The Love and Desire of God - Preaching The Cross

Ephesians 2:4-8

INTRO: Good morning church. In the last few lessons we talked about the importance of understanding the cross. That understanding of the cross will affect our behavior. The Bible studies and sermons that we have are most often with an eye to what we need to do. They are application oriented. That is a good thing, but we do not as often study the cross which is the underpinning for everything else. Next we talked about the plan of God and the need for the cross. That need is our sin, our transgression of God’s law. Today I want to turn our attention to God’s love.

Please open your bibles to the book of Ephesians 2:4f – “4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5. even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6. and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7. that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”[NKJV]

I have always been awed by the unfathomable love of God. I recall the words of the apostle John at 1st John 3:1 where he wrote “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!...” Among the things which that wonderful statement declares, is the expression of John’s awe of the amazing love God has for us.

Has mankind always lived in such a way that this love is deserved? No, certainly not. Indeed generation after generation of human history has evidenced the fact that mankind is ungrateful and rebellious. God has loved the unlovable! In loving the unlovable, Jesus went to the cross. We can not think of the love of God without thinking of the manifestation of that love on the cross, in its effect and purpose. Oh yes, “behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us”. So that we, you and I, should be called the children of God. What I would like us to do this morning is to think in view of mankind’s historic rebellion and ungratefulness, about the desire and the love of God.

I. THE HISTORY...

A. Let’s begin in the garden of Eden

1. It was there you recall that God told the man “… Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
2. How clear was God’s instruction to the man! Yet soon we see Eve and Adam eating of that tree and sin enters the human experience. We might wonder, is this to be the end of humankind? For indeed, the nature of God’s law, the nature of absolute justice, might well have justified God saying “it’s enough”. God’s love and God’s desire did not bring human history to an end.
3. There were, it is true, consequences of sin. There were things that had to be done because of the violation of the law and mankind has to bare these consequences. Yet it was not the end because that was not God’s desire, not God’s wish. Because of God’s love He permitted human history to continue.
4. Last time when we looked at 1st Peter 1:20 Peter says about Jesus, “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” God knew that humanity would sin. And He made a plan for our redemption and set it in motion.
5. In Genesis 3:15 – In what has been described as the first announcement in biblical history of the coming of a savior, we see evidence of the love and the desire of God. To Satan God says “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” I understand that we say “that is a bit obscure” and how could Adam and Eve have understood that God was speaking of a time way in the future of a savior? I suspect they did not understand that. You and I have this wonderful opportunity of looking back historically and of realizing what God was telling Satan, obscure as it might seem, certainly he knew what it was all about. It speaks of the love and the desire of God in the future tense.

B. What about in the days of Noah.

1. Genesis 6:5-7 – “5. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7. So the Lord said, now listen to this, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.''” There was nothing in this period of history that would have commended humankind.
2. The Bible says that every intent of the thoughts of man were only evil continually. “Here we see the total corruption of humanity. Furthermore, there were no men anywhere (with the exception noted in Genesis 6:8) who varied from this pattern; and there was no occasion when any man left off the mental pursuit of wickedness! It would be difficult to devise a sentence that would any more effectively portray the corruption of humanity than does Genesis 6:5”. (Coffman)
3. Certainly it seemed that this would be the end for humanity – If I read this correctly, God considered putting it to an end. God announced the summary punishment and destruction of all on the face of the earth; but before announcing what was to happen. He indicated Noah was an exception, through whom a new beginning for mankind would come.
4. Genesis 6:8 – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Here was one man in what was otherwise a cesspool of humanity. One man! One righteous man. God sees this one righteous man and God’s desire and love was to preserve him and his family. God could have done something different. He could have gathered Noah to Himself and then destroyed the earth, but He did not. You see the love and desire of God is for mankind. (cf. 1st Peter 3:20 – “who formerly were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”)

C. Let’s look at the days of Abraham.

1. Genesis 12:1-3 – Here are the words around which scripture revolves as far as history is concerned. “1. Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. 2. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.''” I wonder, did Abraham comprehend all that was said here? In my human thinking I would doubt that he did. He may have understood about the great nation. What about those words “in you all families of the earth shall be blessed”?
2. Whether or not Abraham comprehended the vastness of the meaning of those words, you and I know in retrospect, that those words represent one of God’s great promises, and are evidence of God’s great desire and love for humanity.
3. Galatians 3:8 – Here the apostle Paul sites that very passage to tell us that this is the declaration of the gospel to Abraham. “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed.''” This was a proclamation of the good news, the Gospel, to Abraham! The good news of God’s love and God’s desire to be reconciled to humankind. The reconciliation that would take place in the form of the possibilities presented by the cross of Jesus Christ.
4. God had a plan. He has always had a plan. God’s patience has been tried and tested over and over again in the period between Genesis chapter 3 and now. Even in the testing of His patience, He has a plan!

D. Then in the days of David.

1. 2nd Samuel 7:12-16 – Here is God speaking to David through the prophet Nathan. “12. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” As I read these words I find no mention of the savior or messiah or redemption or reconciliation. Yet, in these words, I’m thinking now of the history of God’s relationship with mankind, against the backdrop of mankind’s ungratefulness and rebellion,… what I see in these words are facts that are going to relate so deliberately to mankind’s future history. Of whom does God speak?

a. “I will set up your seed after you” We know that Solomon was not “set up” after David, but during David’s reign, and the authority of David was the key factor in the enthronement of Solomon.
b. “I will be his father, and he shall be my son”. Not even an angel of heaven deserved such a line as this, much less Solomon. The inspired author of Hebrews makes that fact absolutely indisputable. “To what angel did God ever say,”… “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son?” (Hebrews 1:5).
c. I need to mention, the words cited in Luke 1:32-33 the annunciation to Mary about the birth of Jesus. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” So this was a prophecy.

2. The point is:

a. God’s mercy is not going to depart from the offspring of David.
b. And that David’s “throne shall be established for ever”.

3. That brings me to the great point here. God’s still has a plan and that plan is moving forward.
4. God still has love and desire and a plan for mankind. This will not be deterred or overturned. The plan involves David and his seed, and a throne and a kingdom.

E. That brings us to the days of Isaiah

1. Isaiah 9:6-7 – Here we read of this king and this kingdom. “ For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
2. Hundreds of years have passed from 2nd Samuel chapter 7 to Isaiah chapter 9. Hundreds of years of wickedness, and rebellion and idolatry and forsaking God have occurred.
3. Yet, here is Isaiah speaking of a coming King and kingdom in terms and descriptions which are filled with hope ... and evidence of God’s plan.
4. It is true that a lot of things have transpired. Notice however the words “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” - the plan goes on.
5. God’s love will not be turned aside. God’s plan will not be short circuited. God’s plan involves the coming King and the kingdom.

F. Finally in the last of the books of the prophets, in the days of Malachi.

1. Remember that many, many years have passed from Isaiah to Malachi.
2. In Malachi 4:2 – “But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.” God still speaks of One Who will come to bless humanity.
3. If sin is the malady (and it is), this One will come with “healing” as Malachi says here, in His wings. The remedy for sin will be found in Christ. All of the ungratefulness, the rebellion, the sin that man has done, has not swayed God from His purpose, His plan. The Sun of righteousness will arise the prophet says. Jesus is coming.
4. From Eden to Malachi the theme has been the desire and love of God.

II. WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN?

A. God could have just said so many times “enough is enough”.

1. The nature of law and absolute justice certainly indicate that.
2. But into that place comes the love and mercy of which Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:4 – “… God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,”
3. Oh yes, sin has temporal consequences which cannot be “waived”, that is true ... but one of the consequences of sin, the eternal separation from God is not necessary because of the cross of Jesus Christ. When I say is not necessary, what I mean by that is each of us can make a choice.

B. God’s desire is for reconciliation.

1. Yes, there will come an end to all things. Peter writes about it in – 2nd Peter 3:10 – “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
2. We have no idea when it will come - but come it will. To all the people that are saying “these are the signs of the end of time” “these are the signs which herald the coming of the Lord”, the nicest thing I can say is that they are terribly mistaken. They have not read their bibles correctly and carefully. Yes, there will come an end. According to Matthew 24:26f Jesus explains “But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
3. Because there will come an end, it is our pleasure and our privilege to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can speak of the love of God and the mercy of God, of the grace and forgiveness of God, because though there is an end coming, in the intervening period still it is God’s desire for reconciliation.

C. God’s love is filled with grace, mercy and forgiveness

1. I cannot review God’s history with man without being sobered and awed by the amazing love and mercy that God has shown to us. It is everywhere found in the scriptures.
2. As I review that history I come to the conclusion that all of this is pointing ahead to Jesus Christ, that One, that King, that Messiah, that Savior, of whom God spoke through His prophets for hundreds of years. – I mentioned to you earlier of the announcement in Luke and how the words of the prophets are fulfilled. Read with me now. Luke 1:31-33 - “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
3. Who can forget the words of John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”— or “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)?  The wonderful, matchless love of God, evidenced in the cross.

D. Still, there must be a response from each of us to God’s grace, mercy and love. It requires that each individual make a decision about their relationship with God.

1. “Universal salvation” is not the way it is ... or, will be! God is not going to save without regard to a persons choices in their life.
2. The response may be called “obedient faith” (see Acts 6:7 - “And the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”) Faith requires obedience.
3. In Acts 18:8 we find a great illustration of this obedient faith. “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.” There folks, is obedient faith.

CLOSE: Clearly, folks, God desires that we be reconciled to Him. He loves you; He cares about you; He does not want you to be separated from Him for eternity. His love, however, allows you to make the choice. You still must chose. What do you want? Where do you want to spend eternity?

I would this morning, urge in the most loving way, and most concerned way that you make the decision today to respond in faith and obedience to what God teaches in His word, and receive this reconciliation which is His desire to give. If you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, if you will repent of your sins, if you will confess the name of Jesus, and be buried with Christ in baptism; your sins will be forgiven, you will be admitted into the body of Christ, and added to the church of our Lord. You will be a child of God. And you will be able to say “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon me that I should be called a child of God.”

God has blessed us with many things; the ability to choose is one of them. He has also blessed us with the ability to learn, given us His word and this wonderful universe to learn from. In addition He has given us in this ability to choose, the ability to change our minds as we learn. We see this all the time as we study the natural world and learn more. Perhaps as a Christian you have grown in knowledge and found a correction is needed to return to the path of reconciliation.

If you need to come in obedience this morning I would pray that you do so while we stand and sing.

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Adopted from Sermon by: Cecil A. Hutson