I Love You
The Promises of God • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
God’s promises are found throughout His word. My desire as a minister is to encourage others with these promises of God. I have found that if we were to try to determine what promises were the top 4, we would probably have lots of combinations, depending on our experiences and where we are in our relationship with God. So, the next four weeks, I want to share with you my perspective of four promises that have changed my life. You might ask, “Why do we need a sermon series on the promises of God?” One of the reasons is that you may need encouragement from one or more of these promises. You may have a family member or friend that needs it and you are not sure how to share it so I want to give you some things that may be helpful. Another reason is simply we need to be reminded that God is true to His word and we can count on it, especially when the world continues to fall apart.
The four promises I have selected from a broad scope of God’s word are God loves you, God is with you, God provides for you and God works for you. There are various passages of scripture that will look at over these next few weeks as we look at each of these promises.
As a form of introduction, let’s spend a few minutes answering the question what makes a promise so special? The power of a promise is found in the definition. Promise is a declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc, by the person or persons that make that declaration.
The Psalmist declared the power of God’s promise.
50 My comfort in my suffering is this:
Your promise preserves my life.
I have found the power of God’s promise to be a life preserver for me with the waves of this world have engulfed me and I felt like I was going under. The life preserver is filled with the fact that the promises have been fulfilled.
The promises we have in scripture are promises that have been fulfilled. I love a song that is playing lots on Christian radio. It is a group called Cain and the song is “Yes He Can.” The first verse and chorus go like this:
Yes He Can
Cain
Sometimes I wonder, is He faithful?
Does He see me in my trouble?
Does He understand?
Sometimes I question if He's able
Can He rescue, can He save me
Again and again?
But when I look back
Did He move every mountain?
Did He part every sea?
Yes, He did
So yes, He can
Did He defeat the darkness?
Did He deliver me?
Yes, He did
So yes, He can
Yes, He did
So yes, He can
These promises that are available to us are not just records of history. They serve to show us that our God promises and He fulfills those promises. Yes, He did so yes He can! If God moved a mountain in scripture, He can move a mountain in your life! If God parted a sea in scripture, God can part the seas in our lives. The promises of God in the ancient scriptures are in fact promises of God for us today! Because of Jesus, His promises are fulfilled and are still for us today.
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
With this in mind, what is the foundational promise of God? To me, the very foundational promise of God is the fact that He says to you and me, “I love you!”
No other verse in my mind declares better than John 3:16.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Some of us have quoted this verse all our lives. Some of us have memorized in the old King James Version.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Some of us can say it like Billy Graham!
But, have you ever looked it really close? If you have a red-letter Bible, these words are in red. These are the words of Jesus. In context, Jesus is having a conversation in secret with a Pharisee. If you remember, the Pharisees were religious leaders that made sure the people followed a religion and they were looking for the Messiah. They were so focused on that religion in following the do’s and don’ts that they missed out on the relationship. I am reminded of that very thing. Do you come to church because you have always come to church and it is the right thing to do, and complain when can’t meet together, or, do you come to church to grow your relationship with Jesus and it still grows even when we cannot gather together?
For God. For the first person of the Trinity, the Supreme Divinity, the Author, Creator and Sustainer of all things, so loved.
That two letter word “so” shows me that God loves me enthusiastically. I had a friend that when I asked him how he was doing, he would reply, “so good!” When he said it, I knew he was better than good. When we see that “God so loved the world,” we are recognizing that God loved us and still loves us with an enthusiasm that is unmatched.
God Loves Us Enthusiastically
God Loves Us Enthusiastically
Have you ever thought about how enthusiastically God loves you? “For God so loved the world.” What a beautiful and profound statement. When God makes a declaration, the whole world knows it.
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
Whenever we read in Scripture statements about God, it is both decisive and declarative. God so loved the world is indeed a profound statement. God so loved the cosmos! It also includes a plentiful embodiment.
The world. The population of the world today is approximately 7.9 billion people. God so loved 7.9 billion people that He gave. And somehow, God loves every person the same and He knows everything about every person. When you go to the doctor, someone in that office will pull up your file on the computer. Years ago, that information we have on the computer now was once in a file on a shelf. Do you remember the doctor offices that had all these shelves that had individual records on every patient? Can you imagine what God’s filing shelf would look like for 7.9 billion? How in the world does God love everyone the same? God knows every detail about us.
30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
How does He do that? The only answer I have is that He is God. He loves because He is love.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
The One that is love loves us. He loves us enthusiastically. I have said many times that God loves you so much that if He had a refrigerator your picture would be on it!
What a powerful experience to understand and know that God loves us! When you fully understand how much God loves you, you when never be the same.
1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
What a powerful experience to experience God loving us enthusiastically!
God Loves Us Energetically
God Loves Us Energetically
I believe that John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world so much that He gave. What God gave, was probably the most energetic gift that could be possible. God gave His only Son. There is no other. God’s A-plan was also His B-plan! God knew that His plan had to be perfect, which was easy for Him since He is perfect!
God loves us with all He is.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God owns everything from everlasting to everlasting and all that is in between.
God loves us with all He has.
4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.
God loves us with all He desires.
5 Many, O Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced;
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
God’s desire is for His people to desire to do His will. He knows what is best for us. He loves us enough to guide us and direct us. God loves us enough to give us an opportunity to dwell with Him forever.
God Loves Us Eternally
God Loves Us Eternally
The plan of God since creation was for mankind to be in fellowship with Him. In the Creation story found in Genesis, we see that God created man and woman to dwell with Him in the Garden of Eden. God walked with them and talked with them. Then the man and woman disobeyed God and disrupted the original plan.
God loves us eternally so He developed a second chance. Back to John chapter 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus something unusual.
3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The purpose of being born again is to not reenter the mother’s womb, but to experience God’s fullness with another chance of everlasting life.
26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
That is a question for us today. Do you believe this?
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
It is one of the greatest promises of God. It echoes throughout the world today. God says to each one of us, “I love you.” It is written in red.
Last night I did a wedding for a sweet couple. The vows were exchanged, the rings were placed on the fingers, and the celebration went on throughout the night. The love this couple had for each other and the love present from the families and friends for the couple were so beautiful to watch. They pledged to be each other’s forever person. As one that walked through them through premarital counseling, I have no doubt that indeed their relationship will be a lasting one. This wedding day happened because this couple said yes to each other and have pledged their all to each other. As I read John 3:16 over and over, I am reminded that because of God’s great love for us, we have the opportunity to have an eternal love that does not have to start in eternity, but has already started now. All we have to do is say yes.
Have you?