Love

As we celebrate communion we truly celebrate the fact that God the Father sent His son to take our place of death and die upon the cross. In brief we celebrate the Love of the Father.

“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!” So goes the saying. But tell people that God loves them and it may not strike relief at the core of a hardened heart. “After all,” they may answer, “what benefit is that to me that God should love me? I still have my bills, trouble with my kids, issues with my spouse, problems at work. What benefit to me is the Love of God?” More than that, they might look at all of their trouble and just say, “prove it.”

I say that God loves you” is an undeniable fact but it's not always evidenced the way people want to see it. Let's look at three ways God shows His love. He proved it at the cross, he proves it with discipline and he proves it in his constant care.

God Proved His Love at Cross

Well proving it really is the first step to answering that question. Before we can explain the benefit's of God's love we have to start with the proof of God's love; and fortunately that is a remarkably easy thing to do.

Romans 5:8 declares “ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ” ( Romans 5:8 , NASB95)

And again in 1 John we read, “ By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 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. ” ( 1 John 4:9–10 , NASB95)

Isaiah writes to the people of Israelⁱ during a time of degenerating morals in the nation. Many in Israel have turned to the worship of Idols and YHWH God to them is either ignored or they attempt to worship him alongside the others. Because of their constant refusal to repent and return they are to be judged. But even before the judgment falls God begins to compassionately promise them a redeemer; an anointed leader, The Messiah who will redeem them.

How many of you have ever muttered the phrase, "What am I going to do with you"? I can hear it coming from a mother who has just walked in on her child coloring on the walls. I can hear it from an exasperated couple arguing with each other. I can hear it from friends who have come into sharp disagreement. I can hear it coming from church members who have yet to find agreement on an issue they consider important. In almost every circumstance it is uttered not merely with bewilderment but also because the true desire of the heart is to love the other person.

In preparation for the study of deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 I was struck by the requirement we have to serve one another. So I started looking through the scriptures and I arrived at 65 verses which explicitly give direction for how we as Christians are supposed to treat one another. It seemed an excellent opportunity for a truly applicational study. With so many verses we could easily get bogged down in detail but let's move quickly through this and I'll provide a complete listing¹ of verses for you to reference for your own study.

If we start at the beginning we turn to the most important commandment for dealing with anyone else on the planet...