1 The Love of God Attention: Despite the hype over the latest edition of the Star Wars saga, one of our family favorite movie stories involves Hobbits and Wizards and Elves. Part of the genius of the fantasy world created by Tolkein in his Lord of the Rings masterpiece is the development of the various creature cultures not all of which are human. Part of the drama then of this story is the inter-creature relationships that develop; some - as in the case of Aragorn (a man), Gimli (a dwarf), and Legolas (an elf) - for good, others for evil. Inevitably, as in all fairy-tales, it seems, at some point friendship moves to romantic affection and with that the question of is this the right thing to do? Take a look at this scene in which Arwyn an elf princess and Aragorn a man, and heir to the Kingdom of Gondor discuss their love and the difficult choice it poses. (SHOW SCENE: 22 The Fellowship of the Ring) In the middle of that scene, Arwyn makes this statement, I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone. And then a few moments later in response to Aragorn s real but rather weak objection, she adds, I choose a mortal life. Wow, what a great confession! This is the kind of things that make grown women swoon and grown men cry (but probably not Minnesota men!). In part because deep down we resonate with the idea that love is shown in its devotion. And the greatest of loves is shown in a great sacrifice whether between friends, between lovers or, perhaps most commonly, between parents and children. 1
2 Need: Despite the beautiful sentiment portrayed by Arwyn and Aragorn, in the end, we know it s not real it s just a movie. Elves and men don t have love relationships mainly because Elves don t exist! And so the wonder of it all becomes lost in its absurdity immortal creatures like Elves just don t fall in love with people. But that s not the half of it. The Bible actually describes something even more amazing: God loves people. Think about it for a moment. The uncreated, eternal, incomparable, glorious Creator and Ruler over all and for all time loves you and me. Admittedly, for many of us this idea has become so common-place that we no longer see how incredible, and spectacular, and mind-blowing it really is. In all reality, it defies description. And here s the deal. Last week we looked at the Rule of God. Pastor Mike helped us understand that because we exist in this world (the world over which God reigns) none of us can escape His Rule whether we believe it or not and whether we like it or not. However, we cannot fully benefit from the Rule of God unless we submit to Him. In submission, the rule of God becomes life and provision and protection for us. And so, it is with the love of God. We cannot escape the love of God because we are part of His created order whether we believe it or not and whether we like it or not. As Matthew records in 5:43-45, You have heard that it was said, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. And so the love of God does not distinguish in this way between those who acknowledge Him and those who do not. 2
3 Before we get too far along we need to take a step back and ask the question, What is love? Not the love that we hear sung about on the radio or portrayed in movies like The Lord of the Rings, but God s love. What is the love of God? In an effort to answer this question we can say that God s love can at least in part be understood through a look at four characteristics: God s love is benevolent. That is to say, that God s love is marked by a concern for the welfare of those He loves. The love of God is generous and kind, well-suited and responsive to the needs and wellbeing of His people. Matthew 7:11 reminds us, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! God s love is gracious. Grace is the unmerited, unearned favor of God. It is God s gift of all that we do not deserve and for which we cannot repay. The greatest expression of this gracious aspect of God s love is found in the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf. Romans 5:6-8 summarizes it nicely, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man, someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God s love is merciful. Whereas grace is getting what we do not deserve, mercy is not getting what we do deserve. Mercy is the withholding or limiting of the penalty that we deserve for our disobedience. Psalm 103:8-10 says, The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has 3
4 not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. God s love is persistent and patient. At least 9 times, the Bible records that God is slow to anger and abounding in love. Though mankind, in general, refuses to acknowledge His right to rule, God continues to withhold judgment, giving us time to search for Him. If nothing else, history is a record of the patience of God. 2 Peter 3:9, tells us, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. And so, God s love is benevolent, gracious, merciful, persistent and patient. And this is the kind of love that sets God apart from all else. Now with this as the backdrop, the question I want to try to address this morning is this, What does it mean to be loved by God? Preview: In my attempt to answer this question which obviously could take a library of volumes to respond to, I want to propose three things: First, the love of God precedes everything else. Second, the love of God acts Third, the love of God expects a response Text: In order to ground my attempt to answer this question I want to anchor most of my comments in Moses words to the people of Israel from Deuteronomy 7:7, 8: The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD 4
5 loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Body: The Love of God precedes everything else The context of this passage in Deuteronomy is the constitution of the Jews into the Nation of Israel. The passage itself is part of a much larger section which covers over 22 chapters in which Moses lays out a detailed account of what it will mean for the Jews to live as the Nation of Israel in the Promised Land. In terms of the chronological context, Moses gives these words to the Jews just before they cross over the Jordan and take possession of the Land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. This means as well that this is 40 years after God had delivered the Jews from Egypt; as well as after the 40 years they spent wandering in the desert. Now as they stand on the threshold of acquiring the Promised Land that which had been promised to them through Abraham nearly 400 years earlier - notice how Moses explains to the Jews why God did what He did for them (v.7): The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. Now the Jews, like many from that era, were a semi-nomadic people who had emerged out of the family of Abraham and who had moved into the region of Canaan years earlier in response to God s directive. Because survival of nomadic peoples was (and still is) a question of resources and physical stamina and cunning, the size of a nomadic tribe was a direct reflection of their relative wealth and strength. What Moses is really saying here is this: God did not choose you (Jews) because you were strong, 5
6 wise, wealthy, or intelligent which would have been reflected by the size of your people. Rather, He chose you (the smallest of peoples!) not because of anything you had done or anything that you possessed, but because (v. 8) He loved you. God chose the Jews because He loved the Jews. The rest of the passage goes on to say that God kept the promise that He had sworn to their ancestors (namely Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand, redeeming them from the land of slavery and from the power of Pharaoh. And though this is an all-important part of Israel s story without which they would not exist, behind all of it, is God s love. The love of God preceded everything that Abraham and the Jews experienced. God loved the Jews first before they had done anything to deserve it and from that love everything else followed. It is worth noting this morning, that this evidence for the love of God, is not just for the Jews back there somewhere in history. In the coming of Christ, the love of God became visibly extended to non-jews as well. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:6-8, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Notice here as well the idea that Moses mentioned in Deuteronomy 7. God s move to love us is not motivated by anything that we have done or anything that we have to offer. In fact, verse 6 describes us as helpless and ungodly, and verse 8 refers to us as sinners. Later in verse 10, it says that we were in fact enemies of God. Hardly reason to love us! So what does it mean to be loved by God? First it means that we can do 6
7 nothing to earn or deserve or somehow acquire God s love. The love of God precedes everything. Love acts The second thing we observe from the passage in Deuteronomy is the fact that love does not just sit there like a trophy or a bouquet of dried flowers on a shelf. The Love of God is not passive sentiment. The love of God acts. Verse 8 reminds us that the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Here Moses makes the explicit connection between the love of God which precedes everything and which is based on nothing that the Jews have to offer and God s act of delivering them from Pharaoh. As dramatic as this is for the survival and provision of the People of Israel, it is hardly a unique expression of the love of God. Near the end of the book of Nehemiah (chapter 9), the prophet Nehemiah (who lived some 800 years after Moses), summarizes the story of the People of Israel. On at least 5 occasions in the course of retelling Israel s history, Nehemiah records how God intervened to rescue His people. Listen to one of these accounts taken from the incident of the Golden Calf, during the time of Moses (Nehemiah 9:18-21): 18 Even when they made for themselves A calf of molten metal And said, This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt, And committed great blasphemies, 19 You, in Your great compassion, did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. 20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst. 21 Indeed, [for] forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want; their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell. 7
8 Over and over again, the love of God results in an act of God intended to rescue, redeem and/or preserve His people. This is one of the recurring themes of God s relationship with the Jews. But not just the Jews, as we move forward into the New Testament we find a similar idea. Note the well-known passage from John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. This may be the most well-known passage in the Bible among those of evangelical convictions. Notice how it explicitly connects the love of God to His act on behalf of the World. God loved and so He sent His Son in order to rescue and redeem those who believe. Notice that the passage also reinforces our first observation that we cannot escape the love of God indeed Jesus was sent from God and He lived and died on purpose for all. So what does it mean to be loved by God? First, the love of God precedes everything. And secondly, the love of God acts especially to rescue and redeem. Love expects a response If you read the rest of the book of Deuteronomy, you get a very detailed picture of how the new community of faith, the Nation of Israel, was to function. As I mentioned earlier, Moses review of the new moral order goes on for over 20 chapters! And for the most part, it is a reiteration of what is recorded in the 27 chapters of the book of Leviticus that God gave to Moses nearly 40 years earlier. If you can read this without getting lost in the details of the laws and rituals, very early on you will see a theme that begins to emerge which by the end of the book is unmistakably present and it is this: God s love (the love that is mentioned in Chapter 7 which resulted in delivering Israel 8
9 from slavery in Egypt) expects a response and in particular, a response of obedience. Deuteronomy 28:1, a very telling passage, puts it like this: Now it shall be if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the Earth. And all these blessings (which Moses is going to explain later in the chapter) shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God. But now here s the question, we know that the Nation of Israel had this very detailed and explicit relationship with God that was full of Laws and rituals, feast days and sacrifices. Some would say that the Old Testament is really a record of God s Law and what it means to submit to it or be judged by it. The New Testament however is different. As we read it we see early on that a very different theme emerges. Instead of Law, the New Testament presents a theme of grace. In fact, in many passages, such as John 1: 17, we are told that whereas the Law was given through Moses, [but] grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. And in Ephesians 2:8 we learn that it is by grace that we are saved by faith and finally in Romans 6:14 we are encouraged to know that sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. And so, if grace is so much a part of the New Testament moral order and the theme of the Christian life, what is the place of obedience? Are grace and obedience to the Law contradictory? And where is love in all of this? How can love - or how does love - work alongside obedience? In answer to these questions, we need to look at the words of Jesus from John 14. Beginning in verse 21, we read: He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him. Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and 9
10 not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father s who sent Me. In this passage (and this is not the only one!) Jesus makes it pretty clear that obedience is part of what it means to identify with and walk with Jesus. And notice he explicitly links the idea of love God s love for us and our love for Him - to obedience. In short if you love Jesus, you will obey Him. As Jesus explains it, obedience is both the condition of love as well as the evidence of it. Well what can this possibly mean? Let me answer that question like this: Though the love of God is freely expressed towards Creation (including mankind) prior to and without any merit on our part, in order to benefit from the fullness of that love, we must respond appropriately. So, whereas God s love is expressed through the offer of salvation to the World in general as recorded in John 3:16, for example, For God so loved the world that He gave His Son. So that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life, in order to actually benefit from that expression of love in this case, receive eternal life a response of obedience belief - is required. Those who believe in Christ (obey) receive the benefit of God s love (eternal life). Now grace which as we saw earlier, can be understood as the gift of that which we do not deserve is, also like love, something that we cannot earn that is why it is a gift. Ephesians 2:8,9 says For it is by grace that you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works so that no one can boast. Indeed, the act of being saved here is indeed the gift of grace. But note this gift of grace is accessed or applied or received by faith/belief. And so again, grace (like love) makes 10
11 available that which is necessary (salvation) from which we receive the full benefit through obedience in this case, the exercise of faith. In addition to grace as applied to our salvation, grace can also be understood as the divine capacity to live the Christian life. This idea is found in such passages as Romans 12:6, Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly. As well as 2 Corinthians 9:8 which says, And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. And again in 2 Corinthians 12:9, And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. In these passages grace is described as a source of divine help by which we live out our Christian experience in the face of an opposing world. And though the gift of grace both for salvation and for the Christian life is made available to us freely in order for us to receive the full benefit of that grace - we must obey. Paul explains this connection between grace and obedience in 2 Timothy 1. In verse 1 he says, You therefore, my son (Timothy) be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And then in the next several verses he describes what that means. In verse 2 he tells Timothy to instruct others. In verse 3 Paul tells Timothy to suffer hardship (in the work of the Gospel) as a good soldier. In verse 5, he tells Timothy that he should live life as an athlete who competes according to the rules of competition. And then in verse 6 he reminds him of the hard-working farmer. In all these examples of what it means to be strong in Grace, Paul makes the connection between grace which is the capacity for life 11
12 in this case and the hard work and discipline that is illustrated by the teacher, the soldier, the athlete and the farmer. So what does it mean to be loved by God? First, the love of God precedes everything. Secondly, the love of God acts especially to rescue and redeem. Finally, the love of God expects a response of obedience. In closing, I just want to come back to one more thing, and that is this. So, if obedience and love and grace go hand in hand, is it wrong to obey because I want the fullness of God s blessing? Doesn t that make it legalistic and selfish on my part to choose to do something so that I get something in return? The root of this question is really this, What should be the proper motivation for my obedience? To answer this, I want to borrow something from John Piper and we will call it, what he calls it, The Rose Story. In effect he turns this question about obeying God into one related to his relationship with his wife and he asks, What should motivate me to bring flowers to my wife on our anniversary? Ok. So, Denise and I have been married 32 years since last August. So imagine it s our next anniversary (our 33 rd!) and I ve got this bundle behind my back, let s just call them roses, and I ring the doorbell which I never do and she comes to the door with a quizzical look on her face and she looks at me funny and I whip it out and say, Happy anniversary Denise. And she says, Oh, Rick, they re so beautiful. Why did you? And I say, It s my duty. I ve read the book [you gave me] on being a good husband and that s what good husbands do and I have done my duty. What do you think she would say? How do you think she feels about my flowers? Why? Isn t giving my wife flowers on our anniversary a good thing? Why then is she less than overwhelmed? The problem is not the flowers, nor even the gift of flowers (which is 12
13 my obedience, if you will). The problem is my motivation duty. But what is wrong with duty? Duty is glorious! Battles are won because soldiers do their duty. Homework gets finished, oil changes are completed, the dog gets walked and laundry gets done often, if not most of the time, out of duty. So why is duty the wrong thing here? Even without being able to explain why, we know intuitively that when it comes to anniversary roses a symbol of love duty doesn t cut it! It doesn t work. Though duty is valid and honorable in some settings, it is not the vehicle for love. But do things change if I do this differently? So, again it s our anniversary (I ve got 2 bouquets this time!). I ring the doorbell, whip out both bouquets of flowers and say, Happy anniversary Denise. Oh Rick, they re so beautiful. Why did you? And I say, I couldn t help myself. Buying flowers for you makes me happy. In fact I ve got tickets to a play and we re going out tonight because there s nothing I d rather do than spend the evening with you. How do you think she feels now? What do you think she would say? Never in a thousand years would she say, What, it makes you happy?! All you ever think about is yourself. What about me? All you think about is you. Now, why wouldn t she say that? When I say the words to her, There s nothing I would rather do than to be with you. There is nothing that would make me happier than to be with you, she is honored. And so is God when we obey not out of duty but because it honors Him. If we think about handing God a bouquet as our gesture of obedience, it s not because God needs bouquets, it s because we are so ravished by the kind of God He is and our obedience honors Him - the God who loves us. 13