2015-02-15 
Pastor Jonathan Falwell 

The culture has a distorted view of love. Many depictions of love, whether from Hollywood or a song on the radio, give a perspective that doesn’t fit within God’s plan for love. However, today’s is not a sermon on love and relationships, it’s a sermon about God’s love for us. This is important, because it is impossible to view love in its proper light without understanding God’s love.

Memory Verse: 1 John 3:2
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 

As Christians, we often blame society for the breakdown of the family, of marriage or what we see in the media. We can’t really blame others…the blame really lies within each of us. Our natural state is to deny God’s love and His plan for us. So in effect, the fault is ours.

1 John 3:1 (NLT) See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. 7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

Part 1: God’s Love And Its Impact On Us

1. He loves us as His own – Think of it, God considers as His children.
vs. 1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!

2. He hasn’t even begun to show us how much – As great as God’s love is today, it’s nowhere near what it will be one day.

vs .2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

3. His love should change us – So what should we do?
* Purity within
vs. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
* Purity in our relationships with others
vs. 10b Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.