Created to Love
This sermon delves into God's foundational purpose for humanity: to be lovers. It explores how our capacity for love—for God, ourselves, and others—is deeply intertwined with understanding and receiving God's own immeasurable affection.
God created humanity to be lovers: to love Him, ourselves, and others. Experiencing God's love empowers us to pour out that same unconditional love to a world in desperate need.
Overview
This sermon explores God's ultimate purpose for creating humanity: to be lovers. It begins by suggesting that the biblical 'fall' paradoxically allowed humanity to experience the most profound aspect of God's love—His willingness to love sinners. This divine love, when received, transforms our lives and equips us to love God back, recognize our inherent value, and extend love to others.
The sermon then outlines a three-fold journey of love: loving God, loving ourselves, and loving our neighbor. To love God means to make Him the absolute center and first priority of our lives. Loving ourselves, distinct from pride, means embracing the worth and value God Himself places on us, a truth profoundly demonstrated by Christ's sacrificial death. To dismiss our own value is to disregard God's perfect assessment of us.
The most challenging, yet vital, aspect is loving our neighbor. Jesus repeatedly commanded His disciples to 'love one another,' recognizing the difficulty this presents. This selfless, serving love, extended even to enemies, is the defining mark of Christ's followers, the means by which we grow into His likeness, and how the church best functions.
Ultimately, true, genuine love does not originate from human effort but flows supernaturally from God through the Holy Spirit within believers. This love is an unconditional outpouring, not seeking reward or approval. The sermon concludes by emphasizing that without receiving God's love, we miss the entire purpose of living and remain incapable of truly loving others or receiving their affection.
Key points
- God created humanity to be lovers, designed to love Him and receive His love.
- The fall revealed God's incomparable love for sinners, which would otherwise have remained unknown.
- We are called to love God first, then ourselves, and finally our neighbors.
- Loving ourselves means acknowledging our worth as God's creation, demonstrated by Christ's sacrifice, not arrogance.
- Jesus' new commandment to 'love one another' is central and signifies discipleship to the world.
- Genuine love for others, including enemies, manifests as service and giving, shaping us into Christ's likeness.
- The Holy Spirit empowers believers to release God's unconditional, inexhaustible love to those around them.
In Charles Stanley's words
“If God thinks I'm lovable, I must be lovable. If God thinks I'm worthy of something, then there must be worth.”
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
“Genuine love doesn't ask for anything in return. It just gives.”
Outline
- I. God Created Us to Be Lovers
- A. The Purpose of Creation: Loving God and Receiving His Love
- B. The Revelation of God's Love Through the Fall
- C. God's Desire to Be the Center of Our Lives
- II. Learning to Love Ourselves
- A. The Command to Love Our Neighbor 'As Ourself'
- B. God's Valuation of Humanity Through Christ's Sacrifice
- C. Seeing Ourselves as God Sees Us: Persons of Notable Excellence
- D. The Danger of Devaluing God's Evaluation of Us
- III. Learning to Love Our Neighbor
- A. Jesus' Repeated Command: 'Love One Another' (John 13, 15)
- B. The Demonstration of Discipleship Through Love
- C. Loving Others by Serving Them and Walking in Love
- D. Acting Most Like God When Loving Others
- E. Loving Enemies and Neighbors (Sermon on the Mount, Good Samaritan)
- IV. The Source and Flow of True Love
- A. God's Love Placed Within Us Through Christ
- B. The Holy Spirit Releases God's Love Through Us
- C. Genuine Love is Unconditional and Self-Giving
- V. The Consequences of Not Loving
- A. Missing the Purpose of Life
- B. Inability to Truly Love or Receive Love
- C. Feeling Undeserving and Rejecting Love
- VI. A Call to Receive Christ and Experience True Love
Scripture references
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
Insights
God's love for us is most powerfully revealed in His willingness to love sinners.
Our capacity to love others flows from truly receiving God's love and valuing ourselves.
Loving others, especially the difficult, is how we reflect Christ's likeness.
Questions & answers
Why did God allow the 'fall' if He loves us?
The sermon suggests that without the fall, humanity would never have known the 'most amazing, wonderful, awesome, inspiring, incomparable, indescribable aspect of the love of God' which is His ability to love sinners like us.
What does it mean to 'love ourselves' in the context of this sermon?
Loving ourselves means recognizing our inherent value and worth as God's creation, not out of arrogance. It stems from God's perfect evaluation of us, which He demonstrated by sending His Son to die for us.
How does the sermon explain the difficulty of loving others?
The preacher highlights that Jesus repeated the command to 'love one another' five times in a brief period on the night before His crucifixion, indicating He knew it would be challenging for His disciples when encountering difficult people.
What is the most powerful way to attract unbelievers to Christ, according to the sermon?
The sermon states that the most powerful way is to love them. This means giving ourselves to them, asking what is best for them, and expressing the love of God through selfless service.
What is the source of genuine love for others?
Genuine love does not originate from our flesh or for personal gain. It is the love of God placed within us when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, and it flows through us by the Holy Spirit.
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Source
Unofficial AI summary for study purposes. Watch the full sermon on In Touch Ministries. Sermon Insights is not affiliated with or endorsed by the pastor or church.