GOD’S GREAT LOVE FOR US

Jesus Himself said,“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

So many people do not fully appreciate God’s incredible love for them

If they did:- So many more unbelievers would come to faith in

Jesus Christ, and

- So many more believers would i) completely trust the Lord in all circumstances

ii) enjoy greater security in their relationship with the Lord, and

iii) would live whole heartedly for the Lord

What Jesus went through in laying down His life as a ransom for lost sinners on the cross at

Calvary, demonstrated how much God wants to have a relationship with all people

The Apostle Paul wrote, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for

us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Apostle Paul fully appreciated what Christ had done for him on the cross and the incredible grace and mercy of God towards him

The Apostle Paul wrote, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me,

because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:12-15)

God’s love does not however overrule His justice. Because GOD IS PERFECTLY JUST HE MUST ALSO PUNISH SIN. For this reason it is crucial for all people to personally accept God’s offer of forgiveness and eternal life through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ can save us from our sins. (Acts 4:12)

Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins in full on the cross at Calvary. But we all have a choice whether to receive Him into our hearts and lives to be our Lord and Saviour, or to reject Him.

For those people who reject Jesus Christ and His offer of forgiveness and eternal life, they will one day be accountable for their own sins. This is made very clear in the book of Revelation.

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15)

Jesus Christ bled and died on the cross at Calvary for our sins that we may escape this judgement. What grace and mercy God desires to extend to every person

It is only through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ that we can be saved and forgiven of our sins. The bible

also makes it clear that we have all sinned and that there is none righteous, no not one. (Romans 3:23)

(Romans 3:10) (Jeremiah 17:9)

God wants to save all people but we all have a choice to make in life, either to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour or to reject Him

Jesus LOVES all people equally and will never reject any person that comes to Him.

• There is joy in heaven when even one sinner repents and believes in Christ (Luke 15:7 & 10)

• The bible makes it clear that God’s desire is that none would perish. God loves all people (2 Peter 3:9)

• Whoever calls on the Name of the LORD shall be saved (Acts 2:21)

• This is God’s heart that all would come to Christ and receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16)

Today you can receive God’s offer of forgiveness and eternal life by saying the following prayer:

Father God today I confess that I have sinned against You. Today I choose to repent of my sins and to follow Your plan for my life. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for all of my sins and that He arose from the dead three days later.

Today I invite You Jesus Christ to come into my heart and life to be my Lord and Saviour and best friend from this day on. Amen

When we give our life to Jesus we have peace with God and are eternally secure in His love

The Apostle Paul made this very clear “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have

peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5:8-9)

The Apostle Paul also wrote, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,

nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

As believers we are part of God’s family and secure in His love

For the rest of this message I want to share what the bible says in relation to how much God loves us and how faithful He is, so that we can gain a greater understanding of just how loving and good He is to those who believe in Him. We can trust God in every area of our life.

Knowing God’s great love for us and his absolute faithfulness is crucial to living an ongoing victorious and overcoming life as a believer

I will now look at just eight of the many reasons why we can be so secure and free in our relationship with the Lord and why we can live a life of great purpose and meaning as a believer

King David wrote, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His

benefits:” (Psalm 103:2)

It is so important that as Christians we have a clear understanding of God’s great love for us and His many benefits.

1) God’s continual faithfulness

King David wrote, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the

land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:3-5)

This does not however exempt us from trials and challenges in life

In the book of Genesis we see how Joseph had a dream of greatness when 17

“Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: “There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” (Genesis 37:5-7)

“Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” (Genesis 37:9)

Joseph then went through 13 years of great trials and disappointments

• He was thrown in a pit initially by his brothers to die• He was then sold into slavery by his jealous brothers• Then thrown in prison for many years after fleeing the

advances of Potiphar’s wife• Was forgotten by the chief butler after Joseph had

interpreted his dream in prison• But Joseph always remained faithful to God

But in God’s timing the dream came to pass and Joseph was promoted from the prison to the palace in one day

After interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams we see Joseph being promoted:

“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” (Genesis 41:39-40)

2) God’s great mercy

The Apostle Paul wrote, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great

love with which He loved us,” (Ephesians 2:4)

King David wrote, “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,

slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalm 145:8-9)

In the book of Lamentations we read, “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not

consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

3) God can identify with our struggles

In the book of Hebrews we read, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has

passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)

4) God cares about our every single need in life

Jesus Himself said, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we

eat?’ Or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

5) God’s compassion for us at all times We see the compassion of Jesus in the gospels In the gospel of Matthew we read, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages,

teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”

“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”

(Matthew 9:35-36)

6) God’s desire is that our lives would bear much fruit - That our lives would make a great difference in this world for eternity

Jesus Himself said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and

appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (John 15:16)

7) For with God nothing will be impossible (No situation is ever impossible for God – When we

involve God in our struggles He is able to help us)

The Angel Gabriel said to Mary the mother of Jesus, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

Jesus Himself said, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you,

whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:22-24)

As Christians our heavenly Father knows what we have need of even before we ask Him for help. We can depend on God’s faithfulness.

God is both willing and able to help us in life

The word of the LORD came to the Prophet Jeremiah in prison, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

If we have need of wisdom and guidance in life we can be assured that God will help us

In the book of James we read, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,

who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)

8) For believers the best is yet to come (An eternal home with Jesus)

Jesus Himself said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God,

believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

So in conclusion we can walk in victory as believers secure in our relationship with the Lord because God loves us with a passion and is absolutely faithful.

As we continually trust the LORD in every area of our life we can be assured that all that He has planned for our life will come to pass.

I will finish with Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on

your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)