Oh, How He Loves Us

OH, HOW HE LOVES US!
Easter Sunday-2012

INTRODUCTION: 1st John 4:8 says that God is love. What this tells me is that everything that God is and does is love. Nothing God says and nothing God does is without love. And the greatest display of God’s love came when he sent his son Jesus. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Love is the most important thing. 1st Cor. 13:13, “and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.” Vinet said, “The Christian faith does not consist in the belief that we are saved, but in the belief that we are loved.” Oh, how he loves us.

1) Jesus laid aside his glory. Phil. 2:1-8. Imagine owning the most beautiful place on earth with everything you would ever need at your fingertips. Imagine having servants wait on you. Imagine having complete command and authority over it all. Then imagine leaving it all behind to go live in the scummiest place on earth. You lose all your comforts. You forsake all your command. You become willing to subject yourself to authority; unloving and ruthless authority at that. You still have power to wipe anyone out who opposes you but you choose to restrain it to accomplish the greater purpose. You leave behind riches and become clothed with poverty. You remove yourself from being treated as the king you are to become subject to being treated like yesterday’s trash. And you aren’t forced to do it; you do it all willingly. And on top of that, you will be doing all this for people who hate you. You will be making this complete sacrifice for people who won’t recognize or appreciate any of it. Yet, despite all this, you are still willing to go through with it. You know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it; and you have nothing to gain from it-it’s everyone but you who has everything to gain. Jesus laid aside his heavenly conveniences and came to be with us so that there could be an opportunity for us to have the treasures of heaven alongside him. He laid aside his crown that we would gain the crown of life. He was willing to leave his Father’s side so that we could someday be by the Father’s side. He laid aside his life so that we would gain life eternal. Oh, how he loves us.

2) Jesus died for us. 1st John 3:16a, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” The Greeks had three words for love: “Phileo”, specifically referred to the love between two friends. It’s where the name “Philadelphia” comes from, which means “City of brotherly love”; “Eros”, refers to romantic love. It is from this word that we get “Erotic”. But then there is “Agape” or “Agapao”. It is a totally self sacrificing kind of love; asking nothing in return. It is a love that spends itself completely and unwaveringly on its object. This is the kind of love John was talking about in John 3:16, and here in 1st John 3:16. Therefore, we can render it as saying, ‘this is how we know what pure, complete, self-sacrificing love looks like’. John Stott said, “Only one act of pure love, unblemished by any taint of ulterior motive, has ever been