5-22-11- Graduation Sunday, John 3:16-21 The Love you want, The Love you need, The Love He gives

5-22-11- Graduation Sunday, John 3:16-21 The Love you want, The Love you need, The Love He gives.  John 3:16-21 (English Standard Version)

As I look at these guys who have and will graduate, I want you to know that there is a lot of choices you will have to make in the upcoming years.  You can either love the darkness of sin, or you can do what is true and live in the light, and let the light of Christ shine through you so it may be clearly seen that your works are being carried out in God. My Prayer for you is that you will LIVE LIKE YOU are Loved by the Father.

Let’s start by reading God’s Word, John 3:16-21, Remember this is Jesus Christ, Son of God, truly human and truly God speaking. This is the Word of God, This is God telling us about His love for us.

For God So Loved the World  16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

Paul reminds us of the Father’s Love in Romans 8:32 (English Standard Version)32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

The Father’s Love… We’ve talked about who the Father is, we’ve talked about the type of Father He is, So we know He is a loving Father. So what do we do with the Father’s Love? Is that the question? What are you doing with the Father’s love? Are you being a good steward of the varied grace you have been given? Why? Or Why not? Maybe you know God, Maybe you even know God loves you, but maybe you don’t see that the Father, YOUR FATHER, Who is in Heaven, LOVES YOU. Maybe today you will see His love for you a little clearer, maybe you will experience it by meeting with Him in His Word, which He has preserved for you for this moment. Accept the Father’s Love today if you haven’t, if you have, share it with yourself again, remind yourself and then share it with others. It is GOOD NEWS, The Father’s Love. We are going to jump around the text this morning and start in v.19 and 20. Then back to 16-18 then end with 20-21

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

1. The Love you want.
            A. Darkness
            B. Light

The love you want. Is the love you want leading you to darkness or light.

When we reject God’s love, we love the darkness.  We love the darkness because our works are evil! What are you searching for? What are you hiding from? Something anything, lots of things, lots of “SOMETHINGS” to fill your void, to fill your pain, to fill your ache, to repair your brokenness.

We want love that will satisfy our selfish desires. We want love that makes us feel good, look good and do good as long as we can do that our way. We want love that isn’t costly, isn’t hard, isn’t a bummer, We want love that isn’t messy, or complicated or frustrating. We want love that gives us a good feeling about ourselves. We want love to last and not just be fleeting moments.

We want love. We want love that makes us feel loved, that makes us feel safe. We want love that doesn’t reject us, that doesn’t criticize us, that accepts us how we are. We want love that takes away the hurt and replaces it with healing, comfort, and pleasure. We want love that is real not just empty words and half-hearted actions. Is this Bad? Is this wrong, to want this kind of love?

When the light shines on us, when we come into the light, our darkness is exposed, this is tough because, We want to be love, we want to be the answer, If I could just do this, then they will love me, then I will love myself…really? The truth is clear, the light is all revealing, we want to be god, we want to be in control, we want our way first and foremost, …. until we have known, felt, experienced, accepted, been engulfed by, been overwhelmed by, been re-birthed by the Father’s Love.

God says if we don’t know Him, we don’t know Love. God is Light, The darkness tries to tell you, you are happy, that you don’t need God or His Love, that you can just take care of yourself. You don’t need a father’s love. But God offers us a Hope, a Home, and ability to believe in His Son, whom He sent to Save us, to accept His free gift, of un-ending, un-leashed, un-blemished love.

The Love you really want is God’s Love, That’s the love you are really looking for, waiting for and longing for. Step into the light, It’s not like anything else you’ve tried, It’s everything you wanted and more, It’s exactly what you need.

John 1:4,5,9 , “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. V9) The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

            2. The Love you need.
            A. Rejecting
             B. Accepting

We’ve got to stop rejecting GOD’S LOVE! You have to accept Jesus and Jesus alone for your salvation, Jesus is the LOVE YOU NEED and He is here for you today! He has justified, sanctified and glorified us. Why do we insist that we know what we need? Are we really that confident? Are we really that sure? Or is that just our way of rejecting God’s love. Bowing the knee to Jesus, to our King is hard, taking away pride is difficult because we’d rather be master than servant, especially when we are unwilling to accept God’s love. Because in God’s grace and mercy we are more than servants, we are more than conquerors of fear and doubt, we are children of God, co-heirs with Christ, we are a family built in God’s Love.

How do you accept God’s love? Ephesians 2:8,9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Believe in the Him, Believe in Jesus, Step out of the darkness into God’s gracious light. Let your evil deeds be exposed.  Sure this may be humbling, Sure this may be embarrassing, sure this may bring you ridicule, sure this may cause you and your family and friends suffering. Your sin is worse than you think, it is more damaging than you could imagine, it is offensive to a Holy God, it is generational it isn’t only hurting you, But God’s Grace is so much deeper, so much wider, so much fuller and freeing than your sin.
Accept God’s gift and the finished work of Jesus Christ, for your evil deeds. Accept God’s holiness for your “un”holiness, His righteousness for your unrighteousness. Believe that God is THE GOD, that He is THE Father, That He is God the Father, that so loved the world he gave his one and only son…

 16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ARE YOU SERIOUS THIS IS AMAZING NEWS, JESUS HIMSELF IS TELLING US OF THE FATHER’S LOVE, JESUS WANTS US TO KNOW HIM>>>FOREVER…17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Are you rejecting or accepting JESUS this morning? Has Jesus saved you from your sin, if your answer is no, TRUST IN HIM TODAY!!! Because without believing in the only Son of God you are already condemned. There is no in between, you are either rejecting God’s Love, God’s Son or you are accepting The Father’s Love, you are accepting His free gift.

3. The Love He gives.
            A. filled with truth and light
            B. takes away fear, guilt and apathy and replaces it with hope and perserverance and action.

His love is pure, His love is Holy, His love is right, His love is true, His love is steadfast, His love endures, His love overcomes, His love knows no tears, His love heals, His love redeems, His love restores, His love is clearly seen, His love is radical, His love is freeing, His love is overwhelming, His love is filled with truth and light.

His love draws you near, His love drives fear away, His love leaves us guiltless, His love destroys doubt, His love fills us with aspirations, His love compels us to love, His love is hope secured, His love is eternal, His love encourages us to keep loving.

20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

Are you living in fear this morning? Are you standing in the darkness? Are you scared? Are you hoarding or rejecting God’s varied grace? God’s love is ready to break through, His love is at work. His love is filled with truth and light. Listen to Him this morning.

Ephesians 5:13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible

Romans 13:12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Job 24:13"There are those who rebel against the light,
   who are not acquainted with its ways,
   and do not stay in its paths.

There is no better News today… The Father’s Love, takes away fear, guilt and apathy and replaces it with hope and perseverance and action.

Ephesians 3:14-21Prayer for Spiritual Strength 14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Do you see the Hope we have been given, do you understand how we can persevere through anything, Isn’t His Love, The Father’s LOVE AMAZING in Action..

Romans 6:20-23 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.           

The Father’s Love, what an AMAZING LOVE, how can it be? We can’t love when we are living in fear and guilt, we can’t love when we don’t care, but The Father’s Love gives us hope, a hope eternally secured in Jesus, The Father’s Love gives us the perseverance to endure today, to run the race He has set before us, the perseverance to Love Him and others, and most of all the Father’s Love gives us the ability to actively Love, to accept His Love from an unending fountain and share it, to come to the Light that needs no sun, but that is powered by THE SON, and reflect His glory to everyone we meet. The Father’s Love The Love you want, The Love you need, The Love He gives. Now go and Live LIKE YOU are Loved, by the Father.