God's Love | Terry Osburn

Good morning everyone. It's good to see all those that

are here. Several are here as visitors

this morning. We're glad to have you.

It's good to see faces that we've known for many years and

and if we haven't met you, we welcome you and invite you back

at every opportunity. It's good to see Ricky with us

this morning and recovering and good to see Roman get up and,

and fly up here with his, with his Walker and lead that song.

And so people are are mending and people need our prayers

though, and, and we're glad you're here.

Hope that we can say something this morning that will benefit

us in some way. In our Christian living, God's

love is often described as a selfless, unconditional love

that is at the core of God's nature.

It's a love that is not based on any merit or worthiness on the

part of the recipient, but instead is freely given by God

to all. But the the word love is tossed

around so easily it seems these days that it may have lost some

of its impact with us. We may say, well, I love my

parents, I love my kids, I love my husband, I love my wife.

There's no doubt that you do. Absolutely.

Some may say, well, I love Mexican food.

I love a good steak. Some may say, also, well, I love

watching a good football game or I love watching the Dodgers beat

the Padres. Some may say, well, I'd love to

just relax and take it easy. Those are all different levels

and different kinds of love. So what does I love God mean?

Do we mean we love God in the same way that we like that steak

or love that steak or love that football game?

I hope not. I think we really do believe and

understand that God loves us because we've heard it in some

form or fashion from our parents, from preachers, and

from teachers most of our lives. We know that God loves us.

The problem is that we may have never fully understood God's

love and probably still don't. I don't know that we ever will

understand God's love for us. You know, when I lived at home,

I knew Dad loved me, but I never and, and all of our family, he

didn't say it all the time, but we knew it.

All of our family knew it. There was no doubt about it.

I don't know that I understood Dad's love for us at that time

with all the discipline that we got in his studies that he did,

we didn't have a lot of time or a lot of one-on-one time.

There was always something to do and you know, we didn't have

that one in one time, that closeness, that intimacy,

intimacy and that time together. But we didn't need to because we

know that we we knew that we were loved.

The problem is that I didn't understand how much Dad loved

us. It wasn't until I became a

father that I that I started to understand how much and that

individual can love their son or their daughter.

And then to have grandchildren, simply, that's the best.

I worried about our children when they were at school and

couldn't wait till they got home so we could give them a hug.

My own experiences with my children has taught me how much

God desires a relationship with us and how much he loves us.

But more importantly, what does God loves us?

Me Paul in his letter to the Ephesians praise he says that we

can understand God's love. He writes in Ephesians 3 and

verses 14 through 19. For this reason I bow my knees

to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole

family in heaven and in earth is named.

That He would grant you according to the riches of His

glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the

inner man, That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to

comprehend with all the Saints what is the width and length and

depth and height, to know the love of Christ, which passes

knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Paul says his hope is that his prayer was that they may be able

to comprehend with all the Saints.

In other words, that you may have the power to understand, as

all God's people should, the love of God.

The apostle Paul apparently felt this prayer was needed because

God's people didn't and still don't today, understand or fully

comprehend. Comprehend how wide?

How long, how high, and how deep God's love is, We can say it, we

can repeat it, we can sing about it, and we do.

And we can tell others about it. We can share it with them.

But it seems sometimes we really don't get it.

To some, it's just not sinking in.

We don't comprehend God's love for us.

Paul is praying that God grants us or gives us the ability, the

power to grasp, to take hold of the concept of God's amazing

love for us. Paul said God love is wide,

God's love is wide, God's love is long, God's love is high, and

God's love is deep and it goes in every direction.

So this morning we want to try to answer the questions about

how wide and how how long and how high and how deep God's love

is for us. Well, how wide is God's love?

It's so wide that it causes us really to use the word every

God's love is so wide that God loves everybody, every race,

every nation from every continent, every country, every

culture, every class, every age, every shape, and every size,

male and female. God knows who you are and He

loves you. God doesn't only love those who

obey him, though. He loves the Sinner as well.

Every type of Sinner. He loves liars.

He loves adulterers. He loves thieves.

He loves thugs. He loves backstabbers, those

who've had abortions, gossipers, murderers, prideful, those who

practice homosexuality, rebellious, addicts, selfish.

There's not one group or individual that God does not

love. Now, Albert Barnes says this

does not mean that God approves of the conduct of man, but that

he had benevolent feelings toward them or was earnestly

desirous of their happiness. God hates wickedness.

He hates the sin, but loves the Sinner.

God's love is so wide that he loves through every situation in

life. If you're single, if you're

married, if you're divorced or widowed, healthy or sick,

employed or unemployed, rich or in debt, homeowner or homeless,

before you're in prison, doing well or have some kind of

despair going on in your life. God loves everyone, not just

certain people or individuals or group.

That's great news. You know why?

Because we are all sinners. And God loves the Sinner as well

as anyone else. Because we are sinners.

Notice Romans 2-3 and verse 23. For all have sinned and all fall

short of glory of God. Romans 5 and verse 8.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us in the While we

were still sinners, Christ died for us.

That's good news because life has a way of putting us in

different groups. Some of us have gotten ourselves

into situations that we never thought we would be in.

Trials and difficulties and tragedies of life that come up

came our way, and we became a part of a different group of

people, not God's people. We may think to ourselves, I

never thought this would happen to me.

I never thought I would have to face these temptations, these

circumstances and these problems.

I never thought I would end up in this condition.

Some of us, we've done some things that we thought we would

never have done, gave in to some temptations that we thought we

would never give in to, and we'd befriended sinners and done

things we've never planned on doing.

Never thought I would steal or lie or be rebellious against our

parents or boss or the law. Never thought I would be on

drugs or be addicted to some other kind of addiction in life.

We didn't necessarily plan that, but we got into those

situations, didn't plan on being in that group of people, if you

want to say or that type of, excuse me, individual.

We became who we used to talk about.

We joined the group of the people we used to look down on

and didn't want to be a part of. But this prayer by Paul is that

though you might have done wrong, though you might have

changed, your situation might have changed, your circumstances

might have changed, the hope is that you understand that God,

God never quits loving you. God's love is so wide that it

still includes you. The Bible says in John 316.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish but have

everlasting life. I'm thankful that God has that

whoever love because the whoever group includes every group and

everyone whoever believes in him should not perish but have

everlasting life. And that's good, because many of

us don't seem love to love every group.

Not the group that hurt us. Not the group that betrayed us.

Not the group that's different from us.

Not the group that we think is beneath us.

Not the group that has certain faults.

Not the ones we talked about. But God's love is wide.

Even though we have hurt him, we've strayed away.

We've betrayed him. He knows all of our faults and

instead of of not loving us, He still loves us even despite our

faults. God will still accept you when

you turn away from sin. He'll forgive you, work with

you, work on you, help you, use you because His love is wide and

He is not willing that you should perish, but instead

repent. Notice Luke 5 and verses 31 and

32. Jesus answered and said to them,

those who are well have no need of the physician, but those who

are sick I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners to

repentance. Who's Jesus calling?

He's calling. He's wanting to heal those who

are in sin, the sick and the Sinner and those who need to

repent. So God's love is so wide, He

will be able to wrap His loving arms around you regardless of

what stage you are at in life. He doesn't give up on you.

Well, how long is God's love? God's love is so long that it

reaches from the creation into eternity.

It's infinite. It's never ending, it's

everlasting. There is no end to it.

That's great news as well as well because many love with a

timer or have conditions upon the love that they show towards

others people. Many people quit loving for many

different reasons they may say, and many do today.

Well, I'll love you in the good times.

I'll love you until I get bored with you.

I'll love you until I don't need you anymore.

I'll love you until someone better comes along.

I'll love you until your looks change.

I'll love you until you let me down.

Sadly, many marriages are based on that kind of love.

I know, I don't know that you really even call it love, that

kind of relationship, but God loves us with an everlasting

love. Notice Jeremiah 31 and three.

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, yes, I have loved

you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness,

I have drawn you long ago, way back.

I have loved you with an everlasting love, a love that

lasts and will never end or fail.

God has loved you for a long time, consistently loved you for

a long time, an unfailing love. He loved you before you were

born, before He even knew you, before you even knew about him,

he already loved you. When you knew of him but didn't

love him back, he still loved you when you were baptized, He

loved you. When you turned your back on him

for a while. He loved you when you kicked him

to the curb for a long time, He still loved you.

If you still haven't come back to him, he still loves you.

If you have have repented and come back, He loves you.

Second Peter 3 and verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning

His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering

toward us, not willing that any should perish, but they all

should come to repentance when others give up on you.

God doesn't and will never stop loving you, even when you may

not love yourself or even love others as well.

God's love is that long. It's never ending.

He will love you forever, consistently, relentlessly,

unfailingly. God's love is long.

How high is God's love? God's love is higher than any

other's love. God's love is the purest next

level love. It's way up there if you want to

say the Greek word for this pure next level love is agape comes

from the Greek word agape, the highest form of love, it said.

It's more than romantic love. It's more than brotherly love.

It's more than our family love. Agape love is a sacrificial love

that voluntarily suffers inconvenience, discomfort, loss,

and even death for the benefit of another without expecting

anything in return. God's high love is is awesome

because many will only love with an expectation of something in

return. They may say, well what do I get

out of this? You ever had that kind of a

friend? They'd be your friend as long as

there was something that they could get out of it.

If there wasn't anything coming their way, then you would never

see them. They may say, well, what do I

get out of this? If if they're not getting what

they anticipate, that relationship is over.

Sometimes their conditions for love that others show us or we

show to others. They may say, will you scratch

my back and I'll scratch yours. I've got your back as long as

you've got my back, I'll support you as long as you support me.

Treat me right and I'll treat you right.

Or they have a matching love. In other words, we have, it's a

game. We we have to keep score.

I'll match whatever you do for me, I'll help you, but you got

to help me. And it's a give and take.

It's a give and take. And it's only if you're having

to give all the time, then we're done.

There has to be an equality in that type of relationship.

But God's not that way. His love is much higher than

that kind of petty relationship. Where would we be if God matched

our love for him? If God only supported us when we

supported him? If God only had our back when we

had his back? If God only blessed us when we

blessed Him? What is the height of our love

to God? We say, well, I will love the

Lord all the time, but sometimes I think that's more of a goal

than it is a reality for us. But we can be thankful that

God's love is a higher love. Also, God's love is high because

it's more than talk. Agape love always comes with

action. It's shown by what it does.

It's not just talk or empty promises.

Notice first John 3 and 16. By this we know love because He

laid down his life for us. It was proven there was action,

it was shown to us. It was proved to us.

It wasn't something that God just said.

He showed it to us. We know love because He laid

down His life for us. Jesus proved it by giving His

life. When it comes to the love we

show others, if we're honest, sometimes it's more talk than it

is action. I love my family, but but

there's certain members of the family I don't know about.

I love the church, but what's the least I can do?

I love my parents but I won't respect them.

And reverence them. I love my wife but there's only

so much I can take. I love my husband but but but I

love this individual but and we have limitations that we put on

it our love maybe to others, but God's love is high.

It's the greatest love that has ever been proven to mankind.

When you lay down your life. John 15 and verse 13.

Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life

for his friends. Another way God's love is high

is and pure is because He wants us to have what He has.

Someone who truly loves you with a high love always died, desires

to share all His privileges and all of the blessings and all of

the enjoyments that they have in life.

You know how it is when you have something great happened to you

and you wish your loved ones or your friends were there with you

to enjoy as well. I wish they were here to taste

this meal, how great this meal is.

I wish they were with us on this trip that they could see and

experience these views and these beautiful places throughout this

country or this world and experience the things that we

experienced and share at them with them.

We love to do that, don't we? Well, God wants to share the

blessings of his love toward us. Won't notice Romans 8 and verse

17. And if heir, and if children,

then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if

indeed we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified

together. We are heirs with Christ.

We get to inherit the same things that Christ inherited.

We get to share in His glory glorified together.

He says God wants to share with us.

Jesus wants to share heaven with us.

Notice John 14 and verses 2 and three.

And my Father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you, I'd go to prepare a

place for you. And if I go and prepare a place

for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that

where I am, there you may be also.

He's going to prepare a place for us because He wants the best

for us. Jesus wants to share heaven

because it's such a glorious place.

Notice 1st Corinthians 2 and verses verse 9.

But but as it is written, I has not seen, nor ear heard, nor

have entered into the heart of man the things which God has

prepared for those who love Him. God loves us so much, He wants

us to share in the glory of heaven.

God's love is high, it's pure, it's a love by action.

He has proven His love for us. It's a love that truly wants us

to share in His blessings and wants us to do better and be

better and wants the best for us.

So now, how deep is God's love? God's love is rich, it's

complex, it's full, it's strong. You can't get to the bottom of

it. It's just really almost

incomprehensible. Deep, like an ocean.

You know, we talked about something being deep.

We think of the deep oceans, but on the surface what we see is

just the waves. We see the top of the water.

We see the reflection of the sky off the top of the water.

We may see the waves. We may see some fish jumping

here or there, or we see the dolphins or this or that.

We see what's just on the surface, but below the surface

is something that is just almost unbelievable.

There's life and there's power and there's just this

magnificence and it's deep on the surface.

We can say Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells

me so. But it's deeper than just that

simple statement from God's deep love.

There's mercy and grace and compassion, kindness and

goodness, forgiveness and patience, long-suffering,

undeserving blessings, undeserved blessings, eternal

rewards, and on and on. There's so many things that are

beneath the surface of God's love.

Since Jesus loves me, He's our shepherd, our rock in this mixed

up world, our fortress, our help, our refuge, our joy and

times of sorrow, our strength to deal with whatever comes our way

today or tomorrow, whenever it may be.

He's our doctor, He's our lawyer, He's our friend, He's

our Savior, He's our Redeemer. He's everything to us.

His love is deep. It's not that shallow love that

others may show to us when they want something.

God's love is much, much deeper than that.

On the surface, we see so many that have a superficial love for

God in Christ. Not a deep love, not a solid

love. It almost seems as as if they're

convenient, inconvenienced with living the Christian life.

It becomes an inconvenience to them, living the Christian life

and serving God. The God's love is so deep that

we can't see the bottom of it. We can experience, but it

doesn't end there. We can know about it, but it's

much deeper than what we know. We can see the the change that

happens in other people because of God's love and the blessings

we receive. And it goes so much deeper than

that that we don't even understand it.

But when we have problems in our life, we want all of God's love.

We want it all. We want the deep love.

But then when we serve Him, I don't want to go that deep.

What's the least I can do? It's hard for us to comprehend

the depth of God's love under the surface.

The cross means so much. Notice what Isaiah says in

Isaiah 53 and verses 3 through 6.

He is despised and rejected by men.

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

He was hid, as it were, our faces from Him.

He was despised and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we

esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes

we are healed, and we, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to His own way, and the Lord has laid

on him the iniquity of us all. He took the blame.

He took the punishment for my sins and yours.

So we should be thankful for that depth of love.

God's love is wide. It's long, it's high and deep,

it's unconditional. Well, why is it important to

understand God's love? The answer is in our verse of

our text and and there in Ephesians 3 and verse 19, the

new King James reads it this way to know the love of Christ which

passes knowledge. And here's the reason that you

may be filled with all the fullness of God.

There's the reason why, so that we can be filled with all the

fullness of God. Notice what the new Living

Translation says. May you experience the love of

Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.

Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life

and power that comes from God. And I think that's just really

grasping a small portion of the love of God.

Even though it's hard to fully know, we at least need to try to

get some understanding of the significance of God's love so we

can be everything God wants us to be filled up and complete in

him. When you really start to

understand God's love, our hearts will change, our lives

will change, our priorities will change, our reverence will

change, our praise to God will change, Our language will

change, Our devotion will change, the way we treat others

will change, everything about us will change, and we won't be the

same person we used to be when we start to understand God's

love for us. I would think it would be hard

to be the Christian you should be without understanding the

love of God. You can't be the servant, the

worshipper, the disciple, the sympathizer, the giver that you

should be. Without understanding God's

love. We would never feel alone

either, because we know that nothing can separate us from the

love of God. It's too wide, it's too long,

it's too deep, it's too high. Listen to Romans 8 and verses 37

through 39. Yet in all these things we are

more than conquerors. Through whom?

Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither

death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor

things present, nor things to come, nor heights, nor depths,

nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us

from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You can't get God to quit loving you.

We may wonder about it sometimes in the state of where we're at

with with our relationship with God.

We may think well, we'll true we're too far into sin, we're

too deep into that or we may be feeling sorry for ourselves.

I don't know what it is, but God never quits loving you.

He doesn't stop loving you, never has and never will.

They says there will be nothing, nothing that will be able to

separate us from that love. Nothing.

God will bring a change into your life when you start to

comprehend the love He has for you.

It took a long time for me to understand how much my parents

love me. You know, we were on the House.

It just seemed like we're just in that rebellious mode.

We just do everything that we can get away with, and even if

we don't get away with it, we take the punishment and we go

right on to the next thing. It took a while for me to

understand that love. My mother was the first one to

let who loved me. She carried me, she took care of

me, fed me, has done everything for me and still trying to do so

today. Since she's been living with us,

she still wants to take the small portion off the plate

because she wants to leave the big portion for me, doesn't want

me to go without. And I can't stay lukewarm about

somebody who loves me that much. It's a wide and long and deep

and high love. I can't stay lukewarm about God

that loves me with an everlasting love.

When I think about His goodness and all He's done for me and all

the sacrifices He's made for me and all He's gave up for me.

His love is so wide that he his his arms were stretched out and

allowed nails in his hands. A love so high that he was

lifted up on the cross. A love that is so deep that he

hung on the cross until, excuse me, so long that he hung on the

cross until all my sins were paid for.

A love so deep that He went down to the grave for me and my sins.

But the good news is that God loves.

God's love was so powerful that Christ rose from the dead on the

third day in victory over hell. Sin in the grave.

And I can't stay lukewarm when I understand God's love.

God's love is wide enough to wrap His arms around us and

accept us long enough to stay with us in times of trouble,

high enough to sacrifice for all, and deep enough to do

everything you need and more. God loves us.

If you haven't experienced God's love, if you're not a child of

God, we want that for you today. We want you to know God's love.

We want and God wants you to know His love for you as well.

If you haven't obeyed the gospel, if you haven't done

that, we ask that you come and, and, and hearing His word,

believe it. Repent of your life.

That means making a change of mind, which results in a change

of life, then confessing his name, that you believe that

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and then be baptized into Christ

for the remission of your sins. If you've taken those steps for

someone reason, you've turned away and you've left God, He

still loves you. He wants the best for you.

He wants you to return. He wants you to repent of your

sins, and we'll pray with you and for you.

If there's someone that is subject to the gospel called

come while we stand and while we sing.