We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 3 of 5)

Hello Friends!

Welcome back to part two of “We love Him because He first loved Us.”

Let’s continue our study with the third lesson: THE PARTICULARITY OF HIS SAVING WORK…

We love Him because He first loved Us (Part 3 of 5)

We’ve reached lesson three. Our verse “We love Him, because He first loved us.” not only highlights the perverseness of our fallen state and teaches us about the priority of God’s electing choice; thirdly, it shows us His saving work.

What do I mean by that? Look at the verse again: “We love Him, because He first loved us.” Those words express John’s conviction that God has done something special for us. “We love Him… ” but not everyone loves Him. God has done something on our behalf and in our hearts that He does not do for everyone. He has demonstrated a particular love for us.

The apostle John was always keenly aware of this fact. He gloried in the knowledge that Jesus’ love for him was a special love. That is the implication of his favorite self description: 

…that disciple whom Jesus loved – John 21:7

John used that phrase again and again because he delighted in the knowledge that Christ loved him in particular. God had redeemed him in particular. He was not merely the beneficiary of a general goodwill that God has for all creation; he was convinced that Christ’s love for him was personal and special. Jesus loved him in particular. 

You know what? Every born-again person will say that. He loves me in particular. He loves me with a special love. I’m not merely a dog, licking up the crumbs of God’s general love for all mankind. I am one of the children He has seated at His table. Every believer could refer to himself, as the apostle John did, as “That guy whom Jesus loves.” 

By the way, I do believe with all my heart that God has a general love of God for everyone in the human race:

The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works – Psalm 145:9

Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things – Acts 17:25

Those are tokens of a genuine goodwill and loving kindness that extends to everyone who was ever born. This is known as general grace. In fact, God even loves His enemies:

that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust – Matthew 5:45

Yet God’s love for the elect is a particular love. He loves them with the love of a Father for His own children. He loves them each uniquely. He loves them in a special way. His love for them is the highest and most sacred kind of love known to man. No greater love can possibly be extended to any creature. And that great love is manifest in a particular way. It is a sacrificial kind of love that will stop at nothing to preserve its object. Jesus Christ’s love moved Him to give His life for His friends:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends – John 15:13

The proof of His electing love—and the thing that lovingly guarantees the salvation of His people—is the atoning work of Christ. Look back a few verses:

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins – 1 John 4:9-10

God the Father gave Christ the Son to die for them in order to be a propitiation for their sins. That simply means He satisfied justice on their behalf. He satisfied the wrath of God on their behalf. He bore their guilt and shame. He died in their place and in their stead, so that they wouldn’t have to suffer the penalty for their own sins. He bore the wrath of God on their behalf. He paid in full the penalty of their sins. He was their substitute. He died for them in particular. 

So let’s talk about “limited atonement.” Some of you may be thinking, now there’s a doctrine not every Christian presupposes! Actually, I think anyone who believes the atonement was substitutionary presupposes this doctrine of the atonement. Jesus Christ suffered in my place and in my stead. He wasn’t such a substitute for Judas’s punishment, because if what Jesus said about Judas is true, Judas is in hell this very moment, bearing the wrath of God for himself. I personally don’t like the expression “limited atonement,” because it suggests that the atonement is limited in its sufficiency.

No true Christian believes that. If you have the idea that there is a limit on the value or sufficiency of the atonement, forget that idea. Anyone who denies that Christ’s death was sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world is not thinking Biblically. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was infinite in its sufficiency. The death of Jesus Christ is infinitely sufficient and that one sacrifice could have atoned for the sins of the whole world – if that had been God’s design. 

But was that God’s design? Or was the central and supreme object of His death the salvation of those whom God had loved with a special love from before the foundation of the world? I believe those questions are definitively settled forever by the Apostle Paul:

We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe – 1 Timothy 4:10

In the design of God, the atoning work of Christ has a special significance for the elect, because it was the means by which He secured and guaranteed their salvation forever:

The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep – John 10:11

And most believers would affirm the basic gist of that truth – Jesus Christ’s atonement is efficacious only for those who actually believe.

Notice: when John writes, “We love Him, because He first loved us,” he is addressing those who were the particular objects of Christ’s redemptive work. Look once again at verse 9:

 

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him – 1 John 4:9

This was the object of God in the death of His Son: “that we might live through Him.” He undertook this saving work for us in particular, because we are special objects of His eternal love...

 

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate lesson #4…

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Blessings!

Shane <><

Storm Out of the Room

7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. Esther 7

Esther just squealed on Haman to the king.  The king was furious at hearing about how Haman had decreed that all the Jews were to be killed, which included Esther.  The king left the banquet in a rage.  He couldn't look at Haman, or even be in the same room with him.

Have you ever been angry enough where you stormed out of a room?  I'll admit that I have.  Looking back, it wasn't one of my finer moments, and I am sure that I could have handled things a little better, but in the heat of the moment, I was dumbstruck and couldn't think of anything other than a need to get away.  Conversely, have you ever made someone angry enough that they stormed out of a room?  

I'll argue that each of us have done some terrible things that could have made someone so angry and disappointed in us, that they should have walked out of the room, and yet, they didn't.  When was the last time you sinned against God?  Does he blow up at you and storm out of your life?  Not at all.  He is great and merciful, and he will remain there.  He may be disappointed and he may even be angry, but he has unconditional love for us and he will always remain.  We will mess up, it's a part of our nature, but God is the ever-constant.  He will always love us, no matter what we do.

Glorious!

What’s the most glorious thing you’ve ever seen? A beautiful garden, sunrise, ocean, mountain range, waterfall, or sunset?

Even with the presence of sin in this world, the earth is still full of God’s glory. (Isaiah 6:3 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”) I marvel at the uniqueness throughout creation. In fact, a few weeks ago Joe and I were on a walk and noticed a unique cloud cluster. Most of the sky above us was clear blue, but the large cloud cluster to the South of us caught our attention. Later, as we were finishing our walk and almost home, we saw the cloud cluster light up and then light up again in another spot. Flashes of lightening were streaking the clouds over and over again. We didn’t hear the thunder, but stopped and took in the natural “fireworks” display for several minutes. We’ve never seen anything like it! Once inside, Joe looked up the nearest storm and found one over Sandusky, over 2 hours away. What amazing power displayed within just a group of clouds and water!

Can you imagine what it will be like when Jesus returns in full glory for all to see?

Matthew 25:31-34       ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

I can’t imagine how glorious the new heaven and new earth will be, the kingdom prepared for believers since the creation of the world! All the marvelous wonders on this earth won’t even begin to compare with what is yet to come. So, if you are a believer, don’t worry about getting to all the places on your bucket list, because we’ll have even greater and more glorious things to explore for all eternity!

Alice

Grace & Humility

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  Luke 18:13-14

The other night, I walked my neighborhood for about an hour.  It was beautiful outside with the stars shining and moon lighting the night.  As I looked, I thought about the neighborhood I had come from.  Where I used to live, I could not walk that late because it was not always safe.  I couldn’t focus on the beautiful starlight because I was worried about things around me.  Those are little things that can be taken for granted.  At that moment, my emotions overcame me.  Why did God bless me with such things?  What had I done to deserve such a moment that others far more worthy may have yet realized?  All I could do was just humbly thank Him for what He had given me. 

Humility starts with knowing we are not worthy of such grace.  In the parable of today’s verses, Jesus talks of the tax collector who asks for God’s mercy.  The focus goes beyond the lesson of focusing on God instead of self.  We are incredibly blessed to have the things we have.  Yet, none of it means anything compared to the love and grace given by God.  This love is neither earned nor deserved, and this is what the tax collector clearly understood.  We must always remember our  position not as what we have earned or worked for.  Instead, it is a gift from God for which we are both fortunate to have and unworthy to have been given.

We are to give thanks to God in good times and bad.  Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”  Our God is worthy as we fight through the storms.  We must also remember that when peace comes, He is our provider, and we are humble for receipt of such a gift that many others do not have.  How do you express humility for God’s favor?  Where in your life do you need God’s mercy?  My prayer is that we are forever humble in seeking God’s grace in both good and bad times.  Amen. 

Tues Devo: Is commitment enough?

James 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (NASB)

Hello,

One of the points made in the sermon by the Pastor has been on my mind….so for those who heard it, this is review! A comment was made about the difference between commitment and surrender. We often feel like we are in a good position because of our commitment level. But is that really enough? Should we really be committed – or should we be submitted/surrendered?

What is the difference? Commitment is about what we bring and do – and keeps us in control. Surrender/submission is not about what you bring, but about giving up control to allow things to be done through us.

The difference is more than semantics – it is about attitude and approach. It is also about endurance/consistency. Commitment lasts until you pull away what you bring to the table – if the pressure is on and we are in control, it is easier to step back. Surrender/submission is more enduring and consistent. Because we have already given up control, we don’t look at what we can pull back – it has been given up already.

So – is commitment enough? Are you committed or submitted/surrendered?

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill