AGAPE LOVE

Think about all of the people who love you. It is a great feeling to be loved isn’t it! I have been blessed with great people in my life who love me. None of them compares to the love of God.

Karl Barth was arguably the greatest theologian of the twentieth century. His twelve-volume Church Dogmatics, alone consists of over ten pages of systematic theology. Toward the end of his life, Barth made a tour of the United States, where he had the opportunity to speak at several of our nation’s premier universities. During a Q & A at one university asked what is thought to be an impossible question to answer. She asked if Dr. Barth could in one sentence summarize all of his extensive writings of theology and church history. One professor stated that they were dismayed that such a trifling question would be asked of such a brilliant scholar. After a moment, Dr. Barth turned to the student and said; “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

We are talking about a certain kind of love. It is called agape love. It is an unconditional type of love. Scripture teaches that this heavenly love, is for anyone. God loves you and it does not matter if you love him in return.

Madlyn Murray O’hair in 1963, established the American Atheist Association, she was ultimately the one who got prayer banned from public schools. She claimed to be anti-religion. However, at the end of the day she just did not like Jesus. There is a video of her on national television explaining why we should be able to use four letter words in public. The basis of this is for the fact that the church is against four letter words and therefore more of them should be used. In 1995, she was murdered and in her diary they found a page where she had written: “Somebody, somewhere, please love me”. She wanted to know that there was someone out there who loved her. I do not know if at the end she received Christ. What I do know for fact though, is that there was someone who loved her and Jesus was his name. 

God’s love is a sacrificial love.  John 15:13 says, “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down their life for a friend”. Billy Graham describes it as a selfless love, a deliberate decision to put others ahead of ourselves.

We see sacrificial love from our troops, firemen, members of law enforcement – so many people willing to lay it all on the line for a stranger. We See it from God, The Father! God’s Love for the world is seen from Genesis to Revelation. He Loved us so much, he sent his Son Jesus to suffer and die.

We see it when Jesus Cries out, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me)”. 

We see it from Christ! Christ gave up heaven to come be where we are.  Jesus left streets of gold, to walk the dusty streets. He left a place of Joy for a place of suffering. He traded out a crystal sea for muddy rivers. He gave up fellowship with the father for a last supper with his disciples. He left glory to carry a cross and to die. There is no greater sacrifice!

Why does Christ go to such length to show his love? It was exactly what had to happen! It was necessary for the fullness of God’s love for humanity to be realized. It tells us just how much we are loved. 

God’s love is an eternal love.  John 14:3 tells us that, “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also”.

You have to love someone alot if you want to spend forever with them. There are some people you do not want to spend a day with let alone forever.  Jesus loves you enough  that he said: “All those that are min, I want them to be with me”. One of these days we will trade out earth for eternity.

God’s love is not up one day and down the next. It is steadfast and consistent. We love our pets. We love our friends. We love ice cream. We are confused by the words “love” and “lust”. Instead of saying, “I want this for my pleasure”; we say, “I love you”.

God’s love did not begin with something we said or done. It is not based on our performance or how well we do. It was love at first sight. God loves His children, because they are his Children. Just like a mothers child, will always be their child – no matter how old they get.

God’s love began before the foundation of the earthGod created us out of a heart of love. In love, we are called to be his children. He chose us before the foundation of the earth to be in Him.

God’s love is a forgiving love. Psalms 130 is an example of this forging love.  “If You considered sins, Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be revered”. If God kept a record of our sins, we could never stand before him.

Isn’t it great that there is no record of our sin! There was a seminary student in Chicago who faced a forgiveness test. Although he wanted to work in some kind of ministry, the only job he could find was driving a bus on Chicago’s south side. One day a gang of tough teens got on board and refused to pay the fare. After a few days of this, the seminarian spotted a policeman on the corner, stopped the bus, and reported them. The officer made them pay, but then he got off. When the bus rounded a corner, the gang robbed the seminarian and beat him severely. He pressed charges and the gang was rounded up. They were found guilty. But as soon as the jail sentence was given, the young Christian saw their spiritual need and felt pity for them. So he asked the judge if he could serve their sentences for them. The gang members and the judge were dumbfounded. “It’s because I forgive you,” he explained. His request was denied, but he visited the young men in jail and led several of them to faith in Christ.

Love motivated this kind of behavior. This is what the love of Christ looks like. God always forgives, though at times we hold grudges. It is hard to forgive, especially if we have been wronged. He never fails to forgive. Just like he forgave the thief on the cross. When Christ said, “This day you will be with me in paradise”.

Agape love is a saving love. “For God so Loved the World that whosoever…”. It is not just the Jews! It is not just the wealthy! It is everyone! He loves every individual man and every individual woman of every nation and dialect, across every ethnic group and political boundary.

DO NOT get this confused with universalism. Not everyone will be saved. There will be people in heaven that maybe we did not expect and there will be people not there that we thought were in christ.

When Jesus said, “I never knew you” in Matthew 7, he was talking to pastors, church members, people who have to the church and worked for the church.

This is not salvation by commandment keeping. Only those who receive the saving love of Christ and make him their Lord, will be saved.

Today, the penalty of sin is not on me. The weight of sin is not on me. The wrath of God is not one me. The Judgement is not upon me.  Jesus lifted me from all of this things when I made a personal decision to say, “I believe and receive”. 

God Saving Love is for “whosoever will”. We make a huge deal with the “elect” and “whosoever will” arguments. I’m not getting into Calvinism. We have one group that wants to ensure that God is not blamed for the lost and the second wants to ensure God is credited for the saved. There is more to this, but for purposes of this passage, it says “whosoever” – meaning anyone. God will save anyone who repents and makes Him their Lord. 

The God who gave His son, will not forsake us halfway to heaven. It is a perpetual love. The plan has always been that the believer “should not perish”. John 6:39, “This is the will of Him who sent me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise them up on the last day”. God began a work in us and he will bring it to completion, because of his faithfulness.

God’s faithfulness is the only basis of confidence we have of salvation. The cross shows us God’s deepest heart toward sinners. The resurrection shows us God’s verdict on Jesus’ saving work.

God’s saving love is profuse – it washes away every pebble of human ability, sufficiency and merit. He gave himself for the helpless, not the adequate. He died for those who are against him. He died for Madlyn Murray O’hair, the same way he died for Billy Graham.

His death on the cross accomplished our redemption. 2,000 years ago this child was born and He lived on this earth for some 12,000 days. By God’s grace we can accept it, trust in it, rely on it and commit ourselves to it – for the rest of our lives and for all eternity.

God’s love is an abiding love. Abide is an old English word that means to “stay steady”, “remain”, and to “keep your position”. It means to be continually in touch with God.  John Piper says, “Hour-by-hour abiding in Jesus means hour – by – hour trusting him to meet all your needs and be all nour treasure”.

We see abiding love in John 15: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me”. God is the vine in which we the branches can grow on. He is our roots. We are a part of Him. You see when we abide in Christ we are more than just a member of Chimney Rock Baptist Church or whatever church your membership is held by.

It is more than walking through those doors on Sunday morning. It is being a part of the bride of Christ, the spiritual church. 

There are three things required in abiding love! It requires action from us. We are to walk by faith. It is our dependence on Jesus. It is a love where our faith is in Christ and in return he supplies all our needs. That is how much he loves us. 

Psalms 23 teaches us that we are to: lie down in green pastures – sheep best rest. He leads us beside still waters – so we don’t fall in and drown. He leads me along the right path. He comforts us and makes our cup overflow

We are to spend focused time in The Lord. Do you have time with the Lord? Just as a couple or husband and wife have a date night, The Lord wants his time! Rev. Cleavant Derricks in the midst of the Great Depression penned these words: “I once was lost in sin but Jesus took me in and then a little light from heaven filled my soul. He bathed my heart in love and He wrote my name above and just a little talk with Jesus makes me whole”. 

We have to spend time with our father, we have to talk to him. We do that through prayer. In prayer and quiet meditation is where we can best hear from the God who loves us. It requires us to be active Christians. Actively sharing the gospel – wouldn’t you want to tell your friends about a love like this!

Conclusion

I wish we could break more of this down. It is great to be able to talk about the Love of God. But you know, if I was only able to preach one more message, it would be on this very subject. It would be to declare the love of God, the fathers heart for you. You see he demonstrated that on calvary for you. Today, just let the love of God wash over you and allow it to embrace you as a child of the king.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed  upon us, that we should be called sons of God.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend.

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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today, your name is written down on the palm of his hand. Jesus loves, Jesus is passionate for you but today, can you say that your sins have been washed by the love of God. That if you were to die today, you would be with him in paradise. I pray you can say yes.