Key Words:

Let’s do something different this morning. Let’s review a bit. Well, maybe it’s not really different, BUT it is needful. Our subject is "The Love of God". I’m attempting to do two things in the presentation of this subject:
(1) Answer a question about "agape" love.
(2) Continue on in our series in the Book of Ephesians.

Over and over again in Ephesians, Paul refers to: The Love of God, The Love of Christ, Love as Christ loved us, etc. Therefore, we had better know "what" love is, and "how" we can love like Christ. So, let’s put it in high gear and run over some facts that are essential, if we are to have a clear Spiritual understanding of our topic, The Love of God.

Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This granting of the "privilege" 

to know and comprehend God’s love is based on:

(1) God’s riches
(2) Strengthening the inner man
(3) Being rooted and grounded in love

In the next lesson or two, we will concentrate on the "riches of His Glory". Otherwise known as His essence, person, or attributes... or whatever term you would like to call that "glory".

"To know the LOVE of Christ", we must be granted this privilege by God (v 16). Any granting of a Spiritual privilege, blessing, gift, etc., by God is always based on certain "criteria", or conditions being met either wholly by God, or by the person receiving such, with empowering from God to do so.

Most Spiritual blessings received by a Believer after Salvation are based on that Believer fulfilling some condition through the provision and enabling of God. If you, as a Believer, do not meet those conditions by the empowering grace of God, you will suffer ETERNAL loss! NO!! You will not lose your eternal Salvation, BUT neither will your loss be insignificant.

Look God square in His eyes, 

and allow Him to transmit this truth 

from His Word to your mind, 

if it is not already established there.

1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Please note several things in this passage that relate to our subject at hand. Each Believer is building. The "structure" we are building IS none less than the TEMPLE OF GOD. That "temple" is our lives (v 16-17), which includes body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). This building process, and the building are not trite matters. Verse 17 tells us that if we "defile" this temple.., God will "destroy" us.

If you "defile" -- God will "destroy"

This is not a maybe, it is an absolute!!

Defile = (Greek) To shrivel, wither, spoil and decay. The word is associated with Autumn when plants stop growth, output and the production of the plants fall to the ground to rot.

This Greek word is used 8 time in the New Testament, and is associated with the improper use of the Scriptures in one’s own life, or through teaching.

Destroy = (Greek) The exact same Greek word as "defile".

Why did the translators use "two" English words for this "one" Greek word? I don’t know! This type of Biblical translation sometimes makes for more "enjoyable" reading.., BUT it, also, makes real Bible study, from the English translations, more difficult. In this verse, I have to give the NIV higher "marks" than the NKJ for good translation.

More and more, 

we see a style of Biblical translation directed toward 

selling books, 

rather than the ease of study and understanding.

Look at and understand a truth declared here that will help "solve" a nagging problem that is not directly associated with our subject of the morning. First...., get the principle firmly in your mind!!!

If you "defile" your temple of God, 

(literally.....

allow your Spiritual growth to stop, 

shrivel, decay or fall into ruin...,) 

THEN  

God will continue the process

that you  

WILLINGLY  and  DELIBERATELY 

started of your own volition.

(1 Corinthians 3:17)

Remember, it is the same Greek word for "defiles" and "destroy" in v 17. Please, read the verse again, with that in mind!!!!! If you start the process, God will cause it to continue... UNTIL you meet certain criteria. In this case, that criteria was building properly, using the right materials, and building on the foundation of Christ.

This principle is not a brand new principle starting with 1 Corinthians. It was true in the Garden of Eden with the first humans. God said that they could eat of every tree in the Garden except the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then God stated this principle BEFORE mankind ever sinned. God said, "You eat... you die!"

It was true with Israel when they came into the "Land". God told them, that while in the "Land": If they obeyed... they would be blessed. If they disobeyed... they would be cursed. All through the Old Testament and the New Testament this principle is stated and demonstrated in many, many ways. What you sow... you reap, and on and on it goes. This is God’s mode of operation. It never changes.

The nagging Biblical problem that understanding this principle will help to solve?

"When God sent Moses to deliver 

the people Israel from slavery in Egypt, 

"How could a just God 

‘harden’ 

the heart of Pharaoh??" 

You remember the principle.... "YOU START IT.... GOD WILL FINISH IT". In most cases, God provides the conditions or "criteria" that if followed will stop and often reverse what you started. God can turn cursing to blessing, BUT only as we follow in obedience what God has provided. We could spend a lot of time here, but I want to show you how the study of one portion will help in the understanding of MANY other portions.

1 Samuel 6:6 "Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart?

Well....., how ‘bout that!!! Pharaoh and the Egyptians people STARTED it, and God FINISHED it!! It shouldn’t seem strange, or confusing IF you have rightly divided the Scriptures...., CORRECT?!? We can’t keep running down this "path", right now. Please remember that no "one" portion of Scripture can be interpreted of itself, alone, without ALL the rest of the Scriptures in perfect harmony.

2 Peter 1:19 We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private (of its own) interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

These "hardening-of-the-heart" types of manmade problems would be clear and understandable to us, if we first understood the person and essence of God. We wouldn’t have these types of Biblical problems, if the "teachers" of the Word of God made sure that ALL they taught, agreed perfectly with all Scripture!!!!!

Some sincere, and often very good person teaches something, other than the pure Word of God in harmony.., AND some honest person follows those teachings.., AND both fall into the Spiritual "ditch" together.

Matthew 15:13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 "Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."

It behooves us to be very careful what and how we teach!!!! The ones that "fall into the ditch" with you, may very well be your own children. Teaching your children is not just the words you say to them, but the life and attitude you live before them. In reality, far MORE is taught by attitude and actions, than words.

I wish we could forever "loose" the phrase, "Give me a chapter-’n-verse to prove your point". If we would stop trying to prove what some human said, AND study diligently to see what the Bible says of itself, we could learn so much, and would not have to spend time correcting improper teaching and putting out Biblical "brush fires".

There is NO manmade theory, or theology that is worth trying to prove or disprove. The purpose of both, theories and theologies, should ONLY be to shed light on, and bring understanding to the Scriptures. Neither should divide Believers into the "camps" of Paul or Apollos or Cephas (1 Corinthians 3) or Calvin or... or... or....

Back to our review. The 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 portion says, that if you don’t meet the "criteria", you will: (1) Not receive the "granting" of certain blessings.., AND (2) Will lose a LOT.....; (a) By being "revealed" as a hypocrite before all (b) Through the loss of eternal rewards (c) By God continuing the defiling and destroying process you started. Not necessarily in that order.

2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well-known to God, and I also trust are well-known in your consciences.

Here in 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, Paul gives us another warning to meet certain "criteria" to be "well pleasing to Christ". The result of not meeting the "criteria", is experiencing the "terror of the Lord".

It is interesting that this Greek word for "terror" is not a verb, nor an adjective..., it is a noun. Nouns can do strange things in Greek, but that’s not the point here. This "terror" or fear is not just something that God causes. It is instead, more of Who and What God is, or His essence.

This "fear", as used here, belongs to or is part of God, and should motivate us either by "dread" of not meeting the "criteria", OR motivate us by the "joy" of fulfilling the "criteria" set forth by such a glorious God. The NIV probably has a more accurate translation of this phrase. However, it would be pretty hard, in a short phrase, to give both: (1) A complete meaning of the portion AND (2) An accurate word for word Greek to English translation.

This word "terror", as used in the phrase "terror of the Lord", could mean several things depending on context, use and etc.:

(1) It can be the "terror" or fear that belongs to, or is of God -- His essence.
(2) It can be the "terror" or fear that we should give to God, because He deserves such respect -- Our worship.
(3) It can be the "terror" or fear that should permeate a life because God will judge every person’s works -- God is the final Judge and that judgment will be in righteousness, justice, holiness, etc.
(4) It can be all of the above, plus more

By the context of 2 Corinthians 5, knowing about the Judgment Seat of Christ and that God will judge according to their works, as Paul wrote to them earlier in the first epistle, should have persuaded these Believers to properly live with others in the Body, and to properly care for one’s own "temple of God", their lives.

Mankind, even Believers must be persuaded to live in harmony with the total of Christ’s essence, of which each Believer is a part by virtue of being in the Body of Christ. This type of living does not come naturally, and it takes a great deal of persuading to bring a person to the point of willingness to do so.

On the other hand, God’s actions MUST and WILL be in perfect harmony with ALL of His essence. Therefore, IF we are to be "granted" the privilege of knowing the "deep things" of God, we must be in harmony with Christ and Christ’s Body, of which we are a part. These things must be true, if we are to "know this LOVE of God which passes knowledge" (v 19).

Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

When we are not in harmony with Christ’s essence and other members of His Body, we do damage to the whole body, and to our personal "temple", or "our part" of the Body Christ. Paul demonstrates this principle, in Col 3:9-11, by the act of lying to one another, living in falsehood or hypocrisy.

Lying to one another 

"drains" 

the spiritual strength from the "inner man".

Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This granting of the "privilege" 

to know and comprehend God’s love is based on:

(1) God’s riches
(2) Strengthening the inner man
(3) Being rooted and grounded in love

To have this "grant", from God to know His love, requires these three "criteria". If we "drain" the spiritual strength from our inner man through speaking and living a lie or being a hypocrite in our motives, we have failed in one third of the "criteria" needed to receive this "grant" from God to "know the love of Christ". If we are not living by 1/3 of a divine command, THEN I’d say we are living in a carnal state. Wouldn’t you agree with God on that point?!?

1 Timothy 1:4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. 5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

In 1 Timothy 1:4-7, we have another list of three criteria that must be met, if we are to know the "purpose" of the commandment. That purpose is "love" -- agape or God’s love. This "knowing" is not simply to be cognizant of the "fact", BUT to be experiencing the "fact". As we saw earlier concerning the defiling of our Temple of God, these, referred to in 1 Tim 1, have in a similar manner failed to meet the criteria set forth.

These people strayed from: (1) A pure heart (2) A good conscience (3) A sincere faith.., and deliberately turned aside to idle talk. Therefore, they don’t even know or understand what they teach, OR what they are confirming to others as true. That sounds like false teachers. Would you agree with God on that point?!?

There are many God given "lists" of criteria throughout the New Testament. It would be a good exercise for your personal time, as you are reading and studying the Word of God, to look at these lists of criteria and place them in an orderly manner within these three: (1) God’s riches (2) Strengthening the inner man (3) Being rooted and grounded in love. There certainly would not be anything wrong with making other categories of criteria. However, for ease of study, these three make a very good file cabinet for all the others.

I’m going to read a portion of this great Love Chapter of 1 John 4. As I read, please apply the information you have already learned concerning God’s love. If you have learned even a small portion of the teaching on the Love of God, this passage will mean a great deal more than before we examined these things. If you missed those truths, this passage will "seem" to have many contradictions.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;

Love has only one source, and love is an inseparable part of God.

7b and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

To be able to show "real" love, a person must be Born Again. However, there are many Born Again Believers who do not know this "love" by experiencing it on a continual basis.

9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

The greatest manifestation of God’s Love was seen in the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Christ. The purpose of that manifestation of God’s Love was not JUST as a "fire escape" from Hell. The purpose of the manifestation of God’s Love went way beyond that fact, to having life abundant through Christ.

This "part" of the purpose is sadly ignored by many Believers. Even when we do give a little thought to this abundant life, we seem to think it means living without cares, pressure, commitment, holiness, truthfulness etc.

10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

It is IMPORTANT that we notice and live by the progression of this Love of God. Our response to God’s love is to be a response. Our response is not to give our love to God (we have nothing worthy of God to give), but we are to give to God the same "love" with which God loved us. We are to "pass", or reflect God’s "love" back to Him. We, FIRST must be experiencing, or "knowing" this Love of God.., THEN.... we can respond to God by "AGAPE". Our love of God and to God is not our own!! Our response to God’s Love is to be God’s love reflected or mirrored back to God.

When we try to "drum-up"
a love response to God from our own being..,
it is nothing more than passion!

It is pure human emotion! No different than the emotional response to a sad and/or happy movie, a ball game, a tragedy, etc. That type of response is NOT "agape"!! It matters not what motive brings about that emotional response, or where it takes place.., it is pure human passion or lust.

The Christian community has moved SO FAR from the realities of Christian living that they are desperate to try to produce SOMETHING they think might be "like" real Christianity.

If you write study material for some of the major religious publishing houses today.., you will be instructed, among other things, to write in such a way as to "evoke emotion", and please don’t use a lot of Scriptures, because Scriptures take up a lot of precious space.

Believe you me!!! The truths of God found in the Word of God are emotional. BUT when we deliberately try to "work-up", or "evoke" emotion so the unsaved and/or Believers will be drawn near to Christ, IT IS NOT OF GOD!! If it is not of God, I will leave it up to your discretion as from where or from whom it precedes.

Christ said that if He would be "lifted up", then all men would be drawn to Him. Christ was "lifted-up", and all have been or will be drawn to Him. All have been drawn to Him, not necessarily for accepting Him as Savior, but drawn to Him. Those who do not come to Him in adoration in this life, will come before Him in fearful adoration at the judgment. This fact of lifting Christ "up" has application far beyond the physical cross, even though that is the main application of the passage.

The ONLY proper display of emotion, or love to God comes as a result of SEEING Who Christ really is, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. These truths and MANY more will be brought out in this "Love Chapter". We will not have time to point to all of those truths as we move through this passage. However, we will glance at several, and I encourage you to read and re-read this portion many times over with the understanding given by the Holy Spirit.

BEFORE we move on, please understand that contrived emotion is at best only from the soul of a depraved nature. That emotional response may be pleasant and even life changing. But that change in life, brought about by human emotion, is NOT the transformation spoken of by the Holy Spirit in Romans 12, and elsewhere.

Let’s face it, the bombing in Oklahoma City, the shootings in the schools, etc. bring GREAT emotional feelings. For some, that emotion "evoked" by these circumstances brought life changing results. However, the Spiritual transformation of the Bible starts ONLY when a person truly sees God for Who He is, and sees one’s self for who they really are.., and reflects that back to God.

Human emotions will be involved in our proper love to God,
BUT
only as these emotions follow and are incorporated in the reflection of God’s love,
NOT
the other way around.

Moses was transformed, even in his physical being, while with God for those 40 days on Mount Sinai. The transformation or glowing face was a result of being in the presence of a holy God, NOT by or through his own emotions. "The Tables of Stone" were broken as a result of the emotions of Moses, NOT the love of God. Let me tell you, there are a LOT of commands of God broken because of our human emotions!

When we see Christ for Who He is, and we see ourselves what we are the emotions and the changes that follows will be real! We could point to Biblical illustration after Biblical illustration of this truth, but let’s look at just one illustration from the Scriptures. Isaiah experienced seeing Christ high and "lifted" up. That experience a changed his life, his ministry, his motive, etc.

Isaiah 6:2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

This was not some contrived, "evoked", emotional atmosphere.
This was reality!!!
Notice at the same time Isaiah saw Who God was...,
he saw WHAT he was.

He didn’t make excuses for what he said. He didn’t try to explain it away. He didn’t try to blame someone else. He didn’t try to make himself look better by manipulation of the facts. ETC. Those things "drain" the Spiritual strength from the inner man. What Isaiah did is called "true confession", or saying the same thing God says about the facts (I John 1:9). True confession "plugs the drain" so the Spiritual strength will not be lost from the inner man. Confession to man or God does not produce Spiritual strength, it just stops the continual loss, and puts us back in fellowship with Christ and His Word. In that condition we can be strengthened in the inner man.

Many Christians will NEVER see Who Christ is, high and lifted up this side of eternity.., BECAUSE they spend their time and energy trying to "lift" themselves up. -- That is a full-time job for many!

As long as we spend our time and energy trying to make ourselves look good, our efforts and our pride will block our view of Who Christ really is. Please don’t try to build-up or evoke some emotion in an effort to imitate the "real-thing"!!!!! In the next lesson, we will be taking a look at Who God is. We will look at His essence.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if (and he did) God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (all inclusive).

My Christian friend. If you are not loving others.., you are not experiencing God’s love, and you are not loving God.... You are only in love with yourself.

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Notice the conditional phrase, "if we love one another..." THEN... There is way too much in this portion to even mention, but notice loving others brings assurance that we are abiding in Christ. If we are not loving others in the way Christ loves them, we are not abiding in Him!!!!!!!!!!!

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

We have already looked at this fact, but it cannot be emphasized too much. UNLESS you are living in and experiencing God’s love NOW...... you should have fear of the Judgment!!!! If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you need not fear the loss of your salvation. However, there is so much you CAN loose, and it will be lost for eternity.

If you are not living in love NOW, you will have "fear" and "torments" in your earthly life NOW. Many emotional problems that Believers have can be traced to this very fact.

19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Who God is will determine what God does.
What God does will reveal a great deal about Who God is.