How Deep is the Father’s Love?

God sent Jesus to Earth to pay for our sins, not because we were deserving, but because of His immense love for us.

The most important commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

We love God because He first loved us. Understanding this love is foundational for loving God, ourselves, and others.

Watch the full Sunday service and message by Pastor Dennis Jacobson below.

SERMON TEXT

Matthew 22:34-40 (ESV)

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

SERMON NOTES

God’s Love is a Love Beyond All Reason:

• • It “doesn’t add up,” is not logical, and “doesn’t make sense” from a human perspective.
  • This is because God’s love is unconditional, distinct from conditional love which is given based on what can be received.
  • Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:14-19 for us to comprehend the vastness of Christ’s love that “surpasses knowledge”.

The Father’s Love Is A Love That Delights in Us:

• • God’s love is not out of obligation or duty; He loves us because He wants to.
  • He “rejoices over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
  • We are “the apple of God’s eye,” reflecting His focus and delight.

The Father’s Love is a Love That Is For Us:

• • God is “in our corner” and “on our team,” desiring for us to achieve our full potential.
  • He has “awesome plans for your life,” including plans to prosper you and give you “a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). We are God’s “Masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10).

A Father’s Love Is A Love That Pays Attention:

• • God gives us “wholehearted, undivided attention,” being fully present.
  • His face shines upon us (the Priestly blessing), signifying delight and a deep, devoted presence. God “can’t take his eyes off of us”.

This Love Constantly Pursues Us:

• • God loved us before the world’s foundations and relentlessly pursues us, like a “reckless love” that stops at nothing.
  • This was demonstrated when Jesus died for our sins so we could have a relationship with God.
  • We are “worth fighting for” and “worth dying for”.

When you personally experience and embrace the Father’s deep, unconditional love, you can truly love God, yourself, and others without reservation.