Daniel Lyons' Notes

2024-09-22 Sermon Notes1

💡Big Idea

Takeaways and Next Steps

📖Bible Passage

1 John 4:16

Points

  • What does Paul say about the love of God in Romans 8?
  • God is love
  • We will look at:
    • 3 things this does not mean
    • 3 things that this does mean
    • 3 things that this should teach us
  • 3 things this does NOT mean:
    • It does not mean that love is God
      • Many people will say that God is love and therefore that God does not condemn. This is not taught in the Bible.
      • Or people will say that God is primarily love. As if there were gradations
        • Yet God is one in Himself, and all of God's attributes are one.
        • If we say God is primarily love than we end up with selfishness and hedonism, and being a god unto one's self.
        • If we say that God is primarily justice, then we end up with legalism
        • God is infinite in love and holiness and justice and goodness and all the other attributes of God
      • God is not a hateful, spiteful and capricious God.
    • It does not mean that anything that we deem is loving is God
  • 3 things that this DOES mean:
    • God is love in His very essence.
      • God IS love. It is part of God's own essence.
      • The Bible also says
        • God IS spirit. It does not say God has a spirit.
        • God IS light. It does not say God has light.
      • God is love in Himself. He's not just loving to others. He is love.
        • God is even loving amongst the three Persons of the Trinity, even in eternity past.
      • God cannot NOT be love. He must be love. It is core to who He is.
      • Love is not merely part of God. God does not have parts.
      • God is not merely at a higher level of love than we are.
        • It is not as if there is some standard of love that is higher than Him, that He corresponds to. No God IS love.
      • God does not derive love from some other source.
        • His love is self-generating.
          • The moon simply reflects the light of the sun. But the sun is the source of light itself. Such is God.
      • We couldn't possibly exhaust all of God's love. There is no limit to His love.
        • Spurgeon: We can no more exhaust the love of God, than a little fish could drink up all the oceans of the world. So drink up little fish.
        • Martin Luther: If there were a thousand worlds, one drop of Christ's blood as all the infinity in it necessary to save a thousand worlds.
        • Jonathan Edwards has a sermon named Heaven is a world of love.
    • God is love means that this is essential to God's very identity.
      • What was in eternity past. Nothing, except for God.
        • So how could God be love, if there is nothing to love.
          • Love requires an object, something that is loved.
            • God is both the subject and the object.
            • God is both the lover and the beloved.
            • This is why John 1 says both that the Word was with God and the Word was God.
          • The answer is that God loves Himself.
            • There's nothing wrong with God loving Himself, because God is good, pure and holy and worthy of love.
            • The Bible numerously repeats that the Father loves the Son.
            • In fact, the Father, Spirit and Son love each other and have always loved each other.
    • God is love and therefore God displays His love:
      • God chose to allow creation to see and experience His love
        • He especially loves His elect. His people.
        • God loves all His creation, but He does not love all His creation equally.
          • John 17:26: God's elect are the love gift of God.
  • How should we then live
    • We should treasure the love of God in our hearts.
      • Romans 5:5: this is what we should treasure more and more and more.
        • Ask for God to pour His love into your heart through the Holy Spirit.
    • This love should cause us to worship the triune God:
      • Jesus loves you with the same eternal, unchangeable and infinite love that the Father loves His Son. John 17:26
        • This should compel you to worship Him. We should want to bring Him all the honor and glory and honor that belongs to Him (and to Him alone).
    • We should love one another sacrificially out of the love of Christ:
      • John is saying that a believer ought to be willing to die for another believer, because it is what Christ did for us.
      • Sin naturally turns us inward into selfishness.

Application


Further Study


💬Discussion Questions

2024-09-22 Sermon Notes1
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On this page
💡Big Idea
Takeaways and Next Steps
📖Bible Passage
Points
Application
Further Study
💬Discussion Questions