Unrivaled Love - Part A

Our world is filled with broken and imperfect people because of that any relationship of love can at some point fail because when broken imperfect people love other broken imperfect their love will be perhaps broken in yet when we talk about God's love. We are in a different category altogether. True love is a commitment that involves action.

That's what Jesus demonstrated to us on the cross exam connect with Skip Heitzig Skip shows you how you can experience more of God's love each day examines the key difference between the world's definition of love and God want to let you know about a resource that will help the kids basil the most recent state of the Bible survey revealed that only 9% of millennial's read the Bible on a daily basis. The most skeptical generation I record is also uninformed about the word of God.

Small wonder such lifestyle confusion about your own children or your grandchildren passing your faith to a younger generation so they don't become a statistic and stepped encouraging young person in your life to get excited about God's word all he has for them. Swearing to the Bible Skip Heitzig kids and twins.

An overview of the entire Bible and exciting travel guide for illustrations of fascinating facts to keep them engaged will send you your copy of this may produce resource when you give a generous donation of $35 or more to help keep his Bible-based teachings on the air connecting more people like you to God's word. Call now to give and receive your copy of sword to the Bible 892 1888 or securely connectwithskip.com/offer okay in Romans chapter 5 will today study so let's join Skip Heitzig David Roper wrote a little poem that goes like this Paul's girl is rich and haughty my girl is poor as Clay Paul's girl is young and happy my girl looks like a bale of hay.

Paul's girl is smart and clever my girl is dumb but good.

But what I trade my girl for Paul's your bet your life I will well that's hardly true love and it's what people want the people look for in life to be loved and to be able to give love.

So in preparation for this message on unrivaled love, the love of God. I went to Google and I typed in true love and Google responded with 2,630,000,000 results. First page was largely advertisements on how were going to help you find true love than the next page was hit songs that talk about true love articles about how you can ensure that you'll discover it and then explanations as to what true love is all about. My mind goes back to that great theological movie called the Princess bride, and you may remember when the hero of the story. Name Wesley is in a comatose, nearly dead almost at perhaps dead and they bring them to miracle Max and miracle Max takes this set of bellows and started pumping air into his lungs and then a miracle Max played by Billy Crystal.

This element hey what's so important what you got right in limine for and then he pushes on Wesley's chest and outcome. The words true his friend in the Montoya standing next to Wesley says true love. You heard what he said. There can be no more noble cause than that and miracle Max is Sonny truelove is the greatest thing except maybe for a MLT mutton lettuce and tomato sandwich where the mutton is thinly sliced the perky I like it.

Truelove is a topic that is been discussed, it is been pondered. It is been argued, it is been debated for centuries. So much so that some people are cynical and believe that nobody can really truly find true love. That is simply the result of chemicals in the brain. You think it's there, but just a physiological response. Others are hopeless romantics. They think they'll find a soulmate that will be compatible in absolutely every possible way and they'll have an endless romance as the sunsets with a white picket fence around the truth is we live in a fallen world. Our world is filled with broken and imperfect people and because of that any relationship of love can at some point fail because when broken imperfect people love other broken imperfect people love well be perhaps broken and imperfect yet when we talk about God's love. We are in a different category altogether. It is what I'm calling unrivaled love in the book of first John, as John is writing.

It's like he comes to a point where he stops and in chapter 3 he says behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God.

In other words, what kind of love is this what foreign kind of love is this over in Romans chapter 5 and last week we looked at the first five verses which talk about the benefits that we have of justification.

Remember once again the very last word in chapter 4 is the word justification.

The very first word are not the very first word, but in the very first verse it says therefore being justified by faith in you list the benefits. So if you remember, to be justified means to be declared righteous, God makes a declaration that you are now right with him simply because you believe in what Jesus did for you he declares you write and then he treats you. That way that's justification. The benefits are listed in verses one through five, where peace with God. That's not a subjective tranquil feeling of peace. The fact it's the state herein. You are right with God. The channels are open. The way is clear. So that's benefit number one you have peace with God, followed by access to God. You can go any time boldly before the throne of grace because you live in that environment of grace. I third you have hope in the glory of the future the glory to come. You'll be in a glorified body one day.

Won't that be wonderful and that you'll see the glory of God and then forth between now and then all of the trials and hardships.

You and I go through are there for the purpose to create character within us. So chapter 5 verse five closes with this thought. You have your Bible in front of you.

You can check it out. He talks about the hope that we have and he says the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. That's God's love for you the love of God is been poured out in our hearts that's noteworthy because the very first time the word love is used in the book of Romans is in verse five. He's been speaking about the wrath of God and then the grace of God, but here he introduces the idea of God's love. So that's the very first introductory thought.

In other words, when you come to Christ.

When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. You are saved and you enter into a lifelong love relationship with God that lasts forever. Now the second use of the word love is found in verse eight him to Skip ahead a little bit. You'll notice but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us so he introduces love and any points to the cross is the greatest example, an act of love ever. So the overwhelming truth of the gospel is that God loves, broken, imperfect people, you might say God loves the rebel. I'm glad for that because I grew up as one bridal Moody used to say no truth in the whole Bible ought to affect us as the love of God now.

Love is an essential part of God's character. You may recall, first John chapter 4 verse eight where we are told God is love, not the God of some celestial grandfather sitting on a cloud with Adobe detach smile on his face just winking at everybody and not the God doesn't hate because the Bible tells us God does hate is a whole list of things God hates in Proverbs chapter 6, he hates lying evil. A proud look. Pride itself, but God's essential nature is love, and here's called discussing justification by faith. And now he gives us the motive God's motive for it all and that is the motive of love's original look at three facets of God's unrivaled love and so look at chapter 5 verse six for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Not a flattering description of the soul for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life and not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation we have in these verses the proof of God's love, the provision of God's love and the product of God's love really take each of those three, one at a time. Now the proof of love is always in the gift, what is love, willing to give. So this gift was sacrificial. I want you to notice twice, once in verse six and once in verse eight that Christ died.

Notice in verse six and we were still without strength, in due time Christ died.

That is, he gave his life. Verse eight God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Most famous person in all the Bible John 316 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

Another verse that goes along with it. That may not be as famous, but we should all know it is Galatians chapter 2 verse 20 Paul says I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live but is not I who lives it's Christ who lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

God gave his son. His son gave his life. Love is willing to give. It is willing to sacrifice Stephen Covey who wrote the famous book 7 habits of highly effective people came up with a little line. Love is a verb.

Love is a verb and in the context of that he was having a discussion with a married guy who was talking about the problems he and his wife are having and he doesn't quite have the same feelings for his wife as he had at the beginning and Stephen Covey said he man love is a verb whether you feel like it or not. Love is willing to make a sacrifice it's never passive is never silent.

It is always active in it is willing to act in one of the reasons that many marriages deteriorate is because couples stop giving to one another, giving their interest giving their time giving their energy giving their care and so the relationship deteriorates into kind of illegal formal relationship were those feelings go because giving stops. So, for God love was a verb, God gave his very best. His only son for Jesus love was a verb he gave his life. He said nobody takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself.

I have the power to lay down. I have the power to take it again. I enough you seen the latest.

The lion King movie that I took my grandkids Sue is awesome and am in the new lion King movie. There are some lines in it that one in the original so one of the lines is by move fossa.

You have to think of James Earl Jones beautiful voice of his, saying some search only for what they can take but a true king, searches for what he can give. Jesus was a true king searching for what he could give. He said the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So the proof of God's love is that the gift given was a sacrificial gift. Notice also the gift was unconditional because it says in verse six for when we were still what it says without strength. Verse six when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Was that mean without strength.

It means hopeless, powerless. We had no ability to improve our condition.

We had no capability to help ourselves. Why because we were spiritually dead. Ephesians 2 you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once also walked according to the course of this world strange analogy you were dead, but you were walking around. You are the walking dead. You were insensate to spiritual things. So while you were without strength. Note this in due time or in the nick of time at the right time.

I look Galatians 4 verse four in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a virgin born under the law is a great story and it's a true story about a man in Australia named James Harrison also known as the Man with the Golden arm.

He is called that because he has donated blood so many times become to find out that his blood has an unusual plasma composition that contains the cure for a disease called Reese's disease that affects children in the room and then once they're born they come to find out that back in the 60s there was this huge inundation of that disease, especially in Australia so James Harrison has donated his blood over 1000 times once a week for 60 years. James Harrison donated blood and in so doing saved the lives of 2.4 million babies by donating his blood so we should be excited for that kind of sacrificial unconditional love. But in an infinite level and greater level in the nick of time. Just like at the right time, James Harrison, save those who were without strength our God at the right time sent his son to save those who are in a helpless, hopeless, powerless condition. And this is the style of God's love.

God loves the prodigal when they run away and they wallow in the mark in the mire of their sin.

Jesus loves the prostitute who is turning over a new trick night after night, Jesus loves the drug seller in the drug user and the businessman who cheats said his income tax or her income tax and squanders the company's money. Make no mistake, God hates what they're doing but God loves the person I love the story of the rich young ruler in the New Testament who meets up with Jesus and it says Jesus is looking at him, loved him powerful verse he knew all about him in the condition he was in, and his unwillingness to change Jesus looking at him, loved him so his gift. The proof of his love was both sacrificial and unconditional and it was incomparable. Look at verse six. I'm sorry.

Look at verse seven. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us in these two verses the apostle Paul is comparing a divine love to human love to show you the vast difference between the way people love one another in the way God loves us so human love is almost always based on the attractiveness of the object that it loves and if the object is more attractive. There's more love. The object is less attractive. There is less love that human love is object oriented. It is based upon the value the word the status. The beauty of the object and we are inclined to love people who love us big deal.

Anybody can do that right. That's the point Jesus made in the sermon on the Mount.

He said if you love those who love you big deal. He didn't say big deal. That's my paraphrase of. He said not even the tax collectors do the same. Anybody can love that way.

Now here's the mistake we made, we often take human love the way we love and we attribute that to God. So we think that God must love the ones who love him, or that his love depends on how good we are and the more we love him, the more he will love us is a huge mistake as theologian Charles Hodge wrote, if God loved us because we love him.

He would love us only as long as we love him, and on that condition and then our salvation would depend on the constancy of our treacherous hearts. So here's the deal.

God's love is not like human love God's love is not object-oriented, it is subject oriented it as part of his nature, his character completely independent of the beauty, attractiveness and value of the object completely dependent on the quality of the subject, giving the love and that's Paul's point is point here in these two verses is that it's unusual to love and the sacrifice for scoundrel, a rascal of villain cheat a thief, but God is so inclined. Jesus said, I have not come to call the righteous, but I call come to call sinners to repentance is a great story about a guy in Plano, Texas.

I his name was Hayden Carlo and he is driving down the highway at night in Plano and he goes over the speed limit.

Leasees impose alcoholism pulls him over and when the police because you already asked for two things. What are the license and registration elixir license checks out the registration. However, has expired. The police officer brings that to the driver's attention registration is expired and have to give you a citation. The driver says please. I just lost my job recently. It was true.

I recently lost my job I had to make a decision without money resources that I have, to either feed my children or reregister the car. I opted to feed my children. I didn't have enough to do both. What should the police officer do at that point. What he should do is write a mythic noted it is automatic. He wrote them a citation which devastated the driver because he knew that $700 fine. Then the officer got his car drove away. The man opened up a citation and in it was a $100 bill that the police are police officer put in the ticket to pay for the fine so think of it this way. At the cross Jesus wrote us a ticket and then he paid for the fine himself infinitely greater than the police officer giving hundred dollars that was a wonderful thing. Don't expect that to happen to you.

So that's the proof of God's love in the sacrifice, given by our Savior that Skip message from his series heart and soul.

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