So Loved

So Loved, John 3:16 

• It seems often we put God in a box. 
  • a. Show Wrapped Christmas Gift
    • In one since there is truth to putting God in a box. 
    • What we learn, hear, experience, and we put them in a box and it becomes the filter or lens by which we understand God. 
• Another way we do this is with love. (show other wrapped box)
  • We take what we learn, hear, experience and put them in a box and it too becomes the filter by which we understand love. 
  • So when I say, “For God so loved” you could have 1 of 100 different ideas of what I mean. (Put boxes together as a lens) 
• Here’s what I would ask. Let’s open up our ideas about God and love. (open gifts and lids)

#1. “For God so loved”, The Greatness of God’s love

• When we explore the scriptures, the bible, a gift left to us by God to understand who he is and what that means for us, one thing for sure, is that God does not fit in a box. 
  • We see in the very beginning that is was God, the creator, who created us in his image, not us creating God in our image.
  • Genesis 1:27, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
• So who is God? 
  • God is… All knowing, all powerful, present in all places and all times,  self-existent & self-sufficient, infinite, eternal, unchanging, Holy, righteous, reliable, just, wrathful, gracious, kind, good Just to name a few… 
  • And of course… GOD IS LOVE. 
    • What does it mean that God is love? 
      • My biological father recently pasted away. 
      • He was my hero growing up. Professional Moto-X rider, first American team in the first ever motocross world championship known as tour de nations. But he also got into drugs at an early age. Therefore, we wasn’t around and was mostly a dead beat dad. Did my dad love me? Yes, he did. But if I take an understanding of my fathers love and apply it to the meaning of God’s love, then I will never truly understand it…. (Show box)
    • So what is God’s love? 
      • “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love” Jesus Storybook Bible
      • For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38–39
  • But we have an enigma. If God is just and wrathful, how can we say He is love? 
    • You see, he is all powerful, all knowing and sovereign, which means he is in control, but yet he is not all benevolent. 
    • Even Santa gets more understanding than God. 
      • You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why… be good for goodness sake. He’s making a list, He’s checking it twice, He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice, Santa Claus is coming to town. 
  • But for some reason (Hold up gift boxes), when it comes to God’s love, there is no list, no justice, no reward… BUT, that’s not who God is. Yet, God is gracious, and merciful, and just and wrathful. How can these things be so? 

#2. For God so Loved The World that he gave His Only Son 

• a. The greatness of our sin and His sacrifice
  • 1. The world—> Greek: Cosmos, 186x’s in NT,  always with a sinful connotation. 
    • Sin: missing the mark. Breaking God’s commands
    • Rememeber when I said he was our creator? He created us with a purpose, to reflect his image. It’s where we get the word glory. 
  • He is magnificent, holy, just and good and we reflect his character which is how and why we “give him the glory”, but we have broken the mirror. 
    • for fall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
  • We have lost our ability to reflect his glory, or see ourselves for who we were created to be, so we sin. We break God’s commandments. This incurs wrath. A punishment for our wrong doings. 
    • wages of sin is death
      • Car crash. Vinny slept through it. 
      • Free our homie, Eddy! We all want justice but we also want mercy. So how do these things come together? 
  • 2. Gave His only Son
    • God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
      • Justification/ Imputed righteousness / Propitiation
      • In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10
        • This is how God’s justice and his wrath come together. 
  • So what does that mean for us? 

#3. That whosoever believes in him shall not pe. rish but have eternal life

• a. Believing Life
  • 1. Believes in him 
    • How can you escape facing God on your own, facing imminent death? 
  • By believing in Jesus, having faith that his life, death, and resurrection actually forgives your sin! 
    • For unbelievers… 
      • if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
    • For believers… 
      • Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11
        • You are so loved, so love. 
          • Love God, 
            • Reflect his glory! Live as God Purposed you
          • Love others,
  • Advent, light the candle of LOVE representing the Great Love of our God!