Sermon on Someone Loves You

By Brian Pepper

Startled motorists watched the car on bridge pull to the outside lane and stop. Before the amazed watchers the driver's door flew open and a young man jumped out and ran to the railing. He climbed to the top and stood there for just a moment looking down then he jumped to his death in the water below. Those who witnessed the drama were stunned. It was too late to help. As the police examined the car for identity of the man, the discovered a number of letters that told the story. The young man, deeply in debt, had lost his wife and family. It seemed to him that no one cared whether he lived or died. No one loved him. What did he have to live for? Why not end it all? Many people in the world today feel just like the young man on the bridge. In this tense, trouble-filled age they run out of money, friends and time. Troubles, worry and fear seem to crush out all hope. They feel they have no place to turn. No one loves, understands or cares.   Someone that cares But there is Someone who cares. One who understands and loves. And regardless of the mistakes that have been made, is ready to help if only we will let Him. That friend is God. I used to think He was a severe Judge who was just waiting for me to make a mistake so He could punish me. But as I have studied the Book that reveals His true character, I have found Him to be just the opposite. He is loving and kind, ready to forgive and to help me if only I will let Him.   What the Bible says about God I would like you to notice what the Bible says about God. 1 John 4:8 says, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." That is clear enough. However I decided that I would look up some other translations to see how they expressed that thought of love. The Living Bible has this, "But if a person isn't loving and kind, it shows that he doesn't know God - for God is love." However John goes on to say, "If you do not really believe this, if you think that what I am saying is not really true, then I can prove it". Listen to this. 1 John 4:9 reading from 'Good News to Modern Man' says, "This is how God showed His love for us: He sent His only Son into the world that we might have life through Him."   God loves all alike If you really want proof that God is love then take a look at Calvary. It took a lot of love on God's part to allow His Son to go through all that. The remarkable thing is that God does not just love the good, but He loves the bad as well. It is easy to love the nice people, the kind people, the friendly people. But it is hard to love the mean people, the unkind people, the cruel people and all the rest. But God does all this. Matthew 5:44,45 says, "But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." This is real LOVE to be able to do this. To treat all alike, both good and bad. He blesses both the good and the bad with the things they need. After all they are His children. And He loves them all. James 1:16,17 says, "Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."   God provides for your needs Every good gift, every perfect gift or present comes from the Father above who loves His children, and is anxious to bestow upon them the good things that He can so bountifully supply. You will remember that Jesus used the birds as an illustration of God's loving care for His creatures. He said there are thousands of birds yet they seem to be able to get their fill. And I can assure you that just as the birds are taken care of by a loving God, so we too if we are willing, can have the assurance that God will provide for our needs. Matthew 6:31 says, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ... for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Now that is just the assurance that  people want. That there is Someone who cares. There is Someone who is listening. We are not battling it out alone in this world of ours. Someone loves us and is ever ready to help us. However we must remember that if we do not seek Him out, or believe that God is there to help us, then we limit God's ability to do for use what He longs to do. He cannot and will not force His way into our lives. But He waits for us to call upon Him and to ask Him to help us, not only in extremity but in every day living. God loves the Sinner Some might say, "I never knew that God is a God of love, I have always thought differently." That is what Satan would like us to believe. Romans 5:8-10 (Good News to Modern Man) says, "But God has shown us how much He loves us: it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! By His death we are now put right with God; how much more then, will we be saved by Him from God's wrath. We were God's enemies, but He made us His friends through the death of His Son." It was His own love for sinners that led God to give His Son to die and in doing this God was involved deeply in Calvary. The wrath of God mentioned here is God's antagonism to sin. God hates sin but He loves the sinner. If Christ's death had been an unwilling one, it would have been enough to say He died "instead of us". But Paul says that Christ "died for us, in our behalf". he deliberately and willingly gave His own Life because He loved us. And I am glad that once we have accepted Christ there is nothing that can separate us from God's love.   Nothing can separate us from the love of God Romans 8:38,39 (Good News to Modern Man) says, "For I am certain that nothing can separate us from His love: neither death nor life; neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers; neither the present nor the future; neither the world above nor the world below - there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul does not mean by this that it is impossible for a believer to fall away and be lost. Paul means that nothing can pluck us out of Christ's arms against our will. I want to assure you that there is Someone who does love us. There is Someone who does care and I am so glad that our Heavenly Father does care for you and for me. So much so, He was as much a part of Calvary as his own dear Son, Jesus Christ. Today as we bring the scenes of Calvary to our attention by celebrating the Lord's Supper, it is well to remember that Someone did care. There was One who was concerned and that Someone was God.