Secure in God’s Love

About this sermon

Introduction: What is the character of God’s love that has been poured out in our hearts? What is the character of the love of God? What kind of love is God’s love for His people? The 5th verse is tied to the 6th by the word “for.” Verse 5 speaks of our apprehension of God’s love in conversion. We know the love of God. We experience the love of God. The Spirit of God has come to us and brought God’s love to us. And now, in verses 6-8, the objective basis for what we apprehended is set before us. Why does the knowledge of God’s love, and the experience of God’s love, produce assurance in the lives of His children? Because if anyone takes an honest look at how God has loved us, at how we were made God’s people, there can be no doubt that our rescue is explained by God and God alone, and that His motives for saving us are found in Him and not in us. We are secure, and we are secure in God’s love. And I would just remind us that this must be very important to God — that His people are not only saved but that they know that they are saved — or else we wouldn’t have arguments like this. He wants us to rest in His gift to us. He wants us to rejoice in our future. He wants us to do this even as we work tirelessly on behalf of His kingdom until we see our Savior face to face. It is God’s will that we live our lives from this stable position. I want to ask you: *Do you live your life not completely sure of your relationship to God? *Do you live your life with anxiety and worry about God’s view of you? *Do you live your life fearing death, fearing the future? If you don’t know Christ then all of those fears are completely justified. But if you know Christ then all of those fears represent something that our God has addressed in these verses. And this is set before us, the argument is made to us, in a very straightforward way. There are two main points to be made in verses 6-11. We are secure in God’s love when we consider the death of His Son. We are secure in God’s love when we consider the life of His Son. If you want to understand God’s love, and the security of that love, think about Jesus — this about the dying of Jesus and think about the mediating life of Jesus. I. WE ARE SECURE IN GOD’S LOVE WHEN WE CONSIDER THE DEATH OF HIS SON (vs.6-8) What Paul reminds us of is an ongoing demonstration of the love of God for His people. If His people wonder about God’s love for them, they are forever, in this life, pointed to the cross of His Son. Our gaze is pointed in two directions. GOD SAYS TO US, “I want you to remember what you were when my love for you was put on display. And I want you to remember what kind of love it is that delivered from death and brought you into life.” A. A VIEW OF OUR PLIGHT The first thing I want us to see is a view of our plight. What was our condition BEFORE justification? What was our condition prior to salvation? When the death of God’s Son was predetermined, and planned, and then executed, what kind of human being was in view? For what kind of person was this love given? The past of God’s people — the need of God’s people prior to salvation — is described in four ways. 1. WE WERE HELPLESS (STILL) (vs.6) – NOT A MOMENT OF HELPLESSNESS BUT A STATE OF HELPLESSNESS. The world is ἀσθενής. It speaks of weakness. But in this context, it isn’t a reference to physical weakness. It is a reference to moral weakness. ⓒ of the inner life. ὄντων ἡμῶν ἀ. (=ἁμαρτωλῶν vs. 8) helpless in a moral sense Ro 5:6. 1 We were lost and morally incapable of pleasing God. 2. WE WERE UNGODLY (vs.6) We were against God. We were unlike God from the vantagepoint of our character. Our thoughts, our attitudes, our motives, our ambitions, our appetites and desires. All of this was corrupted by nature and by choice. We did not REVERENCE God. We did not respect God in love. 3. WE WERE SINNERS (vs.8) Our lives did not meet the standard. We were transgressors. We were violators of the law of God. We did not practice the will of God. Even when we would conform to His laws externally, the vital internal elements were missing. We were not a people who loved God. We were not a people who desired the glory of God and aimed to live for His glory. And so, we pursued our own way. ESV Isaiah 53:6 aAll we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-- every one-- to his own way; band the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 4. WE WERE ENEMIES OF GOD (vs.10) We were haters of God. Our relationship with God was not mildly in the wrong; it was aggressively in the wrong.

Topics

• Love & Compassion