Growing in Love
Romans 5:5-8,
Romans 8:38, 39,
Ephesians 3:17-19,
On Saturday, we had our Men's Conference, and the subject was a Christian worldview. And that's simply “How does a Christian think about all of life?” That language comes from Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970’s or 1980’s. But before anyone was talking about a Christian worldview, you could say that the Puritans were practicing it. Dr. Packer, in a book on the Puritans called A Quest for Godliness, (one of the best books overview in terms of what made the Puritans the Puritans), he says,
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 8:38, 39,
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Ephesians 3:17-19,
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
On Saturday, we had our Men's Conference, and the subject was a Christian worldview. And that's simply “How does a Christian think about all of life?” That language comes from Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970’s or 1980’s. But before anyone was talking about a Christian worldview, you could say that the Puritans were practicing it. Dr. Packer, in a book on the Puritans called A Quest for Godliness, (one of the best books overview in terms of what made the Puritans the Puritans), he says,
"The Puritans brought their consciences to the word of God to discipline themselves to all activities of life. They applied the understanding of the mind of God to every branch of life, the church, the family, art, sciences, the world of commerce and industry. They saw life as a whole."
And the Puritan Christian worldview began with the knowledge of God. The Christian Puritan worldview was shaped by the God we worship, the glory of God, the sovereignty of God, and the whole being of God. If we don't start there, if we don't start with a high view of God, then our Christian worldview is going to be rather shaky, like a kite in the wind. And it wasn't just an intellectual view of God, but a saving knowledge of God. So the Puritans always had a Christ-centered focus. A true knowledge of God necessitates the love of God, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son.” Romans 8, it's a love that predestines, calls, redeems, converts, sanctifies, and ultimately will glorify every true saint of God. Quoting from Packer,
"And the Puritans argued that the one place, not the only place, but the one place in human history where God's love and Christ's love was fully, unambiguously revealed was at the cross."
Fully, unambiguously revealed at the cross.
And going back to the preaching of Pastor Bart Carlson Sunday morning, he dealt with this matter of loving Jesus. He started off with the fact that Jesus loves us. That's something we need to constantly be thinking about and meditating upon. Romans 5, (he referenced that), the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And we can be wonderfully sure and secure in that love, Romans 8:38, 39, “Nothing can separate us from that love of Christ.” Nothing in this world, nothing in the world to come. We never, ever have to worry that Christ will ever, ever stop loving us from the beginning to the end, from eternity to eternity.
And we should always be praying our love for Him, a felt sense of love for Him. I think that was what Pastor Carlson emphasized, he referred to a fresh, increasing love for our Savior. And let's be honest, that's probably where all of us can struggle, go astray. We can fall into a coldness, a lukewarmness, even a deadness. And you have that strong warning, I think he started the sermon off on that strong warning, in the last days where iniquity abounds, the love of many shall grow cold. Yes, you can have a full head, but you can have a cold heart, disaffected.
So to help us grow in our love for Christ, what do we do? Well, we meditate upon His love for us. That's where we have got to start, it starts with Him. He's the great initiator. We love him because He first loved us. And the more we see His love, the more that will refresh, energize, and compel our love. Why do we come to the Lord's table regularly? Well, to grow in our love for Christ as we contemplate His love for us. In that last text that was read earlier in Ephesians 3:17-19 where Paul talks about Christ's love, he talks about it from four different dimensions; its length, its breadth, its depth, and its height. And then he says, “It passes understanding.” In other words, no matter how much you study the love of Christ, no matter how much you meditate upon the love of Christ, no matter how many sermons you hear about the love of Christ, we will never, ever be able to exhaust its meaning or fully comprehend its breadth, height, depth, or width.
And as we come to prayer tonight, let's even pray for more love to Christ, more love to Christ. That wouldn't be a bad prayer to pray every time you pray, “Lord, give me more love for you, a felt sense of that love.”
And going back to the preaching of Pastor Bart Carlson Sunday morning, he dealt with this matter of loving Jesus. He started off with the fact that Jesus loves us. That's something we need to constantly be thinking about and meditating upon. Romans 5, (he referenced that), the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And we can be wonderfully sure and secure in that love, Romans 8:38, 39, “Nothing can separate us from that love of Christ.” Nothing in this world, nothing in the world to come. We never, ever have to worry that Christ will ever, ever stop loving us from the beginning to the end, from eternity to eternity.
And we should always be praying our love for Him, a felt sense of love for Him. I think that was what Pastor Carlson emphasized, he referred to a fresh, increasing love for our Savior. And let's be honest, that's probably where all of us can struggle, go astray. We can fall into a coldness, a lukewarmness, even a deadness. And you have that strong warning, I think he started the sermon off on that strong warning, in the last days where iniquity abounds, the love of many shall grow cold. Yes, you can have a full head, but you can have a cold heart, disaffected.
So to help us grow in our love for Christ, what do we do? Well, we meditate upon His love for us. That's where we have got to start, it starts with Him. He's the great initiator. We love him because He first loved us. And the more we see His love, the more that will refresh, energize, and compel our love. Why do we come to the Lord's table regularly? Well, to grow in our love for Christ as we contemplate His love for us. In that last text that was read earlier in Ephesians 3:17-19 where Paul talks about Christ's love, he talks about it from four different dimensions; its length, its breadth, its depth, and its height. And then he says, “It passes understanding.” In other words, no matter how much you study the love of Christ, no matter how much you meditate upon the love of Christ, no matter how many sermons you hear about the love of Christ, we will never, ever be able to exhaust its meaning or fully comprehend its breadth, height, depth, or width.
And as we come to prayer tonight, let's even pray for more love to Christ, more love to Christ. That wouldn't be a bad prayer to pray every time you pray, “Lord, give me more love for you, a felt sense of that love.”
Posted in Pastor Devotional