28 July 2024: “In love …”

Bethel Baptist Church
Worship Service @ Home

28 July 2024

Welcome

“King of kings, and Lord of lords we love you because You first loved us. In Your great love for us You went to that cruel death on the Cross, that we may be saved and spend eternity with You. You are magnificent; there is no one like You; we adore You, Amen.”

Stella

Worship

Graham Kendrick © Make Way Music 1988

Word

In love … (Ephesians 1:5)

God is love, period! (1 John 4:8, 16). Everything He does is in love. There is no hatred, darkness, sin, or bitterness in God. Long before creation (Eph. 1:4), God operating in the heavenly realms, chose us in His Son, and predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, and He did this “in love” (Eph. 1:5).

However, as we know, Adam and Eve totally messed up, and we are all in Adam and Eve, and therefore, we all messed up. From God’s perspective, we were all …

… dead in our transgressions and sins … gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature, following its desires and thoughts, children by nature of wrath.

Eph. 2:1-3

We might struggle to accept this but this is God’s diagnosis of the human condition following the ‘Fall’. It’s a mess, it’s depressing, it’s the world we live in! But God is love and He never left us there in that sad place. For we read next, “But because of His great love for us …” God did something about it, in His great mercy He,

… made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions.

Eph. 2:4-5

This is God’s grace, for He saved us, undeserving people as we are. So love motivated His mercy and grace into action. If we struggle with all this, then remember our finite minds are unable to completely work out, understand, or fathom, all God’s remarkable and amazing ways. But we need to understand this, God is love yesterday, today, and forever.

This love is reciprocated within the Godhead,

The Father loves the Son …,

John 3:35

and the Son loves the Father,

I love the Father …

John 16:31

and God loves all people (John 3:16) especially believers (John 14:21; Rom. 8:37: Gal. 2:20; 2 Thess. 2:16; 1 John 4:10) and we love Him in response, (Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 2:9; 8:3; Eph. 6:24; 1 Peter 1:8; 1 John 5:2).  

Our response? To walk in love,

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. And live a life of love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Eph. 4:32-5:2

According to Jesus, the greatest way we can witness to others is to

… love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 13:34-35

Verse of the week

Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:14

Quote of the week

“Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.”

Karl Barth

Karl Barth summing up in just a few words what was most important about his life’s work and theology.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, Your Word and the witness of Your Spirit tells us You love us deeply. Father, in Jesus Christ, through the power of Your Spirit, help us to love you more, help us to love one another more, and help us to love the lost people of this world more, Amen.