Over this past 10 month I’ve been ministered a lot by Him. And what am about to preach is a truth that has really moved me recently. My desire this morning is that this truth my also stir your soul and nourish your spirit as it has mine.
Let’s get right into it, so, to get us thinking, let’s start with a question
When you hear the word love, what’s the first thing that comes into your mind?
Maybe it’s your husband or wife. Maybe your children. Your parents. Your best friend. Maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend. Or maybe… it’s just your dog or a pet!
The funny thing is that everyone talks about love. We hear it everywhere.
“I love pizza.”
“I love football.” – especially now with the world cup.
“I love sleeping.”
“I love this weather.”
We use the word love so much that sometimes it almost loses its meaning.
But here’s another question.
How does the world define love?
Most people would probably say it’s a feeling. An emotion. Something you fall into… and sometimes fall out of. They might say, “If it makes me happy, then it must be love.”
But is that how God defines love?
Because if we’re going to learn about love, I don’t think we should ask Hollywood, social media, or even our own feelings. We should ask the One who created it in the first place.
And when we open the Bible, we discover something incredible.
The Bible doesn’t just tell us that God loves.
It tells us that God is love.
Everything else we know about love begins there.
So, this morning, I want us to look at what God’s Word teaches us about love!
The title of Today’s message is: From the Cross to the Heart
And there is no way to talk about how we should love or what love is, without first delving into God’s character, cause if we get that wrong, we may end up with a distorted understanding of Love
Point 1 – GOD IS LOVE
In the book of John, we have what I believe is the most well-known verse in the bible, and a very important one when speaking about God’s love.
John 3:16
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.
Let’s stop to think about this for a second.
We know that because of our sin, it is right for us to suffer the consequences of our sins, and we do!
But let us remember that God is a holy and righteous God, and because He is holy, He has no communion with Sin.
The bible says that nothing in this world can separate us from God – Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Absolutely nothing! However outside Christ Jesus there is one thing, sin!
Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear
Here we have humanities problem, and what a big problem it is, for man without God is destined to die.
That is why in Genesis, God clearly states this to Adam even before the fall.
Genesis 2:16
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Man, unfortunately sins as you know, and I imagine God looking at humanity (and for us to understand this, we must consider this from a lens of a father)
God looks at humanity and says how am I going to punish my own children, whom I love?
Who here is a parent? Who here has had their children disobey them?
And because of your child’s sin would you claim their lives as punishment? Over course not, why? Because you love your children.
If God was not looking at Adam, as a father looks to a son, but solely as a detached creator, it would have been much easier to have Adam (only 1x man) take the hit and to start process again.
But He is a loving God, He is the perfect father – He would not do that to his child. Even at genesis he was looking at me and at you!
And because of His Love for us, He gave his one and only son Jesus as a scapegoat to take upon himself the punishment that you and I deserve.
Amen – can you understand the depth of John 3:16. I could preach about this verse for hours.
Before I move on to the next point, I must address one misunderstanding that some people have.
Some and I have heard this a few times, may think that God is unloving because of the cross.
Do you honestly think that Jesus didn’t have a choice? It wouldn’t make any sense if that was the case.
The bible says that the father and the son are one. John 10:30.
The idea presented is that Jesus stood at the table of decision making!
In John 10: 17-18, Jesus is explicit in this affirmation!
17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
For illustration purposes, I imagine it going something like this. God the father, Jesus and the holy spirit holding a divine meeting. Adam has sinned; they are now faced with the decision of what they are going to do!
But the love of the father is pouring for humanity, the Son’s heart is full of love, the Holy’s Spirits heart is full of love. They are together in one perfect will, the is no hesitation!
Jesus willing says to the father, I will take their place; I will go before them and show them our Grace.
God the father, willing surrenders His son.
The Holy Spirit willing says I will be with them and dwell in them and guide them.
Beloved, there would never have been a cross if Jesus hadn’t stepped up! Jesus’s desire is to do the will of the father! John 4:34.
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
The fathers desire and Jesus’s desire were one and the same beloved!
Amen – we need to understand the depth of His love for us. He didn’t spare anything to save you, to have a relationship with you. Not even Himself!
In 1 John 4:8, we are present with an idea that God himself is Love, therefore if we ought to know Him, we should also Love!
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8
Which bring us to our second point,
Point 2 – LOVE IS A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
It’s a characteristic of those that are walking in fellowship with the holy spirit we have that is Galatians.
Galatians 5: 22 – 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
We’ve been speaking a lot about the Holy Spirit lately, and as you know the fruits is something that is developed by the spirit inside us.
Its progressive of course (increases with time), we’d expect newer Christians to have less fruits verses older more mature Christians. Although its not always the case, why?
Because fruit is a consequence of fellowship and surrender. So, if you spend 10 years in the church with no fellowship with the spirit you’ll have no fruit.
The bible says in Galatians 5:16
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want.
In other words, a Christian without fruits of the Spirit, without fellowship with the Holy Spirit, is literally and biblically a carnal Christian.
We need to wake up church to this understanding. Many of us are strugglingly with carnality, with anger, getting upset at others… know that this are signs that you need more fellowship with the spirit!
These are all carnal tendencies!
Amen, going back to Love as a fruit of the spirit. The bible tells us that Love is the foundation or basis upon which every other Christ like attribute stems from.
Without Love anything you do for God, is nothing but mere noise! Empty sounds!
1 Corinthian 13: 1-4
If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
This verse is self-explanatory. If our services to God, to the church or to others is not coming from a place of Love. It cannot and will not be counted as genuine and won’t be accepted by God.
What the bible is showing us here and what I believe God wants to open our understanding to is that many of us are falling into the trap of doing things to show off, or to boast.
And we have to be careful with that.
And how do we know if what we doing is coming from a place of Love or not. It’s quite simple.
Let’s read the rest of 1 Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-6
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
All we have to do is align with this beloved. If we have fellowship with the spirit these things will be natural in my life and your life.
Ask yourself these pertinent questions right now.
Are you a patient person? Are you a kind person?
Do you dishonour others? Parents how do you treat your children? children are you obedient to your parents?
Beloved, how is your temper? Are you easily angered? Do you tend to hold grudges?
The answer to these questions will reveal whether you have Love or not!
Amen!
This all leads my final point
Point 3 – LOVING ONE ANOTHER
Out of all the fruits of the spirit, I believe Love is the one that manifests the most in our dealings with each other.
In fact, we are instructed to Love each other as a commandment! Why?
I started this preaching today speaking about the depth of the Love of the father; this same love is what the Father desires for us all to have when interacting with each other.
1 John 4:11,12
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
So, we should love one another for two very clear and specific reason.
- We are so Loved by the father, because of that we should reflect this Love to others
- In obedience to God’s Commandment.
The Lord Jesus places Loving God & our neighbours as the two most important commandments. In fact, He states that if we fulfil this, we’ll fulfil all other commandments.
Matthew 22:37-40
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Amen Church, Love is a fundamental attribute a Christian most hold. Without it, nothing that you do is worth anything.
It needs come from a genuine place. It is not forced.
Some people are very loving and kind in the church! but at home.. it is another story why, it’s forced, it’s not genuine!
We should ask ourselves, what is our go to emotion! fundamentally we are what we react to instinctively in a stressful/difficult situation.
Imagine someone cutting in front of you in the traffic – what do you do instinctively?
How do you react? Do you honk the horn? Shout? get frustrated? Call the person names?
What is your go to emotion, when someone at work is rude to you! – do you crucify the person? Curse the person, given back as good as you got?
None of these behaviours demonstrate Love! – Why do I give extreme examples? because it is easy to love someone who shows you love, isn’t it.
Fact is the bible tell us to love; it doesn’t tell us to expect love from others.
It tells us to honour people but does not tell us to expect honour from others.
It tells us to serve others but does not tell us to expect to be server by others.
Why? Back to point number 1 today, God loves you so much!
God has a place of honour for you and me. God orders His angels to attend to our needs; the Holy Spirit is consistently with us!
The bible says:
1 Corinthians 2:9
“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”[b]— the things God has prepared for those who love him—
Beloved every honour, love and service that you deserve and don’t deserve by the way, is freely given to you in the His presence. You don’t need to get upset when people around you don’t correspond to love you are giving,
Because He already did!
That is why I become very sad beloved, when I hear that there are problems in relationship among you. People not talking to another, people disrespecting each other, people wanting to stand out and is getting upset because they are not given the space.
None of these behaviours or thought processes comes from a place of Love. A Christian who holds a grudge against another, doesn’t understand Love. Doesn’t understand redemption, doesn’t understand fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Let me remind you, that a relationship can only exists between two or more people. No man is an island. I say this because many like to say, no it’s the other person that hurt me, no it’s the other person who did this or did that.
And many like to use that excuse to hold a grudge. Matthew 5:44, Jesus tells us to Love our enemies to pray for them.
Romans 12:18 says,
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
The bible the whole time is instructing us to take the initiative and ensure we are well with others.
Conclusion
I preach this message to you today with a very fearful heart. I too am human. I get sore when others hurt me. I feel it.
I can get tired; I can get discouraged. Know that before ministering this message to you, I was ministered by the spirit many times in my life.
And while it can be difficult to Love like the bible tells us to Love. The revelation of the Love the father makes it all easier.
The bible says that His Love compels us. 2 Corinthians 5:14, it inspires us to Love.
And you’ll only have this revelation, if you have communion with the Holy Spirit, cause He is the one revealing these mysteries to us. Hold fast onto Him!
Many times, I’ve been reminded by the father of His amazing Love. Many times, when I was “right” and being stubborn, or my flesh wanted to rebel, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the cross.
And to finish, know that one of the biggest marks you could leave in this earth is you your love for others.
You can do many things, preach like no one else, sing like no one else, be smarter than anyone else.
But if you want to co-operate with God, and touch people’s life, you need to love one another.
John 13:35
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Church…
We don’t prove we’re Christians because we know Scripture.
We don’t prove we’re Christians because we sing loudly.
We don’t prove we’re Christians because we preach.
Jesus said the world will know we belong to Him by one thing…
Our love.
Imagine church the impact you and I would have if we left this place today with this understanding.
Imagine if we could interact with unbelievers, who know nothing about the bible, and they become interested in having what you have because of much love you’ve shown them.
Wouldn’t that glorify God?
Imagine your marriage, your household if the love of Christ, this fruit of the spirit was constantly in your lips when you speak with your wife, your husband, your parents and your children.
Wouldn’t that strength your household and glorify God?
The love the Father is pouring out of us today!, you and I have a decision to make today!
Let us seek out this love in His presence, let us develop this intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit.
If you’ve been in the church a while and after hearing this message you’ve understood that you are still lacking in understanding, your still lacking in communion with Him.