God’s Love for You Is Unstoppable – Easter, part 3
Do you know Jesus’ unstoppable, passionate, perfect love for you? This message challenges you to reflect, commit, and celebrate life in Christ. Plus, learn how to seek God's wisdom and instruction.
Living for Christ takes spiritual courage and intentional actions. Rekindle or begin a new relationship with Jesus today. New life in Christ is possible no matter your past.
God personally and passionately loves you! This Easter series reveals God’s unconditional, selfless, no-strings-attached love that motivated Jesus to lay down his life for you! He suffered and died to bring you in direct relationship with God. God has a plan for your life and he will never stop loving you. Will you choose to follow, obey, and love him in return?
Unconditional, Selfless, No-Strings-Attached Love
Jesus is alive!
These last weeks I have shared with you that God passionately loves you, and that God’s love is perfect. Today let me tell you that God's love for you is unstoppable.
“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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17, NIV).
God’s love is unstoppable.
The soldiers could not stop it.
The religious leaders could not stop it.
The crowds shouting “crucify him” could not stop it.
The nails in his hands and feet could not stop it.
Hanging on the cross and witnessing the soldiers bidding for his clothes did not stop or change his love for you.
The grave could not hold Jesus or stop Jesus’ love for you.
Jesus rose from the grave and lives forever. Jesus loves you with an everlasting, passionate, perfect, real, and unstoppable love.
When we say yes to Jesus, we embrace the everlasting, unstoppable, perfect, love of God. As Christians, we are to display that same kind of love towards one another and live a life of faith in Christ for all to see. A sure and confident faith in the risen savior, who loves us with the unstoppable love of God.
Today we celebrate Easter; resurrection Sunday. The day Jesus rose from the grave. We rejoice that Jesus rose from the dead, just as he said he would. We celebrate the empty tomb. We rejoice and celebrate with believers everywhere the truth that Jesus is alive.
Over the course of the past weeks, we have noticed that loving others is not always easy.
We have noted that God's love does not change.
We have seen that Jesus faced the cross and suffered many things and, yet, his love never changed.
When you experience conditional love or when a person mistreats you, your love may change at times.
But God’s love doesn’t change.
Jesus experienced conditional love from others sometimes, but his love for others and for you never changed. Jesus experienced people's change of heart towards him for different reasons. But that did not change his love for you.
God's love does not change. God loves you, even when his love is not returned. God’s love does not change when a person gets angry, hateful, rude or even turns a back on him. God loved Israel even as the people of God rejected his love and served other gods. And yet, when the people of God cried out to God and turned back towards God with all their hearts, he answered them and delivered them out of captivity. Even when God knew that they would turn their backs on him again and again, he loved them and delivered them. That is unstoppable love.
God’s love is clearly seen as we have studied John 3:16: God so loved the world that he sent his son. Jesus loved and obeyed God the Father and loved you so much that he said yes, “I will go,” and he was willingly crucified on a cross at the hands of sinful men and died in your place. Jesus humbled himself and took the place of a servant. Jesus was obedient to the will of the Father.
Today we celebrate that the death of Jesus was not the end of the story. If it was the end, the story would be a tragedy. But it’s not the end. Jesus rose from the dead three days later. The grave and physical death could not hold him.
Each of the four gospels record the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Each of the four gospels looks at the event of Jesus' death and resurrection from a slightly different angle, but they all have the same message: Jesus is alive. He rose and lives forever more. For three days, all hope seemed lost. Not one person expressed any hope that Jesus would be resurrected from the dead. The disciples did not go to the tomb hoping to find it was empty. The disciples only went to the tomb after they were told something happened. It was only then that Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves that what they were told was true.
In Luke 24 we find some women were headed to the tomb to care for Jesus' body in the way that they were not able to do three days earlier. How they were going to roll away the large stone did not come to mind. When they arrived at the tomb, they found the stone already rolled away and two men (two angels) appeared and told them “He is not here, he has risen” (Luke 24:6).
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” (Luke 24:1-7).
Are you distracted or are you focused on Christ?
Jesus knew all along that the cross was before him. The devil tried to trick Jesus and tempt him to sin. The devil tried to get Jesus to avoid the cross; if Jesus would only bow and worship him. Jesus refused. The devil was unable to sway Jesus to avoid the pain and suffering of the cross by any means. Jesus loves you so much that he could never avoid the cross. Jesus so passionately loves you and all the world that nothing could stop him from giving his life so you might live. Jesus' resurrection defeated sin and death itself.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
“‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
Jesus’ death and resurrection defeated the curse of sin and death for all who call on the name of the Lord.
But many don’t call on and love God. The people of Israel turned their backs on God repeatedly. The religious leaders refused to believe in Jesus. Some people profess to love God and know Jesus; however, their lives and actions speak a totally different story. Their love for God is not from the heart. Yet Jesus died for them as well. Others in the world know nothing about the true love of God. Oh, they know the word “love,” but the meaning or focus of love is seen only in their own self-interest and enjoyment.
Our idea regarding love is often changed by our feelings or small actions of others. In a perfect world, minor feelings should not change our hearts or love for one another or with God. However, we are not living in a perfect world. We have a sinful nature, and we will sin time and again, causing our hearts to change, and resulting in our hearts and love to change towards God and others.
“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes” (Song of Solomon 2:15, KJV).
It’s little things, innocent, thoughtless moments that we may not pay much attention to, that catch us off guard spiritually and cause us to stumble and sin, causing us to doubt God or his love.
I do not think the Israelites intentionally, or knowingly turned their backs to God. However, the unstoppable love of God never changes and when a person learns of their sin and turns back to God in faith, he is there with open arms. Much like the father in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15.
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:22-24, NIV).
The father never stopped loving his son. God never stops loving you.
The son in Luke 15 thought things would be better and more fun away from his father. But that was not true. When the son hit bottom, he remembered and took notice of his father’s love and care. A love he had not noticed before. Humbly, the son returned to his father and his father joyfully rejoiced and welcomed him home, restoring the son as his rightful sonship once again.
Distractions are a normal occurrence in life and we lose sight of what is important for a time. The world is full of distractions. That is where the prodigal son went wrong. He was looking for love in all the wrong places. We must keep our eyes focused on Christ and the cross. God loves you. Don’t go looking for love in all the wrong places. Numerous things may cause a temporary setback, but nothing can negate or change God’s love for you.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
You are victorious in Christ. Nothing in all creation can separate you from the love of God. Even before the foundation of the world, Jesus knew he would suffer and die as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18-20, KJV).
Your redemption is priceless. And we are to live dead to sin as Christians.
How can you seek God’s instruction and wisdom?
“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness” (Romans 6:11-13, NIV).
Jesus died so that we might live. Jesus died and rose again, and we should no longer let sin reign in our mortal bodies. We are to no longer obey sinful, selfish, worldly desires. Instead, we are to love God and love others as Christ loved us and gave his life for us. Let us die to sin and live for Christ each day.
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:12-13).
Things will continue to tempt you. The enemy of your soul has not given up on getting you to turn your back on God. And yet when you do sin, seek the Lord’s forgiveness and turn away from the sin that so easily plagues you.
Let this Easter be a time of renewing your heart and choose to avoid the temptation of sin. Resist the urge to sin against God in every way. The temptation to sin can be persistent. Make the choice to turn from sin and look full in his wonderful face. Receive the love and grace of God and stand against temptation. The bible is clear, the Holy Spirit will direct your path and provide a way out from the bondage of sin as you seek God and his direction and wisdom.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Let me ask you a question: What does it mean to you that Jesus died and rose again? What does it mean to you that he is alive today and forever? Do you know God loves you with unstoppable love? The challenge for us as followers of Christ is that we need to learn how to live for him each day. We need to learn that his love is real and that he never stops loving us. Even if you stopped returning his love. He loves you with open arms.
Luke tells us that we need to learn to deny ourselves.
“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it’” (Luke 9:23-24).
When you truly know the love of God, you will learn to deny your selfishness and worldly desires. Denying yourself and daily taking up your cross and following Jesus means no longer living to fulfill your own selfish and sinful desires. Living for Christ takes spiritual courage and intentional actions. It takes making a choice to turn from sin and turn to Jesus. It means avoiding those things that tempt us. It means being a doer of the word and not a hearer only.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:22-25).
The bible is the inspired word of God and is the best guide for life.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Read the word of God and allow it to instruct you in how to live. It tells us to avoid sin and to display the love of God and serve others. The bible will point you, and whoever reads it, to Christ. The word is alive and speaks of love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy of God. The bible also warns us of the tricks of the enemy. The enemy will try to stir up worldly desires and try to tempt you to sin in the hope that you will turn from God. Instead, choose to look more intently into the word of God. Look to the abundant life you have in Christ the Lord. Know the joy of the Lord is your strength and having experienced the love of God yourself, you know his love is real and true. His love for you is everlasting and unstoppable.
In contrast, the enemy is only out to kill, steal, and destroy.
Will you commit, or recommit, to Jesus this Easter?
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
Allow this Easter to be a time of reflection regarding the empty tomb. Let it be a time of renewing your commitment of your love of the Lord. Let the empty tomb be a reminder of Jesus' unstoppable, passionate, perfect love for you. Allow Easter to be a time of celebration that the grave could not hold Jesus. He arose! It is at the empty tomb that we find fullness and joy. Jesus is alive! Let the good news be told everywhere. Jesus is alive!
The disciples knew firsthand the resurrection of Jesus was real. The tomb was empty. The curse of sin was broken. The temple curtain was torn from top to bottom. The love of God was displayed that first Easter morning for all.
What about you? You have heard the story of Jesus. You have heard and seen the unstoppable love of God. Every love story begins with a relationship and develops into a lasting commitment of love.
This Easter, why not begin for the first time and commit—or renew and recommit—your love for Jesus? Rekindle or begin a new relationship with Jesus today. Let Easter, Resurrection Sunday, be a time of great celebration. New life in Christ is possible no matter your past. Simply call out to Jesus in faith. Decide from this moment on to live dead to sin and alive in Christ. Take some intentional steps towards Christ in faith.
Know Jesus is not dead. He is alive! The tomb and grave are empty. The stone was rolled away, not so Jesus might walk out of the tomb, but so you might look inside and see for yourself that Jesus is alive. Just as Jesus called to Lazarus, “come out,” he is calling you to leave the past lifestyle of sin and live an abundant life in Christ the Lord.
Suggested Praise and Worship
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This and other sermons brought to you by Faith Chapel, an Assemblies of God church in Pleasanton, CA.