The Reckless Love of God
Advent 2024 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Handout
Children’s message:
What does Advent mean?
1st Candle
2nd Candle
3rd Candle
4th Candle
What is love? Is it a feeling?
Love is not about feelings
Love may express itself in feelings, but love itself is not a feeling.
I don’t have good feelings and then I love.
I love and then it produces good feelings.
And in fact, love can produce feelings of sadness.
But I can also love without any feelings.
Feelings are about me. Love is about others.
Love is a Choice.
Love is choosing to do what’s best for someone else, even if you don’t feel like it.
Your dad needs your help. You don’t want to help, but it’s best for him to have your help, so you help, without complaining.
What’s best for your mom’s peace of mind is a clean house. So, in love, you clean your room, without complaining.
And better yet, you do those things without being asked.
Love is Thankfulness.
Love also presents itself through thankfulness.
I’m thankful that I have a mom or dad and so I want to please them.
I’m thankful I have a room and so I want to be respectful of it and keep it clean.
Love is Sacrifice.
What’s the fifth candle?
Love is Jesus. Jesus is love.
Light candles - get two kids to light 2 each.
Video.
What Is the Reckless Love of God?
What Is the Reckless Love of God?
Choosing to do what’s best for the other person regardless of how it affects me.
Not worried about perceived dangers or bad outcome.
From a human perspective, we might respond with the comment, “Have you really thought this through?” or, “Are you crazy?”
Maybe more appropriately is the thought of how. “You’re going to save the human race, how?”
1 Peter 1:10–12 (NASB95)
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow...things into which angels long to look.
The Hypostatic Union - The incarnation. I am going to become one of them!
Love is going to take physical form.
The perfect blending of two distinct natures without either nature taking away from the other and yet, those two natures co-exist in one person.
Deity did not just enter into a human. Deity and humanity merged together into one.
Both natures are necessary for redemption.
I’m going to die for them physically, so they don’t have to die spiritually.
The incarnation was God’s specific, special mission for His love to be made visible, for His love to dwell with and within in us, and for His love to be demonstrated in a visible way, so that we might glory in the love of God.
And we’re going to look at this through the phrases in John 1:14.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word BECAME flesh
The Word DWELT among us.
We saw the Word’s GLORY.
Read Philippians 2:5-11.
The Word Became…Flesh (John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-8)
The Word Became…Flesh (John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-8)
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
He Existed In The Form (morphe - essence) of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Pre-existance. There was never a time when “Jesus” did not exist.
Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jesus was the first created being of Jehovah.
Things like His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature - Rom 1:18
Invisible Attributes - God is spirit, holy, eternal
Eternal power - meekness, self-regulation, faithfulness.
Divine nature - perfection of Love, Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Goodness.
He Was Equal To God
Same rank
Same privileges
Same glory.
He Emptied Himself
He Limited Himself
Omnipotence - could not do many miracles due to their lack of faith.
Omniscience - the son of man does not know the day nor hour.
Omni-presence - He could only be physically in one place at a time.
Eternality - He became mortal.
He Laid Aside His Privileges
Did not need to hold onto His equality or His status or privileges.
Did not consider it robbery. He is having nothing stolen from Him, because He freely and willingly gave it up.
He Embraced Humiliation Through Humility
He took the form (morphe - essence) of a bond-servant
Became - the Creator was becoming His creation.
But He did not become less than God.
He was adding humanity to His deity.
Born - Finite vs. infinite
Mortal - not dying to being able to die
Flesh and blood
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
He left the outward glory of deity and took on the outward form of a man.
From 5 star General to Recruit
Stripped Himself of every advantage.
Military General removing all of His rankings and medals.
Putting on the street clothes of the recruit.
King To Slave
Permanent relation of servitude
One’s will is consumed in the will of another
No rights
Riches to Rags
He Entered Into Humanity
He was made in the likeness of men
Similar, but not exact.
He looked like us – Took on flesh
But His flesh was not tainted by sin - essence
Being found in appearance as a man
Fully human
added an actual physical human body
no longer just spirit.
Experience the human condition
Again, both natures are necessary for redemption.
Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Physical Weakness – Hunger
Emotional Weakness – Grief / betrayal / abandonment
Psychological Weakness - Anguish / agony
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
Gnostic Notion debunked
Jesus’ body only “seemed” physical because matter, in this case, the body, is inherently evil and only spirit is good.
So a sinless Christ could not inhabit matter, because matter is evil.
Therefore, it only appeared that He inhabited it.
His spirit descended upon him at baptism, but left him just before His crucifixion.
So the body that died was flesh devoid of spirit at that point.
Zombie anyone?
Love made Himself visible.
The Word Dwelt…Among Us - John 1:14; Phil. 2:7; Matt 1:21-23
The Word Dwelt…Among Us - John 1:14; Phil. 2:7; Matt 1:21-23
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Dwelt - Tabernacled
Feast of Tabernacles / Booths / Tents
temporary dwelling places
remembering their wilderness wanderings.
This life before Heaven is a wilderness wandering.Took up residence.
He pitched a tent in our living room
Immanuel - God with us.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
Also a reference to the actual tabernacle as well.
In the tabernacle God revealed His presence by a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
A constant reminder that God was with them and in the midst of them.
implications
He came to hang out with us so we would hang out with Him
He came to better understand us so we could better understand Him
He came to be in a relationship with us so we could be in a relationship with Him.
Love came to live with and within us.
We Saw The Word’s…Glory (John 1:14; Philippians 2:8-11)
We Saw The Word’s…Glory (John 1:14; Philippians 2:8-11)
Back to last week, glory is a reference to the image and character of God.
Full of Grace and Truth
Back to the Divine nature of Jesus.
This phrase follows the OT terms of hesed and emeth, or, lovingkindness and truth.
By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.
hesed - covenant love and loyalty.
emeth - faithfulness.
Love came to demonstrate what love is in a visible way.
Through being faithful to His covenant
That is, by dying a visible death on a cross (vs 8).
Right back to His human nature.
He gave up His crown for the cross.
This is also a reference to John seeing Jesus’ transfiguration and later His resurrected body, and so there is another powerful connection here that highlights His divine nature.
(vs. 9-10) - Jesus was faithful to fulfill the covenant vows and as a result, God exalted Him, glorified Him, and gave Him the name that is above every name.
The specific part of His glorification that applies to us, is His bodily resurrection.
Just like Jesus was glorified, so we too will be glorified.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Again, connecting the word skenos, tent, we will stop living in tabernacles when we cross the Jordan River and come into the Promised Land.
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
To The glory of God The Father:
After being humiliated, Jesus is then exalted.
At the name of Jesus. Identity - new name. Bearing the reputation of God.
Jesus’ glory was to make God glorious, so that we might glory in Him.
Love Restores Our Ability to fully glory in God and give glory to God.
Our Responsibility - Imitate Christ.
Our Responsibility - Imitate Christ.
Have the same attitude that was in Christ - vs 5.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
I have set the example for you, now it’s your turn.
Love is a command
It is a verb.
It is something you do, not something you feel.
Selfless.
Love is a commitment
It is something you do over and over again
Sacrifice
Love is a choice
I will love you even if I don’t want to.
Service
Closing Song: Reckless Love.
