THE LOVE OF GOD AND WHAT IT PRODUCES IN OUR LIVES

MEERA SHORT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

Today I will share with you some facets of the love of God and our responsibility to having such great love available to us.

 

JOHN 3:16 NKJV

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.

 

ROMANS 5:8 NKJV

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

2 Cor 5:14 NLT

Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.

 

 

God cannot lie –

I am making this statement based on the belief that in this audience, we believe that the Bible is God’s word to us and that it is absolute truth.

Numbers 23:19 NLT

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

 

To Lie – is to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive; to create a false or misleading impression

 

To Exaggerate – is to make something seem larger, more important, better, or worse than it really is.

 

God gave it all for us –

 

We must believe that God created us with a purpose.

 

Gen 1:26-28 AMPC
God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. ²⁷ So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.

Isaiah 43:6-7 ESV

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, ⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

 

God created us to bear and reflect His image, to rule over creation, to reproduce godly offspring, He created us for His glory (to bear His honor and His reputation in this world).

 

We must know that God needs not to be improved upon.

 

Exodus 3:14 AMPC

And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you!

 

He is self-sufficient and relies on nothing. Every one of God’s names reflects His self-sufficiency.

 

We must know that we needed to be made right with God.

 

Psalm 51:5 AMPC

Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].

 

Isaiah 59:2 AMPC

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

Romans 6:23 NKJV

For the wages of sin is death, but the ^[a]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

 

We must know and recognize a great exchange has been made for us.

 

Micah 7:18 AMPC

Who is a God like You, Who forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger forever, because He delights in mercy and loving-kindness.

 

ROMANS 5:8 NKJV

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

1 Corinthians 15:3 AMPC

For I passed on to you first of all what I also had received, that Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for our sins in accordance with [what] the Scriptures [foretold],

God gave His only begotten Son as an exchange for you and I.

 

Isaiah 53 foretells of the Messiah that would come to take away our sins and reconcile us back to God.

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 AMPC

For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [^[a]endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].

 

Galatians 1:4 AMPC

Who gave (yielded) Himself up [^[b]to atone] for our sins [and ^[c]to save and sanctify us], in order to rescue and deliver us from this present wicked age and world order, in accordance with the will and purpose and plan of our God and Father

 

An exchange has been made, Jesus’ life for my own.

 

Again, I am speaking on the premise that we all believe that the Bible is the Word of God. That it is impossible for God to be a liar or exaggerate the truth. Truth exaggerated is a lie.

 

Do you think that God would give His only begotten son mindlessly? Do you think He was naïve? Or that God was short-sighted in doing this? – this phrase “only begotten” means of a single-kind only; none other like, a replica of oneself -Jesus was in every way a replica of God The Father.

 

Why would God do this?

 

Romans 5:6-8 MSG

^6-8 Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

 

 

He did this because of His Great Love for us!

 

The story of the prodigal son.

Luke 15:11-20 AMPC

Verse 20: So he got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him [^[j]fervently].

 

Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

 

Psalm 139:15-17 AMPC

My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. ¹⁷ How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

 

He cannot have a bad thought about us.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 AMPC

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

 

1 John 4:9-10 AMPC

In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so 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 (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.

 

Ephesians 2:4-6 AMPC

But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation). ⁶ And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together Givejoint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

 

There would not be enough time in our lifetime to comprehend, to understand and to tell you about this great love. It far surpasses our understanding.

 

If I believe that God can never lie, I must believe that the Bible means every single word it states. There are no exaggerations. He knows every hair on my head. He sings and dances over me. He draws me to Himself in loving kindness. He is gentle with me. He will fight my every battle. He has set His love on me, and nothing can separate me from Him. He will save me. He will save my household. He has declared life over me and has me hidden in Him.

 

There is no exaggeration here. It’s either I believe the Word, or I don’t. For me to doubt the Word makes Him out to be a liar in my heart. His love never fails, and He will never leave or forsake me!

 

If I don’t believe this precious Bible is His words of life to me, then why are we here, what is the reason for living?

Hebrews 11:6 AMPC

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

 

Our response to His love

 

Remember the story of Abraham when God told him about His plans to destroy Sodom.

 

Genesis 18:17-23 AMPC

And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do, ¹⁸ Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him and shall bless themselves by him? ¹⁹ For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him. ²⁰ And the Lord said, Because the shriek [of the sins] of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is exceedingly grievous, ²¹ I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether [as vilely and wickedly] as is the cry of it which has come to Me; and if not, I will know. ²² Now the [two] men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³ And Abraham came close and said, Will You destroy the righteous (those upright and in right standing with God) together with the wicked?

 

2 Peter 2:6-9 states that Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was a righteous man. Abraham intercedes from 50 people all the way down to 10. He appealed to God and God was patient with Abraham.

How come God didn’t have this conversation with righteous Lot?

 

What about Moses? God spoke to Moses “mouth to mouth.”

 

Numbers 12:7-8 AMPC

But not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted and faithful in all My house.

⁸ With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly], clearly and not in dark speeches; and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?

 

Miriam and Aaron were there and present in the camp when God was moving among them, yet, why did God speak only to Moses as one would speak to a friend?

 

Exodus 33:13-15 AMPC

Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight. And [Lord, do] consider that this nation is Your people. ¹⁴ And the Lord said, My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. ¹⁵ And Moses said to the Lord, If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here!

 

God engaged Moses as a friend. Moses said, if God didn’t go with them, he wasn’t going anywhere. He asks the Father that He would show him favor, that is, to know Him more. He intercedes for the people.

 

Both Abraham and Moses wanted to be close to Father God. And both had a heart for people.

 

Will we be a righteous son or daughter that desires to be close to Him or children that are distanced? Will we petition, beg God for His love to be made known to others? Both of these men lived their lives in response to God’s love for them. Could we too experience God like they did?

 

Romans 2:11 AMPC

For God shows no partiality [undue favor or unfairness; with Him one man is not different from another].

 

Malachi 3:6 – God does not change. He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. He tells us that if we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. This means that what He has done for those in the Bible, He can do for us. Can we dare to believe the Bible is true!!

 

Our response to His love should be:

· Obedience

1 John 5:3 – For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

Isaiah 1:19 – If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

Luke 6:46 – “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

 

We are called to obey the Word of God.

 

· Loyalty to His vision

John 5:30 AMPC

³⁰ I am able to do nothing from Myself [independently, of My own accord—but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders]. Even as I hear, I judge [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision], and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.

 

Jesus came to fulfill the purpose of the Father.

Luke 19:10 NKJV

“…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

· A heart for others to come to God

2 Corinthians 8:16-21 JB Phillips New Testament

^16-21 This means that our knowledge of men can no longer be based on their outward lives (indeed, even though we knew Christ as a man we do not know him like that any longer). For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for he has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and he has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation. We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were appealing direct to you through us. As his personal representatives we say, “Make your peace with God.” For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.

 

· A life lived for Him

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 AMPC
For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died; ¹⁵ And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.

 

 

This verse is telling us that we are being held together in Jesus. As one with Him.

 

Romans 14:8 AMPC

If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or we die, we belong to the Lord.

 

How are we doing knowing that God has given us His life:

Are we showing the same love, mercy, and compassion to others?

Are we living in this world with eternity in our hearts?

Are we consistently and constantly looking for ways to bring others into the kingdom?