Good morning. Open up your Bibles to 1 John chapter 4.
So that's one of my favorite West songs as well.
! Unless I'm totally imagining this, the first time he ever sang that song for the kids, the bear song,
was about 10 of us came back from camping that night, and a bear actually came into our camp,
and I think it was kind of dedicated to that event.
But I chased the bear off. I think Daniel Swanson slept through the whole thing in his hammock soundly,
so it was really fun. Maybe he woke up. He may argue later, but it was a great time for us just to gather around God's Word this morning.
As you know, as I said, we're doing Advent, and I have the candle of love today, the Advent of love.
So just join me in a quick word of prayer.
Father, we gather this morning, as many are doing around the world,
to celebrate Christ coming to earth, to walk as a man,
and to live among us, and then to die a shameful death,
to bring us life.
And then raised from death, and now is seated at your right hand.
And we celebrate the first event of his life,
coming here, and being born as a baby.
So Lord,
I pray that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear.
You would renew our hearts, our mind, our souls,
to look at
your love afresh this morning.
So Lord, help us.
We will walk away
unchanged
and unmoved unless you move in us
through your Word this morning.
So we place that before you,
and we ask that in Christ's name.
Amen.
So we'll read our text first.
It'll be in 1 John, chapter 4,
and we'll read 7 through 19.
Beloved,
let us love one another,
for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been born of God
and knows God.
Anyone who does not love
does not know God,
because God is love.
In this,
the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent His only Son
into the world
so that He might live,
so that we might live through Him.
And in this
is love.
Not that we have loved God,
but that He loved us
and sent His Son
to be the repitiation for our sins.
Beloved,
if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
If we love one another,
God abides in us,
and His love is perfected in us.
By this,
we know that we abide in Him
and He in us,
because He has given us
of His Spirit.
And we have seen
and we testify
that the Father
has sent His Son
to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses
that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God
abides in Him
and He in God.
So we have come
to know
and to believe
that the love of God
has for us.
God is love,
and whoever abides in love
abides in God,
and God abides in Him.
By this love
is perfected with us
so that we may have confidence
for the day of judgment,
because He is,
so also are we
in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love
casts out fear.
For fear has to do
with punishment,
and whoever fears
has not been perfected
in love.
We love
because
He first loved us.
so talk about
an immense topic,
the love of God,
how many
misunderstandings
there are
about the love of God
in the church
and in the world,
but also the Scripture
has
more than
could ever be
exhausted on
just the idea
of the love of God.
And
it's important for us
just to step back
during this season
and to think about
superficial
holiday
kind of love
that will be around us
a lot,
mainly from the world,
but also
in some churches.
There's a,
I want to just
mention some of this
briefly because
I think it demeans
the glory
of what the love of God
truly is
if we focus on
these things
and don't really focus on
what God says
about His love.
But many of us,
we,
during the holiday season,
we kind of take on
a
sentimental
kind of love,
an emotional
kind of love
that
really just
masquerades around
as true love,
but it's really not.
It's just the warm
and fuzzy,
gushy love
kind of based solely
on feelings
and
it's
where we just,
you know,
we feel generous
around this time
of the year
because it is Christmas.
I went to buy some firewood
a couple days ago
and the lady
was trying to,
she didn't really have
like a set price
on her firewood
and she was just like,
you know what,
it's Christmas
so I'm just going to
give you a lot more
for less,
you know,
just,
but,
you know,
two months ago
that would have not
happened.
It would have been
like a lot more money.
So,
it's just this kind
of sentimental love
that kind of hits people
like it's,
it is the season
to be nice.
It comes in the form
of niceness
to people
and yet
after Christmas
this kind of good cheer
sort of
disappears
and in,
in truth,
this sentimental love
mimics compassion
but it really is
as silly
as sending a Hallmark card
to one of the poor
diseased countries
in the world
and just saying
we hope you get better.
That's about
the gravity
and the weight
of that kind
of sentimental
holiday love
that is not real
and furthermore
this sentimental love
is really just
trivializes
real love
and it breaks
in the face
of difficulty
and obstacles.
It's not going
to survive
and,
you know,
also this morning
this very morning
and tonight
a lot of people
will attend
a church service
for the first time
or maybe the second time
in the year
Christmas and Easter
and they're going
to hear someone
stand up
and say something
along these lines.
Christmas is a time
to remember
that God loves
all people
and we are all
His children
and He accepts us
just the way
we are.
I've heard that
a service
many years ago
and what they're
really saying
is that tons
of lost people
who are coming
there,
all they're hearing
is God likes
you just the way
you are
and you don't
need to have
anything changed
in your life
so they think
that they are
cool with God
and they leave
thinking God
likes me.
See,
I was told that
tonight.
Instead of saying
yes,
God loves you
but He loves you
too much
to leave you
in your sin
and that you
need a Savior.
And so,
many people
that talk
about the love
of God
are really
total strangers
to the love
of God.
It's not
just sort of
some divine
good-natured
indulgence
that a parent
might have
for a kid.
It's very,
very different.
And we need
to kind of
draw a line
and say that
you know,
sadly,
tragically,
all people
are not
all God's
children.
In John
chapter 1
it says,
but to all
who did
receive Christ
who believed
in His name
He gave them
the right
to become
the children
of God.
So,
in Christ
alone
do we have
that idea
of becoming
God's children
and until then
we are hostile,
separated
from God.
And so,
though God
does have
a general
care
for all
people
created
in His
image,
He has
a special
love,
a special
affection
set upon
His children
that's very
different from
the rest
of the world.
So,
I want to
kind of
just define
the love
of God
based on
this.
This is
kind of
a hybrid
definition
of J.I.
Packer
and Wayne
Grudem's
definition.
But,
let's define
true,
biblical,
godly
love.
So,
when I say
God's love,
what does
that mean?
And here
it is.
God's love
is an
exercise
of His
goodness
whereby
He freely
and eternally
gives of
Himself
to others.
God's love
is an
exercise
of His
goodness
whereby
He freely
and eternally
gives of
Himself
to others.
God's love
love
God's
love
is an
God
is unlike
any other
being in
the universe
and His
love
is so
immense
and infinite.
Scriptures say
all through,
I mean,
I could just
pick a hundred
different texts
to look at,
but in Psalm
103,
verse 11,
for as
high as
the heavens
are above
the earth,
so great
is His
steadfast love
toward those
who fear Him.
And then later
on in verse 17,
for the steadfast
love of the Lord
is from everlasting
to everlasting
on those
who fear Him.
It's
such a
magnificent
truth we find
in the Scripture.
And so using
our text
from 1 John,
I want to make
just really
three points
about how
we can indicate
what true love
really is.
And I stole
these,
or I borrowed
them from
Sinclair Ferguson,
so I'll give them
back to him
later.
But these
are really,
really awesome
indicators
of what
true biblical
love is.
Okay?
So the first one,
number one,
to understand
what love is,
we have to
understand the
identity
of the lover.
The identity
of the lover.
So if we look
at 1 John
chapter 4,
look at verse 7,
it talks about
how
for love
is from God,
and in verse 8,
God is love.
Verse 16,
so we have
come to know
and to believe
the love
that God
has for us.
God is love.
And so,
each one of
these points,
I want to give
you a principle
to kind of
further clarify.
So we're talking
about the identity
of the lover.
So here's the
principle.
The greater
the lover,
the greater
the love.
the greater
the lover,
the greater
the love.
Real simple.
So with that,
kind of let your
soul try to
grasp that
of there is
no greater
lover than
the sovereign,
eternal,
infinite God.
No being
in existence
that has the
capacity
to love
the way
that He
does,
the immensity,
the vastness.
So,
stay in
1 John,
but just go
one chapter
before that.
Chapter 3
and look at
verse 1.
See
what kind
of love
the Father
has given
to us
that we
should be
called
children of
God
and so
we are.
So,
this is
an amazing
verse I'd
just like to
talk about,
but this is
the attitude
we should take
when we're
approaching
the identity
of the
lover.
Like,
we need
this idea
of beholding
the love
of God.
You know,
the only
illustration I
can really
think of
with this
is one
that I
shared a
long time
ago,
but just
indulge me.
But when
I went to
the Grand
Canyon in
November
2014,
I was with
my friend
Kevin,
and some
of you
know him.
He can
be a man
a few
words
sometimes,
and just
a deep
gruffy voice,
and we
were walking
up on the
Grand Canyon.
We ended
up hiking
about 13
miles around
it,
and I don't
know if
you've ever
been there,
but it's
pretty amazing.
You can
spend,
you know,
a year,
years just
exploring all
the stuff
that is there,
and we
walked up
on it,
you're just
kind of
driving,
and you
go out
and you
walk,
and the
narrative
just opens
up to
this
immense,
you know,
glorious
wonder of
the world,
and again,
Kevin,
at this
point,
man,
a few
words,
he kind
of just
walks up
and he
just says,
wow,
look at
that.
And if
Kevin had
been speaking
in the
Old English,
which he
would never
do,
he would
have said,
behold,
the Grand
Canyon.
It means
to like
gaze upon,
take heed
of that,
look at
that.
And that
is the
language that
John is
trying to
convey here,
this idea
that is
like astounding
as someone
at the
Grand
Canyon is
nothing in
comparison to
the one who
made it and
the glory of
the love of
the one who
made it.
So,
see or
behold,
gaze upon
what kind
of love
the Father
has given.
Some of the
older translations
are like better,
has lavished
upon us,
that we
should be
called
children of
God.
So,
another way to
understand what
the love of
God actually
means is to
just look at
the language.
So,
what kind of
love is this?
What sort?
What manner of
love?
And if you,
people who like to
study and go
deep,
the love word
that's used
here is
agape,
the highest
form of
love in
existence.
So,
it's not like a
brotherly love.
It's not
necessarily even
like a love
that you might
have for your
husband or
wife.
It's much
deeper than
that.
Since God,
by his very
definition,
defines what
love is,
he alone
kind of possesses
this attribute
of agape
love.
That word
was used
very rarely
in Greek
speaking cultures
and societies.
It wasn't
used a lot.
It usually
was associated
with just
some sort
of divine
love.
But in the
New Testament,
it's used
320 times,
which is
magnifying
that idea
that this
is a special,
unique,
other kind
of love
that God
has.
That is
self-sacrificing
and unconditional.
So it is
not a type
of human
origin kind
of love
at all.
Agape,
he has given
this,
he has lavished
this freely,
bestowed on
this abundantly
to us,
the love
of God.
So,
something else
to think
about,
this idea
of the love
of God,
is to think
about it in
the form of
just his
attributes.
God has
many attributes,
holiness,
justice,
goodness,
mercy,
love,
but when you
study the
attributes of
God,
you need to
sort of be
aware that
it's not just
that God
has goodness
or has
love,
it's that he
is goodness
and is
love.
He defines
those things
and they're
very different
the way I
just explained
that.
You and I
can have
goodness,
we can be
good,
we can be
loving,
but then,
like many of
us know,
all that has
to happen is
the one has
to blow a
different way
and circumstances
get rough
and then we
are not so
good,
not so loving.
We change
very quickly
as our
circumstances
get more
difficult.
You ever
heard someone
say,
you know,
she used
to be
such a
loving
and kind
person,
but then
she lost
her job
and now
she's very
just upset
and angry
and depressed.
We change,
but the
difference is,
again,
that God
is his
attributes.
He is
love.
We've read
that in our
text twice.
God is
love.
And so
his love
for us
is not
worn out
by our
sins
or by our
indifference.
It continues
to be
what it
is.
This love
extends from
the love
that the
Trinity
possesses,
Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit,
and the
love that
they have
together
that then
extends
out to
us.
I love
that idea
that I
can't wait
to,
we'll eventually
maybe do a
series on
John 17,
the high
priestly
prayer.
And I
love it
that Jesus
actually says,
I ask
that those
whom you
have given
me may
one day
be with
me where
I am
to behold
my glory.
Then he
says,
the glory
I had
with you
before the
world
existed.
It's this
idea of
like joy
and contentment
inside the
Godhead
before anything
existed.
He didn't
need us.
Very
complete,
very
joyful,
very
much
love
inside
the
Trinity.
And if
you look
at our
text in
John,
you see
the
Father,
Son,
and the
Holy Spirit
mentioned
in this
idea of
love.
So is
an extension
of those
things.
The love
of God
is
uninfluenced.
What I
mean by
that is
that there
is nothing
about you
and I
that prompted
or attracted
that love
that he
gave us.
And that
might be
hard to
hear for
some people.
But it
was something
that he
did simply
because he
chose to.
Because it
was in his
nature to
show love.
But he
wasn't
obligated to
show love
at all.
There was
nothing in
us at all.
We'll get
to that in a
minute.
But that
love is
uninfluenced.
It doesn't
waver.
Think about
the favorite
John 3.16.
Incredible
verse.
Incredible
verse.
But we
often mistake
this idea
of God
so loved
the world
to mean
that God
loved the
world so
much.
Like extend
the O's
on that.
And that's
not what it's
saying.
It's just
they chose
to kind of
stick with
the old
English.
Like God
loved the
world.
And then
back then
you said
well how
so?
Well he
gave his
only son.
So it's
this idea
that it
really magnifies
God's choice
to send
his son.
That he
chose to
send his
son.
That's how
he loved
the world.
And it's
God's love
is eternal.
Jeremiah
31.3
I have
loved you
with an
everlasting
love.
And therefore
with love
and kindness
I have
drawn you.
So that
is the
testimony
of God's
love.
there is
no
greater
lover
than
the
sovereign
almighty
God.
So we
weaken in
our love
but he
remains
true
and steadfast.
And that
brings us
to the
second
point.
And that
is the
object
of love.
The
object
of love.
If you
look at
verse 10
back in
chapter 4
it says
and this
is love
and it
says
not
that we
have
loved
God.
Just
chew on
that for
a second.
So here's
the principle
attached to
this point.
The lesser
the object
the greater
the love.
The lesser
the object
the greater
the love.
It is
really easy
to love
people who
are lovable.
It is
really easy
to love
people who
are loving
you in
return and
giving you
a lot
more back
for what
you give.
Jesus
said
if you
love those
who love
you
what benefit
is that
to you?
For even
sinners
those who
don't know
God
love those
who love
them.
It is
a weak
love.
And so
we have
this idea
that
God had
to come
here and
send
his son
to die
for us
because
we were
so
worthy.
Because
we were
so
lovable.
Because
he
could not
go on
without
us.
And he
had to
send
Jesus
to die.
And so
what happens
is me and the
church have
wrongfully
turned God's
love into
an echo
of man's
value,
man's
excellence,
man's
worth.
Instead of
seeing it as
an affront
to the
glory of
God and
the holiness
of God
and rebellion
against the
greatest
being in
the universe.
So he
didn't have
to come
and save
us,
but he
chose to.
Right?
Rebellious,
ungodly
sinners.
So remember,
the lesser the
object,
we are way
down here,
the greater
the love.
When you
magnify how
great you
are,
you demean
the love
of God,
is what I'm
trying to say.
When you
understand what
the Bible
really says
about who
we were,
as people
separated from
God,
it magnifies
the love
of God.
Hard to
love things
that are
unlovable,
but he
chose to
do so.
So that
is the
test of
love.
Hold your
hand in
verse John,
but look
over at
Ephesians
chapter 2.
Just turn
to the left.
Ephesians
chapter 2.
So many
of us know
that it's
not hard
to profess
love for
someone when
circumstances
are great,
and when you
feel like you're
getting love
in return.
But however,
the true
test of
love comes
when difficulty,
hardship,
and trials,
and obstacles
come our
way.
Are you
going to
love through
that,
or is
your love
going to
vanish?
And this
is a picture
of,
again,
the lesser
the object,
which would
be us,
the greater
the love.
So,
Ephesians 2,
look at
verse 1.
Very
familiar text.
we were
dead in our
trespasses
and sin,
in which
you once
walked,
following
the course
of this
world,
following
the prince
of the
power of
the air,
the spirit
that is now
at work
in the
sons of
disobedience,
among whom
we all
once lived
in the
passions of
our flesh,
carrying out
the desires
of the body
and the
mind,
and were
by nature
children
of wrath,
like the
rest of
mankind.
stop.
What is
lovable about
any of that?
What is
worthy about
any of that?
Nothing.
He is
explaining who
they were
before Jesus
and really
who we
were.
We didn't
love God,
we were
alienated
from God.
We were
dead in
our sins
and we
followed
the world
and we
followed
our flesh,
the passions
of our flesh
and we
walked in
disobedience.
And then it
says the
result of
that was
we were
by nature
children
of wrath.
Nothing
worthy about
that.
Verse 4
though,
here's
that,
here's
this idea
explained.
But God,
being rich
in mercy
because of
the great
love with
which he
loved us,
even when
we were
dead in
our trespasses,
made us
alive together
with Christ.
By grace
you have
been saved.
so when
we pause
to consider
how truly
wretched
and unworthy
we really
are,
and I know
I don't
deserve any
good thing,
and yet I
still think I
deserve it
from time
to time.
Like,
in my right
mind,
I am a
sinful man.
Peter's words
often come to
my mind,
like,
when Jesus
spoke to
him in
Luke for
the first
time,
and he
realized
who Jesus
was,
and he
said,
go away
from me.
I'm a
sinful man.
I'm a
wicked man.
Don't
come near
me.
And Jesus
then says,
come here.
You're going
to be mine.
And worked
in Simon's
life,
often how I
feel.
But this,
again,
this magnifies
the love of
God to
understand that
we were not
lovable.
Nothing
attractive about
us at
all.
But he
chose to
do it.
And that
brings us
to the
third point.
So,
how did
he express
this love?
This number
three,
the expression
of love.
The expression
of love.
So,
we have the
identity of
the lover,
right?
The object
of love,
and then
lastly and
thirdly,
the expression
of love.
And the
principle for
this is,
the greater
the expression,
the more
marvelous the
love.
The greater
the expression,
the more
marvelous the
love.
And there's
no greater
lover than
God,
no lesser
objects worthy
of love
than us,
and no
greater echo
of the love
of God
than the
rugged,
bloodstained
cross of
his son,
Jesus Christ.
So,
God's love
paid the
highest price,
the life
of his son
to ungodly
sinners.
He gave
that,
freely gave
that,
paid the
highest price
he could
pay.
I think
some people
were shocked
when I was
shocked years
ago when a
man asked
me,
so you know
what God
loves the
most?
And I was
like,
me?
He loves
me.
And he was
like,
no.
And I was
like,
oh my gosh,
like,
what are
you about
to say?
And he's
like,
he loves
his son.
His son
is the
most precious
thing to
him.
And he
willingly
and freely
gave the
most precious
thing to
bring us
salvation,
though we
didn't deserve
it.
He came
and he
paid the
price for
sin on
the cross.
So,
love is
also expressed
in like,
how low
are you
willing to
stoop for
me?
Right?
Think about
that.
How low
are you
willing to
stoop?
Humble
yourself
for
another.
Christ
stooped
unlike
any other
being in
existence.
He washed
the disciples'
feet for
goodness sake.
And I
hate feet.
I could
never do
that in a
million years.
And so,
he made
himself,
took on
the role
of a
servant
that was
prophesied
about in
Isaiah 53,
the suffering
servant.
Though he
was worthy
of all
glory,
he really
was the
king.
He took
on the
role of
a servant.
And he
even loved
the one
and washed
the feet of
the one
who would
betray
him.
What
incredible
love that
was.
And there
was no
greater way
that he
stooped
than coming
in the
incarnation
and then
in death.
In John
15,
verse 13,
it says,
Jesus says
this to his
disciples,
greater love
has no
one than
this,
that someone
lay down
his life
for his
friends.
And I
want you
to flip,
I think this
is the last
place you're
going to turn,
no,
100 place,
but Romans
5,
again,
one of my
go-tos for
this.
Just read a
couple verses
just to
make this
point.
Romans 5,
verse 6.
And think
about these
three points
that we've
made about
love as
we read
this.
The identity
of the
lover,
the object
of love,
and the
expression
of love.
Verse 6,
for while
we were
still weak,
at the
right time
Christ died
for the
ungodly.
for one
will scarcely
die for
a righteous
person,
though perhaps
for a good
person one
would dare
even to
die.
Again,
it's easy
to love
those who
love you,
easy to
love those
who do
good to
you,
not how
we were
with God.
But then
he says,
but God
shows or
demonstrates
his great
love for
us,
and that
while we
were still
sinners,
Christ died
for us.
So there's
this idea
of the
expression
of love.
While we
were his,
you keep
reading,
his enemies,
Christ died
for us.
Human love
does not
do that.
Human love
does not
lay down
their life
for an
enemy.
And not
yet.
That is
what the
Son of
God did.
He came
and he
stooped.
When I
was in
Oakwood,
I got to
speak on
Philippians 2.
I'll just
read it to
you,
but talking
about how
Christ humbled
himself,
ridiculously
humbled
himself,
scandalously
humbled
himself.
Philippians 2
verse 5,
he says,
have this
in your
mind among
yourselves,
which was
yours in
Christ Jesus,
who though
he was in
the form
of God,
the form
of God,
the morphe
of God,
he possessed
all the
divine attributes
that God
possessed,
was by
himself,
very nature,
God,
did not
count equality
with God,
a thing
to be
grasped,
but he
emptied
himself
by taking
on the
form of
a servant.
The word
form is
used three
times in
these verses
and this
is the
same one.
He took
on the
form of
a servant
being born
in the
likeness
of men
and being
found in
human form.
He humbled
himself by
becoming
obedient to
the point
of death,
even death
on a
cross.
Mind
blowing.
And he
didn't
waver.
A quote
by C.S.
Lewis
on the
love of
God and
all the
stuff that
we've been
talking about
really.
he said
Christ did
not die
for men
because they
were intrinsically
worth dying
for,
but because
he is
intrinsically
love,
and therefore
loves indefinitely.
God loves
us,
not because
we are
lovable,
but because
he is
love.
Not because
he needs
to receive,
but because
he delights
to give.
Sums it
all up.
for us.
So,
as we
continue to
think about
these three
things,
just a few
conclusions,
we have to
draw.
This demands
a response,
not just
to store
more head
knowledge,
but to
respond to.
We have
to understand
that.
Here are
a couple
of things.
First off,
if we really
do know
that we
are saved,
blood-bought,
born again,
children of
God,
let Christmas
be kind
of a
reminder
for these
two things.
So,
because God
has so
freely
lavished his
love on
us,
let us
love him
in return.
Let us
worship him
and adore
him.
He brought
salvation to
us,
delivering us
from hell.
He's forgiven
us our sin
and our evil,
canceled our
debt.
He's justified
us in his
sight,
taking away
our unrighteousness
and giving
us the
perfect
righteousness
of his
son.
We are
reconciled to
him through
the death
of his
son,
though we
were his
enemies.
And perhaps
maybe even the
greatest privilege,
now we are
given the
privilege to
know him
and to be
known by
him and
to have
eternal
life.
Jesus says
in John 17
3,
and this
is eternal
life,
that they
know you,
the only
true God,
and Jesus
Christ whom
you have
sent.
That is the
privilege we
have.
So,
let this
Christmas be
a reminder
that you
don't need
to look
further than
the cross
to be a
reminder that
God loves
you.
Don't think,
you're tempted
to think,
and I'm
tempted to
think,
if God
would just
fill in
the blank,
then I
would really
feel loved
by God.
There's no
greater way
he demonstrated
that than
the cross.
None.
So don't
look beyond
it,
but sit
there in
front of
it and
gaze at
it.
And so
that kind
of love,
if we truly
have been
touched by
it,
will transform
us,
and it will
cause us
to love
God in
return.
It's just
the natural
outcome.
If we have
been touched,
we will
love.
This is what
John is trying
to say.
If you don't
have love,
then you're
probably not
of God.
You have
not known
God if
you do
not love
God.
And very
simply,
obviously,
the next
response is
because God
has so
freely
lavished his
love on
us,
and that we
love him
in return,
we should
love those
around us,
love others.
Jesus said,
write,
a new
command I
give you
to love
one another
just as I
have loved
you.
And John,
back in
1 John,
beloved,
love one
another,
for love
is from
God,
and whoever
loves has
been born
of God
and knows
God,
and anyone
who does
not love
does not
know God.
This is
staggering to
me because
what he's
really saying
is you
can't truly
love someone
unless you
know God.
Think about
that.
it means
that a lot
of people
are walking
around the
day without
Christ,
who they
have some
kind of
deficient
love that
they're giving
to other
people because
it's mainly
motivated out
of what they
can get out
of it.
It's not
the agape
Christ-like
love that we
have experienced,
but because we
know God and
have been saved
by him,
we can love
people with
that same
love.
He empowers
us to do
so.
So,
if we
have been
genuinely,
truly saved
by Christ,
that will
transform us
in such a
way that we
will love
others in
return.
So,
kind of
ponder that.
God's love
transforms us
from the
inside out,
and it's a
natural outflow
and a
demonstration
of his
work in
our lives.
So,
in closing,
just wanted
to think
about,
as we
ponder the
love of
God,
I was
reminded of
a little
section in
one of
C.S.
Lewis'
book,
Chronicles of
Narnia and
the Last
Battle,
where Lucy
kind of
peers into
the stable
that's on
the hill,
and she
sees inside
the stable
another
stable.
And she's
reminded,
she comes
from our
world,
and she
goes into
the world
of Narnia,
but she
says,
in our
world,
too,
the stable
once had
something
inside it,
and it
was bigger
than our
whole world.
Ponder that.
The one
who created
the cosmos,
who possessed
all things,
created all
things,
laid in a
manger as
a baby,
humbling
himself to
come and
save this
defiant race,
people made
up of people
like you
and me,
who aren't
worthy of
such a
gift.
So,
let us
love him
and adore
him in
return.
So,
allow your
soul to
take that
in.
And let's
pray together,
and I'm
going to
use Ephesians
3 as
Paul prays
for that
church so
they would
understand the
immensity of
this type of
love we
have
experienced.
May we
have strength
to comprehend
with all
the saints
what is the
breadth and
length and
height and
depth, and
to know the
love of
Christ that
surpasses
knowledge,
that you
may be
filled with
all the
fullness of
God.
Yes,
Lord, I
pray you
would just
give us
the ability,
the capacity
to love
as you
have loved.
love of
God.
And we
thank you
that though
we were
not worthy,
not deserving
of this
love, you
have chosen
to lavish it
on us and
to bring us
into your
family.
So I
pray that
this Christmas
time would
just be
another reminder
as we need
to be reminding
ourselves every
day of the
great love
that you have
demonstrated.
So Lord,
allow us,
please help
us.
We just don't
want to
remain as
we are,
we want
to change,
we want
to love
you and
return and
then turn
around to
a dark
world to
show that
same kind
of love
towards both
in word
and in
deed.
See us,
Father,
and we
praise you
for the
amazing love
you have
shown us.
In Christ's
name,
Amen.