Who Loves You?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 8th of December, 2024, the 2nd Sunday of Advent.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

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

Family, today we step 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 home in paradise forever, and the love of Jesus for us, that He would suffer a horrible beating for us, 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 passage I was led to for this morning is part of what I usually read in funeral services because it clearly illustrates the love of God, especially toward His adopted children - we believers.  This comes from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, written during his third missionary journey as a sort of introduction to the church that he hoped to visit and minister to.

It is highly unlikely that Paul himself founded this church, based on the nature of his letter, and since the church was already widely known at the time of his writing to them.  And we can’t really say that Paul’s experiences in Rome were all that pleasant, as he was imprisoned there twice and finally executed there.  But in this somewhat formal letter, Paul gives us his doctrine of justification by faith and its ramifications, with the main theme being the righteousness of God.

What I want to look at today is our relationship to God, or, perhaps more aptly, His relationship to us.  Please listen and follow along to the message the Apostle Paul sent to the church in Rome, and to us, in verses 28 through 39 of the 8th chapter of his Letter to the Romans, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. 29 For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory.

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one — for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For Your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

--Romans 8:28-39 (NLT)

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 the darkness of our 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 we just slip back into our old ways.  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 grasp the message You have for us this day.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, our worship, and our service.  And please keep us healthy and safe in the hectic days ahead.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

I've used this little anecdote before, but I love the truth it tells.  “A certain medieval monk announced he would be preaching next Sunday evening on ‘The Love of God’.  As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered.  In the darkness of the altar, the monk lighted a candle and carried it to the crucifix.  First of all, he illumined the crown of thorns.  Next, the two wounded hands.  And then the marks of the spear wound.  In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the chancel.  There was nothing more to say.”

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  And that is exactly what He did for us.  But He did so much more, He suffered so much more, and just for us!

For three years He bore the brunt of persecution and accusations from the Jewish religious leaders who constantly questioned His every move and motive.  Finally, they drummed up some fake charges and had Him arrested and turned over to the Roman authorities for trial.  He was severely beaten, insulted, spit on, publicly humiliated at their hands.  And then His own people, who had just a week earlier cheered His entry into Jerusalem, cried out for His death.  He was nailed to a rough cross, there to suffer one of the most horrible forms of execution mankind has devised.

All for us.  He went through all this, He suffered all this, not for His own sake, but just for us.  Just for you and for me.  Just for our redemption.  Greater love indeed.

Who loves you?

When I came up with that as a title for this message, I remembered the old TV show “Kojak” and its title character played by Telly Savalas whose catch phrase was, “Who loves ya, baby?”.  And that brought back memories of a 1970’s hit by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, also titled “Who Loves You”.  That one may be a little more appropriate.  The lyrics include, “Who loves you, pretty baby?  Who's gonna help you through the night?  Who's always there to make it right?  When tears are in your eyes and you can't find the way, it's hard to make believe you're happy when you're gray, when you're feelin' like you'll never see the mornin' light…  Come to me.”

Doesn’t that sound like something God would say?  Even when we don’t think we can make it through the night, God is always there to make things right.  All we have to do is come to Him.

Our responsive reading this morning comes from the 4th chapter of the Apostle John’s letter to the early church and speaks of God’s love for us, and also how we should respond to that love by loving others.  This is what Jesus commanded us, that we love one another.  That is not usually very easy to do.  We humans struggle with this, even among family members.  Sadly, not all mothers and fathers love their children like we would think they should.

But we have a Father in heaven who loves all His children.  In that 1st letter John wrote to the early church, the Apostle reassures us of this love in the first three verses of chapter 3, when he writes…

1 See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure.

--1 John 3:1-3 (NLT)

But the greatest testimony to God’s love comes from Jesus Himself, the One who clearly showed us God’s love through His own life, suffering, death, and resurrection.  Hear those well-known words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in private one night, as recorded by John in the 3rd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 16 and 17…

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”

--John 3:16-17 (NLT)

God loves the world, the whole world, and He wants everyone to be saved.

I used to do a lot of woodworking, and now do a goodly bit of 3D printing, and I’ve truly loved some of the things I’ve crafted over the years.  And I know some of you have talents and hobbies and together we can make all kinds of things.  But not everything we make comes out right, does it.  Sometimes the saw slips or we measure wrong and the intended jewelry box becomes kindling.  Or the printer filament binds up and messes up the print.  Or we burn the cookies or forget to grease the cake pan.  Some of our creations just don’t come out right and we can’t really bring ourselves to love them.

But God loves all of His creation.  He loves all of us, and He wants all of us to be with Him forever, even though He knows that won’t happen.  There are some people – too many people – who refuse to believe in Jesus, who won’t accept Him as Lord, who turn their head when offered the hand of salvation, even as they sink below the waves of sin.  God still loves them, because He is a good Father.

Who loves us?  God loves us, because 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 gave of Himself for 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 comes our way.

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.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.