The Love of God, Part 3 A

The love of God for the penitent sinner is rich, lavish, effusive exalting is not minimal. It is maximum is lavish going our tendency to forget even precious truth, memorable stories with unexpected and profound meanings today on grace to you. John MacArthur shows you how one parable in particular, the one about the prodigal son reveals the amazing depth of God's love for his children how he desires to pour out his grace on your life. John is continuing the study began last week.

It simply titled the love of God, and now with a look at what you can learn from the most famous of Christ's parables. Here's John MacArthur. Women looking at this whole matter of God's love John 316 says God so loves the world, and we looked at how God loves the world, the love of God in the world is manifest in in his common grace as theologians call her. His general goodness skies are blue and the grass is green and the flowers grow in the garden of even the unregenerate people and music comforts our hearts and gives wings to the expressions of our emotions and we can enjoy a little child. We can enjoy the fruits of love and labor and all that is common grace common to all people in his manifestation of God's love. And then God manifest his love in an unlimited way to the whole world in terms of his compassion. He pities and we showed in Scripture how God has compassion, even to the point where Jesus wept as he looked at the plight of people we saw the compassion of God. Also in the healing ministry of Jesus as he touched them in the time of their great need in God's love to the whole world is seen in warnings all the Bible God warns about sin and its effect and its consequence and eternal judgment. We see God's unlimited love to the world and the gospel as it is to be spread to the whole world, and people are to be told that if they'll come to Christ. Their sins can be forgiven and they can have the hope of eternal life in heaven forever.

That's all God's unlimited love and so we said that God's love is unlimited in its extent, but the second proposition is that God's love is limited in degree while he loves the whole world. He does not love them. To the degree that he loves his own.

Those who belong to the Lord, are the special objects of his love he has for them. A love that is beyond the love that he has for the world. In fact, we must remind you that the love God has for the world is temporal, that is, it exists only within the framework of time, it exists only in this life. It is temporary and eventually for those who refuse Jesus Christ that love turns to hate. That hate results in eternal judgment. God does love the world and a temporal temporary way bound by space and time in the physical realm that love turns to hate and judgment for those who reject him and the sad truth is that while God loves the world extends compassion toward the world.

Common grace warnings about judgment and the gospel.

Jesus said, you will not come to me that you might have life men refuse the gift of God offers. Therefore, God's love turns to hate, and judgment, but to those who receive God's love to those who come to Christ to those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior leaving his death and resurrection and committing their lives to obedience to his will to those people. God brings a love that is beyond the love that he has for an unregenerate mankind. He loves his own with a love that is far beyond anything that we could ever imagine or fathom, and even all eternity will not be able to fully exhaust the demonstration of God's love toward his own. He loves his own with a love that reaches to the fullest of his capacity to love as we saw last time, and no one has expressed that better than the apostle John, who said, having loved his own who were in the world. John 13 one. He loved them. Eyes tell us, and that phrase can mean he loves them completely, perfectly, fully it can mean to the end to the limit to the max to the last. It can mean undying, eternal, everlasting, and it means all of that all of that. Lord loves his own in a way that is going to be demonstrated throughout all eternity.

And as I said even all eternity can't exhaust the expression of that love. When John sums it up. He does in these simple words see how great I love the Father has bestowed upon us. See how great a love doesn't exhaust 1/2 a dozen or a dozen adjectives because they wouldn't even come close to saying what needs to be said. He just says how great a love that we should be called children of God. First John 31 is that great love with which he has loved us and it is that love that causes us to be called his children. Remember now. He set that love upon us in eternity past before the world began, just as he did. The nation of Israel predetermine sovereign un-influenced desire and will to love us while we were not yet born and knowing that when we were born, we would be unlovable sinners. We have been designated as the beloved of God, by his own eternal choice. John again says it as well as it can be said first John chapter 4 verse nine. You might want to turn to this chapter, I want to come in a couple of verses first John chapter 4 verse nine. By this, the love of God was manifested in us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. God first loves us because God loves us. He sends his son into the world so that we might live through him.

Verse 10 in this is love, there is love manifest in the gift of Christ. Not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son for our sins down in verse 16 John says we have come to know and believed the love which God has for us. God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him and then verse 19 we love because he first loved us. Let's get the sequence right God determined to love us before the world began.

God loved us when we were yet in sin, God loved us when we were not lovable and it was that predetermination to love us in spite of what we were.

That is the essence of God's great redeeming love. God loves sinners and sends his son into the world to redeem them to those who believe and accept that redemption. He pours out a love that knows no limits forever and ever and ever is demonstrated.

First of all, and that he was willing to die for us and then spend the rest of eternity pouring out expressions of that love upon us.

Its mystery how can we ever expect to understand why he would choose to love us in such a way, why is it that God at best.

Didn't just say well I'm going to concede you.

You're a bunch of wretched sinners. I'm going to let you in my heaven, you can enjoy a few things but don't expect a lot. Why is not that there some minimal expression of God's love to those of us who have sinned against his holy name. Why doesn't he express the maximal levels of his love for the holy angels who never fell and who faithfully throughout all of time have been loyal to love the God who made them damn the angels that fell with no hope of redemption.

Why would he redeem man we don't know the answer to that except that he predetermine the love us by loving us to draw us to himself. Daniel will wrote the poem for a song that I've sung since I was a small boy words to express the question that must be on all of our hearts. I know not why God's wondrous grace to me, he hath made known, nor why unworthy Christ in love, redeem me for his own. I don't know why but I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

We don't know why. Maybe in eternity will never know why. Why would God love us. There was nothing in us to love God said to Israel. You are worse than Samaria. You are worse than Sodom, Samaria and Sodom parish and judgment in Israel. He says I will forgive you why, because I've chosen to love you Cinnaminson in comprehensible mystery. But God loves his own and because of that he send his son into the world to die for us, that we might become his children. Now when we become his children by faith in Jesus Christ. What kind of love. Do we then enjoy. Let's not talk about his is love that is unlimited in extent to the world. Let's talk about his love that is limited in degree to the world because the full degree of his love belongs to believers. Let's talk about the love he has toward us. Let's begin by looking at Luke chapter 15 Luke chapter 15 a very familiar chapter in which is included in the parable of the prodigal son as it's called. It really is the parable of the forgiving father is misnamed the prodigal son.

It's really the story of the forgiving father or the loving father. Let's look at Luke 15 in verse 11.

Set a certain man had two sons in the younger of them said to his father.

Father give me the share of the estate that falls to me and he divided his wealth between them and not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country. There he squandered his estate would loose living now when he had spent everything a severe famine occurred in that country and he began to be in need anywhere and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country and he sent them into his fields to feed swine. Not a proper occupation for a good Jewish boy. He was longing to fill his stomach with the pods of the swine reading and no one was giving anything to them. When he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I'm dying here with hunger. I'll get up and go to my father and will say to him. Father are sinned against heaven and in your sight.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me as one of your hired men and he got up and came to his father while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him and ran and embraced him and kissed him over and over and over stop at that father is God the son is the irreligious worldly sinner.

Every sinner has in a creative sense. God is a father.

Every sinner has privileges because he is a created created in the image of God. This young man pictures the sinner who squanders those privileges in a dissolute or religious life betook all of the good things that God had given him by virtue of being created in God's image and he went out and wasted them in loose living immorality, drunkenness in all that you could conjecture it comes to a point where in the midst of his debauchery.

He realizes he is hit bottom. He's serving pig slop and having to eat his own meals from the same and he realizes that this is not the way to live and so he decides to come to God. Here is the penitent sinner and he comes back to God and he's coming sorrowful over his wasted life sorrowful over squandering all of the wonderful gifts that are his.

By virtue of being created in the image of God is wasted his time in all of his opportunity but he knows where he is. He understands is iniquity. He understands his wickedness. He wants to go back and make things right with his father with God and he heads back in verse 20 then you see God's love demonstrated toward a penitent sinner while he still a long way off. He still down the road. He hasn't even been able to reach the presence of his father.

His father saw him because he was looking and he felt compassion for him and ran and embraced him and kissed him over and over is the indication of the Greek language here you have a picture of the character of God's love and the amazing thing about this love is that it's given toward one who is utterly undeserving one who has wasted an squandered opportunity and privilege, and yet the father sees him feels compassion for him and Ryan is to meet him and throws his arms around him and repeatedly kisses him here is tender mercy here is forgiveness here is compassion here is a father treating the son as if there were no past as if his sins have been buried in the depths of the deepest sea removed as far as the east is from the west and forgotten here is effusive affection. There is not a reluctance.

It says well you know you really lived a wretched life and I will let you into the kingdom, but I really shouldn't do that attitude there is no past is gone.

It has disappeared and all that the son experiences is embracing and repeated kissing and hugging and the joy of the father is overflowing and this is emblematic of how God loves the penitent who comes to him. He loves him lavishly. He loves him grandly greatly affectionately in the sun is so shocked by this. In verse 21 son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

It's it's almost like he he he pushes him away and says wait a minute you understand what I've done, you understand what I'm like. It's almost as if he he can't deal with this.

This is perhaps the profoundest humiliation coming to God is a humbling experience and the first thing that humbles you when you come to God is the awareness of your sin. He was humbled while he was eating the pig slop. He became very much aware of the wasted an squandered life. He knew what was available to him from the father. He went back he confessed his sin against heaven and in the side of his father. He is a true penitent he is turning from his sin turning from his wasted life and he comes to God and he is humbled. First of all by his sin.

But then, secondly, and perhaps more profoundly, he is humbled by God's grace. What is more humbling on the awareness of one sin is the awareness of God's grace that is it that is far more humbling and he wants to push God away as it were, and say do you really understand what I've done. You're just pouring out a lot of ended affection on me and you know who I am. That is even more humble, but such is the love of God for the penitent sinner is rich, lavish, effusive, exalting love father doesn't even respond to his hesitant questions in verse 21, the father just says to the slaves quickly bring out the best robe and put it on them and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it in C and B Mary E, there's not even a report regard for the queries of the young man about whether he is worthy or not he just to start the party folks, this son of mine. Verse 24 was dead come to life again. He was lost is been found, and they began to be Mary that's that's the picture of the love of God toward a penitent sinner.

It is not minimal. It is maximal it is lavish turn to Romans chapter 8 and here is another picture of the character of this love Romans eight verse 35. This too is an absolutely crucial understanding to give us the greatness of God's love verse 35 who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Paul asks the rhetorical question shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword just as it is written, for thy sake we are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

It's taken from Psalm 44. Paul says it well. What's going to separate us from the love that God gives us in Christ.

We were being put to death all day long he lived on the brink of death constantly. As we all know he was always being considered as a sheep to be slaughtered by somebody wanted him dead. That was his pattern of life is that going to separate us, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword verse 37, but in all these things we over whelming. We conquer through him who, what, loved us see this is personal experience pulses. I've been through tribulation.

God didn't stop loving me. I been through distress. God didn't stop loving me had been through persecution. I've been through famine. I've been naked. I've been in peril. I've stood on the edge of the sword. I've been through all of that and I can tell you any and all the one who loved me never ever ever severed that love and so I'm convinced verse 38, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, your powers, nor height, nor depth, or any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The second thing we learn about God's love toward his own is that it is unbreakable, inseparable, unconquerable and everlasting love. It never fades. It never wavers it never wanes. It never grows cold and it never changes. God loves us with an everlasting love and your back to the ice tell us again. Jesus, having loved his own who were in the world love them to the eternity. It is a love that will never die, never grow cold. Never diminish never fade. Love from which we can never be separated.

Nothing can separate us nothing, not death.

Life not anything angelic, not anything in the present, not anything in the future. No thing that's created and everything was created except God himself. Nothing in existence can separate us from that love loves the world with a temporal love loves the world with a love of compassion, love of goodness, loves him enough to warn them, but that love is bound by time and when time ends for them. So does that love and they enter into hell, judgment but his own, who believe in Jesus Christ and of come to him in repentance, faith. He loves them with an everlasting love that cannot ever be broken. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 and let's see another passage that defines for us the character of this love these in chapter 2 some more reminders that I know you're familiar with verse four and here Paul uses the same term. The John does his great love with which he loved us.

Everything starts out of God's love, this great love with which he loved us, and then he goes on to define this love. He loved us so much that even when we were dead in our transgressions, there again is that emphasis on having loved us when we were not worthy. He made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved.

He loved us first of all, he loved us in our transgression out of that love.

He sovereignly made us alive together with Christ, that is, he placed us in Christ by our faith in Christ. We were placed on the cross. Spiritually, we died with Christ, we rose to walk in newness of life so that he literally dealt with our sins and gave us new life through grace. Verse six.

He then raised us up with him. We came out of the grave with Christ, we are now seated with him in the heavenly's in Christ Jesus words that mean that our real home is in heaven that are real life is in a spiritual dimension that is beyond this world. That's what he did for us. He loved us so much that even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive with Christ through grace, he raised us up out of the grave to walk in newness of life. He seated us permanently in the heavenly's that's now our home. That's our abode that's where our life is widely do this. Why would you save dead sinners. Why verse seven gives you the reason for all of in order and that's a purpose clause for the purpose that in the ages to come. That's through all eternity. He might show the surpassing riches of his grace.

How's he going to show the surpassing riches of his grace toward us in kindness what does that mean that means God saved us when we were dead in our sins so that he might be able forever to show us his kindness astounding. Say we don't deserve his kindness. That's the whole point is why you get so much glory from showing kindness to forever and ever will not only thank him for his kindness, but will thank him for his kindness because we know we never deserve.

This is grace to you with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us today. John continued his look at the vast unparalleled love of God and how you can experience his grace and mercy in its fullness. The lesson you just heard is part of John study titled the love of God, along with teaching each day on the radio. John serves as Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary in Southern California will John for our listeners. Practically speaking, how does our understanding of God's love affect our everyday lives. What areas does it touch everything to/Sunday I was preaching on this text in Matthew 22 the lawyer system. Jesus was the greatest commandment. He says to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. Okay you love God and then immediately said, and the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. You can love your neighbor as yourself. The they go together so loving God means loving others, loving others means extending to others the kind of love that God extended to you and that's what we're talking about yesterday. Since God loves you with a forgiving love. It's is not only a blessing, love. It's not only in ingratiating love.

It's not only a love that lavishes you with heavens best you you're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly's in Christ.

That's how much God loves you.

It's a love that lavishes you.

But it's also a love that shows you mercy.

It's a love that shows you grace.

It's a love that is kind. It's a love that is forgiving. It's a love that is first Corinthians 13 were defunded. It doesn't hold grudges.

It doesn't wish evil on anyone. It's not love tempered or moderated with vengeance. So when we talk about God loving us. It is this free complete love that forgives all of our transgressions wipes out everything removes our sins as far as the east is from the West buries them in the depths of the sea and remembers them no more that a lavish kind of love. So it's the positive side of blessing is the negative side of forgiving every sin was ever committed against God and if we love our neighbor the way God loves us and the way we love God. That's the kind of love are going to extend to those who are around us this and a lot more is contained in the book I've written called the God who loves. It's a full book and it's loaded with insights about the love of God that most Christians don't even understand they have a very kind of simple devotional idea about the love of God, get a copy of the book the God who loves that's available from us right here, grace to you and you can order it today. Yes, this book can help you appreciate the amazing depth of God's love for sinners, perhaps like no other book can it's a great resource to donate to your church's library or to go through with a small group to pick up a copy of this book, the God who loves getting touch today.

The price for the God who loves is $13 and shipping is free to order, call 855 grace or visit our online store@gty.org the book to look for. Again, the God who loves order your copy and if you to give to others@gty.org or when you call 855 grace and now turning the corner of it. Let me remind you that grace to you is listener supported today may not be your first time listening to this broadcast but other people maybe new believers or people just now finding this station are tuning in listening and learning radio offers us a wide and changing audience in were able to reach those folks because of the support of friends like you to partner with us in getting life-changing biblical truth to people who hunger for it.

Call 855 grace or go to GT Y.org for John MacArthur on Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week off with Grace to you and join us tomorrow when John continues to help you deepen your understanding of the love of God.

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