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But no one can be in the presence of the God of the crucified Messiah for long without overcoming this double exclusion — without transposing the enemy from the sphere of the monstrous… into the sphere of shared humanity and herself from the sphere of proud innocence into the sphere of common sinfulness. A Tale of the Christ.
We can fully embrace God's love only when we recognize how completely unworthy of it we are. Perhpas because we tend to hold to ideas about God that reflect our own suppositions and fears, more than God's self-revelation. We reduce God to our own dimensions, ascribing to him our own reactions and responses, especially our own petty and conditional kind of love, and so end up believing in a God cast in our own image and likeness. But the true God, the living God, is entirely "other":. Precisely from this radical otherness derives the inscrutable and transcendent nature of divine love-- for which our limited human love is but a distant metaphor.
God's love is much more than our human love simply multiplied and expanded. God's love for us will ever be mystery; unfathomable, awesome, entirely beyond human expectation. Precisely because God's love is something "no eyes has seen, nor ear heard nor the heart of man conceived" 1 Cor 2: To this end she invites us: It is a daily reminder of how far we have come, yet still short of who we can be through HIS guidance. There is no end.
God's grief is founded in His love for Himself and His love for us. Looking at God as our model is healthy. Facing the pain means honoring those with whom our love is rooted. Walking is a spiritual journey and a reflection of living. Should you feel personally loved this way this morning and later on today and tomorrow morning?
Or should it remain a kind of general, great, historic wonder that you look at from a distance with admiration—like the depths of the Grand Canyon? The answer is given by the testimony of the same writer, Paul, in Galatians 2: The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. This is what the apostle and the Lord himself are calling you to this morning.
To see the depths of the love of Christ for you. To believe the love that he has for you. And to send the roots of your life down, down, down into this bottomless love. And say with Paul,. The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me [me, personally], and gave himself for me.
The Depth of Christ's Love: And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Review If love for one another is going to flourish and grow in our church, we must be rooted more deeply in love. There's a phrase in 1 John 4: We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. Focusing on the Depth of Christ's Love for Us Because of all that, here's the plan for the next four weeks. First, we know the depth of someone's love for us by what it costs him: So we will see the depth of Christ's love by the greatness of what it cost him.
Second, we know the depth of someone's love for us by how little we deserve it. If we have treated him well all our life, and have done all that he expects of us, then when he loves us, it will not prove as much love as it would if he loved us when we had offended him, and shunned him, and disdained him.
The more undeserving we are, the more amazing and deep is his love for us. So we will see the depth of Christ's love in relation to how undeserving are the objects of his love Romans 5: Third, we know the depth of someone's love for us by the greatness of the benefits we receive in being loved. If we are helped to pass an exam, we will feel loved in one way. If we are helped to get a job, we will feel loved another way.
If we are helped to escape from an oppressive captivity and given freedom for the rest of our life, we will feel loved another way. And if we are rescued from eternal torment and given a place in the presence of God with fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore, we will know a depth of love that surpasses all others 1 John 3: So we will see the depth of Christ's love by the greatness of the benefits we receive in being loved by him. Fourth, we know the depth of someone's love for us by the freedom with which they love us. If a person does good things for us because someone is making him, when he doesn't really want to, then we don't think the love is very deep.
Love is deep in proportion to its liberty. There were legal constraints. But if your Sunday School class makes all your meals for a month after your spouse dies, and someone calls you every day, and visits you every week, then you call it love, because they don't have to do this. It is free and willing. So we will see the depth of Christ's love for us in his freedom: Be sure to see four plain and wonderful things here. First, be sure you see that Paul is showing us the depth of Christ's love for you.
Second, notice that the cost of his love was himself —his life.
It was not just money or time or energy or inconvenience or even suffering; it was the full extent of sacrifice. Third, notice that this love and this self-giving was for you. Paul is talking about believers Ephesians 2: He gave himself for you. Finally, notice that God the Father was pleased with this act of self-sacrificing love. God loves the Son's love of us. An Illustration of Costly Love Sometimes we are so familiar with spectacular it doesn't move us as it should.
Some of the most inspirational quotes and Bible verses are those talking about the love of God. This attribute of God is one that makes me smile. What comfort. 25 of the best Christian quotes about love from some of the most famous Christian authors and pastors.
Jesus Was Young First of all, he was young too. He Was Sinless and Perfect, the Most Worthy of Living Third, he was the most kind and caring and wise and courageous man who ever lived. Consider Also What the Sacrifice Involved And consider now not only the life that Jesus sacrificed for us, but consider also what the sacrifice involved.
And say with Paul, The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me [me, personally], and gave himself for me. Get Desiring God in Your Inbox A nightly brief of new resources, and peeks behind the scenes from our editorial team Subscribe. Peace and calm are not the only factors in determining what we should do.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them.
But the greatest of these is love.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. God's love is much more than our human love simply multiplied and expanded. So for four weeks climaxing on Easter Sunday I want to direct our attention to the depth of Christ's love for us. The love that God has for us is the ground of our becoming loving people. The Bible is the only true source for the definition of marriage and roles of husband and wife. You know the ones.
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Now remain in my love. Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Bible Verses About Loving Your Enemies The idea of loving and forgiving our enemies sounds completely ridiculous at times. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.