Introduction

I heard a story of two sisters. One sister was very ill, needing a kidney transplant to live. The other sister, who herself was not well, gave her kidney to save her sister's life.

Now that's love! What a tremendous demonstration of love by one sister to another!

I heard of another story about two brothers, who had a similar situation. The brother offered his kidney to the brother that needed one, but he demanded $30,000 for the stress that he would go through.

Do you see the difference? One was real unconditional love, the other was love with attached condition.

The sister's love pictures the love of God for us. God's love is unconditional and uninfluenced. God does not love us "if" we love Him. He does not love us "because" we love Him. He loves us  because He is love.

How many times we hear, "I love you because you are good looking;" or "I love you because you take good care of me;" or "I love you because you are fun to be with;" or "I love you because you love me."

The love which one creature has for another is because of something in them; something we like in them, but the love of God is free, spontaneous, uncaused, unconditional and undeserved.

This morning, I would like to invite you to consider with me, the who, when, how and why of the love of God.

8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I - Who it is that loves us?

8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

It is God that loves us. And who is this God who loves us?

Let's think about this God who loves us. He is infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and unchanging in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, mercy, grace and truth. 

The One who created the universe, the One who upholds all things by word of His power. It is this who God loves us and cares for us and feels for us.

It is wonderful to know that my wife, my parents, my children, my siblings, my friends, my neighbors and my church family love me, but oh, to know that God loves me, what joy that brings to my soul.

There's the wonder of sunset at evening,

The wonder as sunrise I see;

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul

Is the wonder that God loves me.

Refrain

O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!

Just to think that God loves me.

Psalm 63:3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

How could you say God loves you?.

An atheist approached a preacher who just preached about the love of God and say, "You know you are the most conceited person I've ever met."

To which the preacher responded, "Yes, I know I struggle with pride but what's your point?"

Then the atheist said this, "You say that God loves you. Don't you know that you are a small speck of dust, you live on an extremely small speck of dust called planet earth in a vast universe. If there is a God who created this universe, how on earth do you conclude He loves you? How on earth, can He even notice you?"

This atheist is smart, he understands the vastness of the universe and the smallness of man. If there is a God, and if we are but a speck of dust, living in a "pale blue dot" called earth in a vast universe, how could God love us, much less notice us?

This student was unaware that he was repeating what many Bible characters expressed, when they think of the greatness of God and His great care and love for them and that God would even think upon them.

Job 7:17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?

Psalm 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Psalm 144:3 LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!

Then the preacher went on to say, "Jesus Christ claims to be God in human form and He clearly communicated God loves you and everyone on this planet earth. That is either the height of human arrogance or that is the most important message in the world today. At the heart of the cosmos there is a God who loves us. He loves us so much that He came down to bring us back to God. And that's why we are valuable because God made us for a purpose. He loves us because God has given us free will and He holds us responsible for our decisions and there are consequences to our decisions. He loves us. He values us. He treasures us. And you and I have sinned against Him. Instead of wiping us out He became a man and lived a sinless life, He bled and died on a cross to reconcile us to Himself. To rescue us from death and hell and to give us eternal life with Him in heaven.".

The most important message at the heart of the cosmos is God loves you.

Now does love force? Does love manipulate? Does love coerce? No, it does not. But we've got to go to Christ, to His love. He loves us so much that He wants to give us eternal life and to live with Him eternally.

II - When did He love us?

6: For when we were yet without strength (helpless), in due time Christ died for the ungodly (indifferent to the things of God). 7: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners (life of sin), Christ died for us. 9: Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10: For if, when we were enemies (against God), we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

He loved us when we were yet without strength, ungodly, sinners and enemies. He loved us while we were like sheep wandering off, going our own way, while we were in our unbelief and indifferent and rebellious toward Him.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

He loved us long before we ever knew Him, long before we were looking for Him, long before we ever came to Him, long before we ever responded to Him. He loved us long before we loved Him.

It is God who took the first step. If He decided to wait, He would still be waiting.

In other words, He loved us when we were unloving, unattractive, and offensive. 

How different is the love of God from our love! We are drawn to people who are kind to us. We love people who are near and close to us. We love people who are like us and who like us. But not God. God loves people, who because of sin are very unattractive and unlovable and people who are hardened toward Him. This is what makes God's love so amazing and so unusual and so unlike our love.

In fact He loved even before we were even born.

Jeremiah 1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

This not only true of Jeremiah, it is true of all of us in Christ that even before we were born God set His love upon us.

He loved me, ere I knew Him

And all my love is due Him

He plunged me to victory

Beneath the cleansing blood.

III - How He loved us

8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

He loved us not in word only but in deed. That is true love. True love is not in words only but in truth and action. He demonstrates His love toward us by an act, by a deed.

God has set His love on display in no uncertain terms by giving to us the greatest gift of all — the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. 

1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10: Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

True love requires true action.

How much does God love us?.

The strength or measure of anyone's love is proved by the sacrifice it makes. "God gave His only begotten Son."

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

God has made the greatest demonstration of love to us in that He had given His Son to die for us.

Amazing love! How can it be,

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

IV - Why He loved us

8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Notice in this verse it does not tell us why God loves us. I have been a Christians for about 35 years now and in all these years of being a Christian and reading my Bible, I have never found a verse which gives a reason why God would love you and me.

Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 7: The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

There is really no reason for God to love us, except for that reason that lies in Himself. He loved us while we were yet without strength, ungodly, sinners and enemies, so the reason had to lie, not in us, but in God. The cause for His love is found in Himself. It arises from within Him. God loved us because He has chosen to love us. And that is what agape love is. It is a choice. It is a kind of love which chooses to love.

What was there in us to cause God to love us? .

"Absolutely nothing, but to the contrary there is everything to repel Him. Everything calculated to make Him loath me. Sinful depraved, a mass of corruption with no good thing in me." — A. W. Pink

There is nothing within us that would draw His love toward us.

V - Applications

8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Notice the word "commendeth." This is an old English word. It ends with "th" which signifies this is present continuous tense. This is now and an ongoing action. Paul could have written, "God commended, or demonstrated His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Though that is true. "Christ died for us" is a past event. It has already taken place.

But that is not what he wrote. He wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 

8: But God commendeth ...

The text, being written in the present continuous tense, indicates now and ongoing. God demonstrates His love today. He continues to demonstrate or commends His love today by pointing us to past, historical event - of the death of His Son for us.

If God so loves us, how should we live then?

1. Constantly contemplate on God's love for you

Jude 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22: And of some have compassion, making a difference:

2. Pray that the Lord will direct your hearts into His love for you

2 Thessalonians 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

Lest I forget Gethsemane,

Lest I forget Thine agony;

Lest I forget Thy love for me,

Lead me to Calvary.

What contemplation of God's love will do to us

The contemplation of this unconditional, uninfluenced and undeserved love of God towards us ...

1. It will cause to love Him back and to obey Him with diligence and faithfulness

Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Love of God, when known and experienced results in love for God. And love for God manifests itself in our obedience. Bible reading, prayer, soul winning, church attendance, baptism, church membership, church participation and involvement, dedication and devotion to our family, are just demonstration of our love for God.

2. It will create a love for one another

Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Knowing God and His love for us will result in loving others.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8: He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9: In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10: Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

A person who does not love does not know God; for God is love.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12: No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 20: If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21: And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

When you come to have a personal knowledge of God, who is Father and Son united in infinite love, you become a loving person.

Ask God for grace that you may practice and show God's love to others. Love people and don't give up on people.

By the way, a word to our young people, seek to love people unconditionally, this is the best way to prepare you for marriage.

3. It will create confidence in us that He will provide for us

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

4. It will give assurance that He will never leave us nor forsake us

Your salvation is safe and secure. 

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

One more truth to contemplate and celebrate ...

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Amen!