Redeeming Love

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 10th of December and the 2nd Sunday in Advent, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, today we enter into the second week of Advent.  Last week we embraced the hope that God gave the world when He sent His Son Jesus to redeem us of our sin by the sacrifice of the Spotless Lamb.

This, my brothers and sisters, is the ultimate act of love – the love of God for the world and all mankind, that we might be reconciled with Him and live in His paradise forever, and the love of Jesus for us, that He would allow His mortal life to be ended, His blood to be shed, just for our salvation.  Today we celebrate this love, this wonderful, sacrificial, undeserved love.

The scripture passages I was led to for this morning comes from three different places and two different authors of the Gospel accounts.  All three passages are the words of Jesus, with the first as recorded by the beloved Apostle John, the second recorded by the Apostle Mark, and the third by John again.  You can see the book, chapter, and verse numbers in your bulletin and on the screens.

But before we get to that, I like us to remember a time much earlier, as Moses led the children of Israel through the wilderness.  Very often during this 40 year hike, the people rebelled against God and against the leadership of Moses.  They cursed Moses for making them leave Egypt just to die in the wilderness, seemingly forgetting their previous lives as slaves.

One of these times, God decided to give them a little lesson, just to make a point.  He sent poisonous snakes into their camps to bite them.  Some versions describe them as fiery serpents because the venom from their bites would burn like fire and bring death to the victim, and many of the people died.  Realizing this was a direct result of their sin against God, the people pleaded with Moses to pray for relief.

God responded by telling Moses to cast a serpent out of bronze and lift it up on a pole.  Anyone who had been bitten could simply look upon that serpent and they would not die.  Just look upon the uplifted serpent and be saved.  I wanted to give us this little reminder because Jesus refers to that incident in our reading.

So without further ado, let’s hear what our Lord has to say this morning.  Please listen and follow along as our Lord Jesus speaks to us about love, as I read from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

J3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 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. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

M12:30 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

J13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

--John 3:14-17; Mark 12:30-31; John 13:34-35 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You sent Your Christ Jesus into the world to offer salvation to all of mankind if we would only truly believe in Him, and in believing, to follow Him.  Thank You, Father, for loving the world so much that You would send Your only begotten Son to rescue us from darkness and sin.  We believe in Jesus as Your Christ and we do try to follow Him and do as He commands.  But sometimes, Father, the pressures of life overwhelm us and, like those ancient Israelis, we rebel against You.  We forget what our life was like before Your freed us from slavery to sin.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Help us stand stronger in the face of adversity.  You’ve shown us Your love, now please help us show our love by being better servants.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand what You tell us this day.  Please protect us from those who serve Satan and carry out his evil deeds.  And Father, please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

The source of what I am about to relate to you is unknown, but it is very fitting to today's theme:

Dr. Mitchell was impressing upon us that we are not under the Law when we're in Christ, but we're under a new law -- the law of LOVE.  He used this to illustrate:  In America there is a law stating a woman must take care of her child.  So, a man comes to a new mother's home.  He says, "Are you taking care of your baby?  The Law says you have to."  The woman, tenderly holding her baby, said, "I don't need a law to make me take care of my baby."  Why?  Because she loves her baby!  She feeds him, holds him, changes him because she loves him.  I no longer need the Law because I'm under Christ -- a law of love.

God gave us ten simple commands, handed down by Moses as the Law.  And almost immediately we began to break them.  We create idols in our lives, things that we devote our time and resources to, things we cherish above all others, things we worship.  We harbor hatred in our heart for those not like us, who don’t agree with us, who don’t look like us.  We envy others for what they have that we don’t have, for the better life we think they enjoy, for their nicer, newer things.

God knew we could never fully obey His Law, but He loves us just like that new mother loves her child.  So He sent His own Son Jesus to fulfill the Law for us.  God sent His love in the person of Jesus.  We who believe are now under the law of love.  Let us live the love of Christ, the law of love.

The first part of our scripture reading contains the most well-known verse in all the Bible: John 3:16.  But it also contains the reference I spoke of earlier, and there is a reason Jesus mentioned it.

Think for a moment about the premise of that event.  Here were people, probably in the thousands, who had been bitten by poisonous snakes and were suffering horrible pain and dying.  And what were they told could cure them?  Simply look up at the bronze replica of the snakes that bit them that had been erected on a pole.  How silly does that sound?!?  But it worked, and those that did look upon the bronze serpent were cured and saved.  This worked because God said it would.  It worked through faith, through the belief that what God said would indeed happen.

So Jesus is making two points by bringing this up.  The first is that He will soon be lifted up on a pole, too, just like that bronze serpent.  He will be lifted up on a cross.

And the second goes along with the first.  Those who have the faith in Jesus, who believe that God gave Him to the world that the world might be saved, those who look upon Him with faith and belief will be spared from death and saved.  This is God’s love for us, that He would give us the faith to believe, and that He would give us Jesus to have faith in.

And then Mark recorded Jesus reminding us of the greatest commandment, to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.  God has proven His love for us; so now we should give our love to Him in return.  Our full love – heart, mind, soul, and body.

And how do we show Him our love?  By loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.  Jesus says this is the second greatest commandment.  This should tell us that the most important thing we can do is to love – to love God and to love each other.  And Jesus confirms this in the last part of our reading when He gives us a new commandment to love one another.  We are to love one another just as He loves us: unconditionally, sacrificially.

Now we have to be a little careful not to read that last passage too casually.  When Jesus tells us that folks will know we are His followers if we love each other, some may take that to mean we only have to love other believers.  Well, Jesus Himself clarifies this, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 6 verses 27 through 37 of his Gospel account…

27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."

--Luke 6:27-37 (NKJV)

We are to not only love other believers, but also our enemies, even those who hate us.  We are to bless those who curse us, and pray for those who use us for their own gain.  If we just love those who love us, then we’re no different from the rest of the world.

And our Golden Rule is in there.  Did you hear it?  “Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”  We are to love and be kind just as God loves and is kind, even to the unthankful and the evil.  We are to be merciful, just as God is merciful.  After all, where would we be if God had not extended His mercy upon us?

One way to look at this is that our love should not be fickle.  We shouldn’t choose who we going to love, who we’re going to help, and especially not based on how much they love us or might be able to help us in return.  No, our love should be more like God’s love.  Hear what the prophet Isaiah has to say about God’s redeeming, unfailing love, from chapter 63 of the book bearing his name, verses 7 through 9…

7 I will tell of the Lord’s unfailing love.

I will praise the Lord for all He has done.

I will rejoice in His great goodness to Israel,

which He has granted according to His mercy and love.

8 He said, “They are My very own people.

Surely they will not betray Me again.”

And He became their Savior.

9 In all their suffering He also suffered,

and He personally rescued them.

In His love and mercy He redeemed them.

He lifted them up and carried them

through all the years.

--Isaiah 63:7-9 (NLT)

God knew that Israel would indeed betray Him again, as they did when they betrayed His Son, sent to save them all.  But yet, He loved them still.  He became their Savior, sending them His Christ.  In their suffering He suffered.  He shares in our suffering, too.  And in His vast love and mercy He redeemed us.  He lifts us up when we have stumbled and fallen.  He carries us in His arms all the years of our lives.

God is good.  His love, poured out through Christ Jesus, redeems us of our sin and sets us free.  Let us love our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength.  And let us love all others as much as we love ourselves, as much as Jesus loves us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came to us, to redeem us, because God loves us.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for having mercy upon us when we are unmerciful.  Thank You for loving us when we are unlovable.  Thank You for the redeeming love You sent in the person of Your Christ, Your Son, Jesus.  Father, we admit that too often we fail to love as we should.  Too many times we allow our biases, our hatreds, our intolerances to get in the way of our love, blocking it from those who may need it the most.  Forgive us those times, please Father.  Please show us how to give of ourselves, to give of our love freely, unconditionally, sacrificially, just as Jesus loves us.  And please help us share our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to us as an expression, a sign, of our Father God’s love.  You showed Your love of the Father by doing everything He asked of You.  And because of Your love for us, we are redeemed.  Thank You, Jesus, for washing us clean of our sin.  Thank You for showing us what love looks like.   Please help us, dear Lord - help us be more like You.  Help us love all others, even those who hate us and wish us harm.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us the deeds to do to lead the lost to You.

And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.