The Gift of Love!
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and lost coin. If you lose something valuable, you will look for it!
And that speaks to us about God and then how we react to God in our lives!
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
I was sitting at breakfast the other day and felt like what I should emphasize this advent season the gifts of God given to us in Christ. This made me think of the Holy Spirit as God’s great gift of our covenant and of the fruit of the Spirit as our rightful spiritual heritage!
And the fruit of the Spirit is love! Today, I want to speak about love as God’s gift to us and what that means. As I thought about God’s love for us, I thought of Luke 15 here. Here we see the heart of God in His attitude expressed toward sinful people. Here we see His gift of love for people!!
- God Demonstrates His Patient Love for Us!
- He takes the initiative because He must
If God did not take the initiative then we would be damned.
In a covenant relationship, the greater party makes the offer.
God takes the initiative to cover Adam and Eve’s shame
God takes the initiative to get Noah to build an Ark
God takes the initiative to establish a relationship with Abraham
God takes the initiative to deliver the COI from Egypt.
God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all of his benefits.
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
- He is patient because He must be
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
How can God be a character quality? God is the source of all love. He is totally and completely Who He is. And as the source of all that is good, love is basic to His character!
- He is love in your life
God is love I John 4:
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Love is God’s idea. Love feels good because it is a connection to who we are meant to be as we are created in His image.
I Cor 13:
Love is:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
- God Wants You to Know His Love for You
You are the lost sheep. You are the lost coin.
What makes any item or thing valuable? Two options. One is that a good salesman can convince you that something is valuable. That is not what we are talking about here.
The real test is what someone is willing to give for something. Jesus Christ is the greatest, most valuable thing in all of creation. God has become man and taken on flesh. That is what happened on Christmas morning. The greatest and most valuable thing in all of creation came into flesh!
- For God so loved the world
That He gave His only begotten son.
That those who look to Him as the solution for their sin problem have everlasting life. Sin kills. Jesus kills sin! He strips it of its power in your life. The chaos and pain and difficulty in life that is your fault is solved by Christ. He pays the penalty for your sin. He shows you a pathway of life that is peaceful and ordered. He makes you a part of the people of God.
- Knowing love that surpasses knowledge
God wants you to know that you are important to Him. In our parable, the Father is waiting for the Lost Son to repent! He will welcome all sinners. In fact, He only welcomes sinners!!
Paul sees himself as the greatest of sinners.
I know that I am a sinner. But that is not how I define myself. I define myself by the love of God. Antiques Roadshow items that bring great value that are a surprise to those who own them. You are that item. In fact, you are the item of greatest worth, but you will only know that when you meet God.
Ephesians 3: I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
- We love God by loving others
I John 4:
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
We are going to reflect God’s image or be destroyed. God is love. We are going to love.
You must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. You are going to love like God loves. You must be merciful as your Father in Heaven is merciful. Regardless of whatever else your life is made up of, this is your source of blessing and life!
III. We Know God’s Love Better as We Love Others
- Initiative leaves us open for rejection
Make friends with rejection. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.
The servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you!
The story of the all-time loser dragon in Revelation 12
The parallel in Romans 8
- This parable is about the older brother
Lost coin and sheep are about God looking. And they are a rebuke of those who look down on Jesus for His
- We have to celebrate and be glad
Prepare to celebrate by…
We have to welcome the repentant
We have to forgive the debts incurred
We have to reinvest in others lives
We have to bear the cost of mercy and grace
These “have tos” are energize by God’s imprint on us and He Spirit in us.
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