Notes from church yesterday

2 Timothy 1:8-9:

God’s love is 1) particular. God’s love is for us; us, in this case, meaning His children…not every person, but His chosen…His elect. God has a unique and direct love as a father to His children. When I speak about His children, I automatically assume that you understand that His children are His elect. Since His love is direct to us, we know that His hatred of our opposers is particular and unique. He loves us in a family-way, and as His children, we must think of and love him as a family also. We must be jealous for Him. It is our role to love God and our family of God. We are all related. Our earthly father is a representation of our heavenly father. Fathers are to be the head of the household just as Christ is the Head of the Church. Although a father must love others, he puts his children first. Family first, then work out from there. It is likewise with Christ. Nations are often considered families. They have immigration laws for a reason. They think about their citizens first and put then primary.

God’s love is 2) unconditional. It is unconditional in the sense that we have done nothing to deserve it, but that is not to say that we can just sit back and do nothing. Christ died so that we could have this unconditional love. No acts of ours have earned us His love. Christ love of the Father and the love of His people took Him to the cross. This unconditional love did not come freely, someone had to pay it; we couldn’t, so Christ did. We can’t think that no matter what we d o we will still receive God’s unconditional love. i.e. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” People do not have this right kind of understanding. God paid the price and now we are free to go about our lives with nothing we must do…this is the thinking now-a-days that has gotten so many people into trouble! Because we do have something to do every single day: we must proclaim God’s name and glorify Him in everything we do. People today, take words and empty their meanings and fill those words with their own new meaning. Fathers are to have an ever present and unconditional love no matter what the children do. This is how the Father loves us. A father’s love is not dependant on the performance of the children. This is how it is with the Father. Fathers are to be God’s image for their children. Your father should invoke an image of God.

Some of this stuff seems very basic, but really it is very important to know. So God’s love is 1) particular and 2) unconditional.