GOD is Love

Introduction:
There are many people who know that there is a God and that he loves the world.  However, some do not understand why God loves them or just how profound that love is. Today, let’s take a look at some of the attributes of God our Father.  Then let us focus mainly on what God is.  God is Love.

Handout:  GOD is Love

Outline:
1.  God’s word tells us many things about Him.  In reading Deuteronomy 4:24 and 9:3 we see that God is a consuming fire, and a jealous God. 

Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”

God is merciful.

Deuteronomy 4:31 “For the LORD thy God is a merciful God; he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”

God is faithful.

Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.”

God is Loyal.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

God is Strong, He is truth, He is Holy, Righteous, and He is Perfect.

Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”

God is a God of knowledge.

1Samuel 2:3 “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

2 Samuel 22:31 “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust him.”

God is a refuge and a safe place.

“Psalm 62:8 “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Although there are many attributes of God, today I want to focus on what He is.  Most people who believe in God, know that he loves them, but they don’t really understand to what depth.  We as human beings will never be able to know or understand the great depth of God’s love while here on earth because we are not capable of such love.  However, maybe we can shed some light on the Love of God by getting in his word and reading what it has to say.  1 John says that God is love. 

1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that god hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

Love us is not just something God does, Love is what God is.  Think about that for a second. 

A lot of people try to earn God’s love by being good and working hard thinking he will love them or love them more.  Some feel like if they are bad or do something wrong, that God will not love them as much or will stop loving them.  These are all wrong concepts.  God’s love is not conditional as humans are sometimes.  Love that is conditional isn’t real love. 

God does not love you and I or the world because we are good or deserve it, God loves us because HE IS GOOD, HE loves us because HE IS LOVE.  Therefore, no matter what we do, say, think, God loves us, God loves the world and everyone in it.  Now don’t let Satan get in your mind and tell you that it’s ok to live unjustly or against the ways of God because HE will love you anyway, Yes he would love you, but there are consequences to living against the ways of God, just as there are joys in living as He would lead. 

The truth is, we as sinless human beings could never be good enough on our own to deserve God’s love.  Therefore God will never love you any more or any less than HE does right now.  He has always and will always love you to the uttermost because HE IS LOVE.  That’s a lot of love. 

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Ephesians 2:4 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten on, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus said in John 15:9 “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”

Knowing that God loved Jesus, his only begotten son so much, yet sent him to die for your sins, for my sins, for the sins of the whole world, and Jesus laying down his life so that we could be saved, how can one deny that God loves us? 

John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

No greater love than this.  It’s amazing.  It just makes one want to do the best possible, It encourages and it makes one want to tell others about the gospel of Christ and the love of God.  God first loved us, and we that have accepted are commanded to love him.  Not only love him but to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  We are also commanded to love one another.

Mark 12:29 “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:” 

Mark 12: 30.  “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

Mark 12:31 “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.”

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

John 13: 35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Jesus commanded us to love one another.  He did not put a limit on that, he did not say only love certain people, he did not say only love your family, he did not say only love people who look pretty, or only love rich people, he did not say only love poor people.  We are to love others simple as that.  We are to love all people of all races, gender, and culture.  We are commanded to love one another.  We are to love our family and friends as well as to love our enemies.  What?  Love our enemies!  Yes!  Come with me to the Book of Luke and then the book of Matthew.

Luke 6:35 “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”

Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

What a powerful and profound verse.  Love our enemies and do good to those that hate us and persecute.  On our own we cannot love as God commanded, but through the Holy Spirit, we can do as our LORD commands.  He didn’t say just be polite to others, but to love.  He commanded everyone to really love one another.  What a wonderful place it will be when at last we will do just that. 

Romans 5:5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

2.  Ask yourself if you love others as Christ would have you to.  Do you love God?

How can we show our love to God?  Let’s go to the word and find out what it says about that. 

John 14:15 “If ye love me, Keep my commandments.”

John 15:10 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

1 John 5:2 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

1 John 3:24 “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him.  And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

1 John 2:3 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”

1 John 2:4 “ He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Matthew 19:17 “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”

1 John 3:22 “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

We see by much scripture that by keeping God’s commandments we love him and show that love.  We have the Holy spirit to lead us and guide us and if we walk in the spirit of God we can love him follow his commandments joyously in our lives. 

Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

Galatians 5:25 “ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

3.  What is our reward for loving God and following his commandments? 

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Child you can rest assured that God loves you and there is nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ.

Romans 8:35-39

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  38.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our LORD.”

There is nothing that can separate those who have accepted Christ from his love.  If you have not accepted Christ into your heart as your Savior, you can do that right now.  It will be the best decision you will ever make and will save your life.  You will have everlasting life.  Call upon the Lord and ask God to forgive your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart and be the Lord of your life.  Believe in him and know that he died for your sins and the sins of the whole world so that you could have relationship with God.  Jesus will never turn you away. 

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Again whosoever, that means you, me, everyone.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten on, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Call upon the LORD right now and ask him to save your soul, and reap everlasting life.  If you have already done that, rejoice in knowing that NOTHING can separate you from the love of God.  Praise HIS HOLY NAME!  Thank You LORD.

REMINDER:  Remember to love and serve one another in the attitude of Christ this week.

Prayer:

Dear Righteous Heavenly Father…

We come to you yet again thanking you for the love that you are.   We thank you that you love us and that you want relationship with us.  We thank you for being with us and protecting us and our loved ones thus far.  We thank you that you are a merciful, righteous, holy, perfect Father.  We ask that you help us to love you as we should and that we would always keep your commandments with joy and delight in you and in your laws and ways.  We thank you Father for your grace and that you made a way for us to do as you have commanded.  We ask that you just bring us nearer to you and help us have the desire to read your word and to know you more and more.  We pray today for wisdom and understanding and love for others that only comes from you.  We ask that you watch over, protect, comfort us and our families and friends yet another week.  We ask that if there are those reading or hearing that don’t know your or your son, we ask that you just convict their hearts and help them to make that decision right now to call on you and to follow you.  Thank you Father for your many blessings in our lives.  Thank you for the honor of prayer and getting to read your word.  In Jesus Holy, Righteous, Lovely name we pray, Amen.

God Bless you…

~*Cindygirl*~
February 13, 2022