what our brother says at different times. No. I am certain that in my life and maybe in yours, I cannot speak on your behalf, but I can in mine. There are some of those that need a little polish. Some of those need a little work on them. However, there are those that are there in my life through the Spirit of God, through the fruit of the Spirit; they are there in our lives. Some are greater than others. It might be a little more joy than there is patience. There probably is. There might be other things more than there is of the other. Praise God! They are there if Christ lives in our heart.

1 John 4:8 says this:

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

It is impossible for one to say that they love God. How can you say you love God whom you have not seen, and say you don’t love one whom you have seen; therefore, how can you say you love God? That is impossible! Isn’t it? Therefore, If I say this, if I say I love God; then I must say I love everybody.

I will give a little side note. I will give you a way of escape for those you don’t really care much to be around some. He didn’t say I had to like everybody. He said I had to love everybody. My brother enjoys cracking a joke every now and then saying, “God told me I had to love you. He didn’t say, I had to like you.”

Galatians 2:20 says this:

Today, we can say Christ lives in us and His love abides in our heart.

There are two more in this and we will move on.

1 John 3:1 says this:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Praise God! We are the sons of God. How do they know that we are different? How does the world know that we are different? Well, we talk different. We act different. All those things are true. We have covered that more so recently in the last few times we spoke; but here is another thing.

The greatest of all is that they can see a love that does not exist in this world. A love should come forth from you and I in our conduct, character, behavior that a world cannot see amongst themselves. Why is that? It is because it is God’s love. The agape love of God is a love that says I love you with no strings attached. I love you and I am not asking for anything in return. I am saying that I am saying I will help you. I am saying I will be there. I am not asking for anything in return. I am saying I will help you. I am saying I will be there. I am saying that I will do what I do because I love you with no strings attached. God loves us with no strings attached. He looked down through the ages of time. He would see my life and your life. He would declare that He loves us and He would prove it on the cross of Calvary.

1 Corinthians 8:3 says this:

But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Anybody that loves God—God knows him and he knows God personally. Why is that? How in the world could you put on display the Love of God if you don’t know the Love of God for yourself personally? How could the world see that? If I don’t walk with Him daily, if He isn’t Lord of my life then how in the world could they see the Love of God in my life? They can’t. I know this. If I love the Lord, and He lives in my heart and life and I walk with Him; then the world will see His Love in me.

Do you know what brings folks to the cross of Calvary more than anything else? The Love of God. Why is that? Because they get a hatred everywhere else. They have all kinds of people that live in a dog-eat-dog world where people care only about themselves; but not the people of God. Why is that? It is because they love everybody. How do they love everybody? Because the Love of God is shed abroad in their heart. The same Love that brought Him, the same Love that allowed His Son to come and live a sinless life then die on the cross for you and me—even though He was not at fault. This was so you and I would have a way and an opportunity to get back to God in a right relationship with God. We might be able to go to heaven through His shed blood on the cross of Calvary. That same Love is inside of you and me. There is nothing we can do about it but simply Love everybody. All the strength we have mustard up, we cannot hate anybody. If God lives in you, it is not a possibility.

The Love of God is rewarding.

Last one! Love is rewarding. Proverbs 8:17 says this:

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Do you know what? When we spend time seeking the Lord, we not only see His love in its full display and it is rewarding. It is rewarding to have the Love of God in our heart. It is rewarding to know that… Do you know how many times in my life I have been driving around, been on the job, or been somewhere and I just get overwhelmed at the fact that I know I love everybody and that excites me. It brings great joy to my heart in knowing that I did not have anything to do with it. It is something for me that I can say this. I know without question God lives in my heart because I love everybody. I know it to be true. Therefore, it is rewarding to know that the Love of Almighty God, who would send His Son to come to the cross at Calvary for you and me—that same love He placed within us. The same love that says I have seen all the things you were going to say and all the behavior you were going to do; I saw all of that yet I sent Him anyway. Christ would come and fulfill all that God ever asked and intended and through that He says that same love I placed within your heart and therefore we don’t look for anything in return. I love you just because. There is nothing like living in world that knows nothing about—they say the word a lot and they say all kinds of things about love and they use it in all kinds of different ways. However, in reality, the world does not know anything about the real Love of God.

The Love of God is this. He would give His life for a ransom for many. Praise God! He died for all!

Come and be saved.

Come and pray.