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Part 2: Loving God the Father Introduction: A.
Living in Four Relationships
1. Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever your values or philosophy of life, you can’t escape the necessity of living in four relationships. 2.
Each person must relate in some way a)
to God b)
to himself c)
to the significant others in his life (those with whom he lives and
works intimately) and d)
to the world (everyone outside his immediate sphere, whether down the
street or halfway around the globe). 3.
The quality of these relationships determines whether one truly lives in the 4.
The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ can enter into a
human life and redeem it in all four of these dimensions or relationships. B. The Most Important Relationship 1.
The most basic and important relationship is the one which exists
between a human being and God. a)
It is impossible to escape this relationship even if one denies the
very existence of a Supreme Being. b)
The people who profess not to believe in God spend a great deal of
time denying Him, fighting Him, burying Him, explaining Him away, or
attempting to prove others wrong who do believe in Him‑and this
constitutes a relationship. 2.
Built into every human being there seems to be some instinctive sense
that there is Someone or Something “out there” that cannot be ignored. a)
(1)
11He
has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their
hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning
to end. b)
(1)
15
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and
holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble
spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the
contrite ones. 3.
A right relationship means that one has heard the good news that God
says to us in Jesus Christ: a)
“I love you. I love you as you are. I love you unconditionally. I
have already given myself to you totally, and now all I ask is that you begin
to respond to my love and my commitment to you by committing to me all of
yourself that you are able to give.” b) This is what the cross is all about. C. The Commandment - 1. Scribe: “Which is the great commandment in the law?” a) Christ’s answer was powerful. b) “Love the Lord thy God.” c) Love God as your very own God. d) The word your is a personal relationship, not a distant relationship. e) God is personal and we are to be personally involved with Him on a face to face basis. 2. Loving God is an act that is alive and active. 3. We are, therefore, to maintain a personal relationship with God that is alive and active. 4. Very practically, loving God involves the very same factors that loving a person involves. a) A loving relationship involves commitment and loyalty. (1) God irrevocably says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). b) A loving relationship involves trust and respect for the person loved. (1) It is loving the person just for who he is. (a) He is the Creator and Sustainer of life. (b) He is the Savior and Redeemer of our souls. (c) He is the Lord and Owner of our lives. c) A loving relationship involves the giving and surrendering of oneself. d) A loving relationship involves knowing and sharing. D. Love Commanded Is Controllable 1. The importance of a personal relationship with God cannot be overstated. a) It is the greatest of all commandments. b) Is it possible to command somebody to love? 2. Yes, love is an act of the will: we choose to relate to God no matter how we may feel. E.
Whole
Love- 1. Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” a) This
quote comes from b) Jesus’ purpose was to show that a person’s total being must be involved in loving God. c) Nothing must be held back because God holds nothing back. 2. Our response is to be total. The total personhood of each individual is to be involved in the fulfillment of this obligation 3. Take each of these components and meditate on how to express your love. a) “Heart” refers primarily to our emotional response. b) “Soul” includes the willful, decision-making part of us. c) “Mind” refers to the reasoning component of our love for God. F.
Agape
Love 1. Again, note that the word for “love” here is the distinctive Christian word. 2. The word for “love” is agapao, totally unselfish love, a love of which human beings are capable only with the help of the Holy Spirit. 3. Agape is self-giving love. a) It is love which desires only the highest good for its object — whether the object be God, self, or others. b) The fact that God loves you is not a sentimental fact; it means that He desires only your highest good. c) So He cannot desire anything for you that will compromise holiness, righteousness, or His best dreams for you. 4. Agape love is unconditional love - it loves no matter what is happening. a) It is a choice that we make, an act of will, no matter how we feel. b) This is the kind of love we are commanded to have for God and others c) It is also the kind of love we are expected to have for ourselves. I.
Loving
God the Father A.
The
Father’s Highest Good - 1. Agape love seeks the highest good for the object of its love, so what is the highest good for God? 2. a) 1Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. 3. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. a) To glorify God forever. (1) “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor.10:31) (2) Whatever you do, do all to God’s glory. (3) You shall glorify God forever with your praise, with your words, with your works, and with your whole life. b) The second end of man is to enjoy God forever 4. God has put us on this earth for a purpose. a) It is a purpose bigger than us. b) We are here to live for God’s glory. c) And we are also here to enjoy God, starting today and continuing throughout eternity. 5. Contrast that with the philosophy of the world. a) According to the world, the chief end of man is to glorify himself, and to enjoy the good life as long as he can. b) One puts God at the center of all things. c) The other puts man at the center. d) The philosophy you choose to live by will literally determine everything in your life. (1) It will set your priorities. (2) It will determine your values. (3) And in the end, it will determine your eternal destiny. 6. There is no higher calling than to live for God’s glory. 7. But just how do we accomplish this? How do we love God? B. Have Faith - Trust Him! - 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is and that
He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 1. This is one of the great verses of Scripture, a verse that should be memorized and held within the heart of every believer. 2. It is impossible to please God without faith. 3. By faith is meant a living, active faith, a faith that knows and follows God, communes and fellowships with God. 4. The person who comes to God must believe two things. a) He must believe in God—that God is—that God exists. (1) A person must look at the worlds (heaven and earth) and at himself - at the existence, design, order, and end of all things—and believe in God. (2) A person must look at the Word of God, and believe in God. (3) A person must look at Jesus Christ, who reveals God to man, and believe in God. b) He must believe that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. (1) “diligently” means to seek out God; to diligently seek to find Him and to follow Him. (2) The idea is that we must be in earnest and persevere and endure to the end. (3) What is the reward to those who diligently seek God? (4) It is righteousness and God’s care in this life and deliverance from death unto eternal life. 5. One of the great issues in the life of a person who has faith is trials that test our faith. a) The only way to find out if faith is real is to go through a trial. b) Oswald Chambers (1) Faith
must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through
conflict. What is challenging your faith right now? The test will either
prove your faith right, or it will kill it. Jesus said, "Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me" (2) The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus. "We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end . . ." Hebrews 3:14. (3) Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. (4) There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. (5) Faith is absolute trust in God— trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us 6. Loving God means to have faith in Him and to trust Him no matter what is happening in your life. C. Worship Him - 1. a)
23”But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the
Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24”God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
spirit and truth.” 2. God seeks and desires true worship! 3. True worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth. a) Christ has opened the door into God’s presence so we can worship Him! (1) To worship God in spirit means to worship God... (a) By seeking the most intimate communion and fellowship with God. (b) By trusting and resting in God’s acceptance and love and care. (2) To worship God in truth means... (a) to
approach God in the right or true way, through His Son Jesus Christ (John (b) to worship God sincerely and truthfully, not half-heartedly or with a wandering mind. 4. The reason for worship: God desires worship, for He created man to worship and fellowship with Him. 5. Loving God means that we will worship Him no matter what is happening in our lives! D. Enjoy Him - Psalm73:25 1. Enjoying God forever is expressed in the text: “Whom have I in heaven but You?And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.” Psalm 73:25. a) All our delight is in God, and in nothing else. 2. “God has spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice”. (Psalms 108:7) a) When you hear somebody speak, whom you love, and in whom you find joy; you will rejoice. 3.
Psalm a) Our response to enjoying Him is always praise and worship and singing! 4. We also find joy in the things of God. For example His Word. a) The believers, when they read the Scripture, they experience joy. b) “Your words were found, and I ate them, And
Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah 5. There is great joy in seeking fellowship with God through prayer and sharing with Him (Ps. 63:1–8). 6. Loving God means that we enjoy fellowship with Him, especially when things are not going well in our lives! E.
Obey
Him - 1. The person who truly loves the Lord with all his heart and soul and mind is the person who trusts Him and obeys Him. 2.
3.
Psalm 4. 5. Disobedience always dishonors God. a) Obedience honors God. b) Jesus said that men would see our good works and glorify God. c) That is the highest good for God! 6. The one who truly loves God is the one who truly obeys God, no matter what it costs him to do so! F.
Be
Holy (1 Peter 1. 2. Being Holy means to be righteous, pure, sinless, and godly; to be complete, and fulfilled in every possible sense; to be separated and entirely different from all other beings and things. 3. There are three reasons why believers are to live holy lives. a) God is holy. He is the very embodiment and perfection of absolute holiness. b) God has called believers to be holy in all of life. God’s very purpose in saving us is to have a people who will be just like Him and who can live with Him eternally. God’s purpose is for us... c) Scripture demands holiness. (1) “Be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus (2) 4. True
love of God declares with Paul, “For that which I am doing, I do not understand;
for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very
thing I hate” (Romans a) Paul is saying that, even though he did not always do what was right, he always loved what was right and longed to do what was honoring to God. b) He was like David, “A man after God’s own heart”. 5. If we love God, then we must be Holy and desire to live Holy as God is Holy, no matter what is happening in our lives! G. Love Others – 1. The direct connection between our relationship with God and our relationship with man is affirmed and reaffirmed countless times in Scripture. 2. John said – 1John a) Missionary in a closed country “Some people say it is our love for these people that keeps us here, but they aren’t THAT loveable! It is because of HIS great love for these people that keeps us here – we’re being obedient to Him.” b) They love others because they love God. 3. If we love God, then we must love others no matter what they are like and no matter how they treat us! H. How
do we know that we really love God? 1. By responding to His love no matter what – 2. By meditating on God’s glory no matter what – Psalm 18:1–3 3. By our love for one another no matter what
– 4. By
loving what God loves no matter what
– 5. By
hating what God hates no matter what
– 6. By
grieving over sin no matter what
– 7. By
loving whom God loves no matter what
– II.
Loving
God the Son III.
Loving
God the Holy Spirit |
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Ministries