http://www.angelfire.commi2/robhenderson/
robnaomi@oceana.net
February 18, 2001 am
Romans 5:8
Remember that first love? I mean the really important first love of your life? I do.
I will never forget her. What a beauty. But of course, time flies and life changes and we didn’t see eye to eye. What can I say? I was young, restless, and on the look out for someone better.
But I still remember her. She was known for her fiery temper. They said that she would just explode without much provocation. If you snuck up behind her- look out. She especially did not like those behind the back surprises. I don’t know if it was simply me or my good fortune but I never had to deal with that aspect of her personality.
For the most part she liked to go wherever I went. Obviously, being my first love, I was young and so she couldn’t always go whenever or wherever I wanted. We went to campmeeting together a few times and we saw each other on our way to school occasionally. Church sometimes worked out but she just didn’t really dig the church thing. She was somewhat an air-head. Okay, I know what you might be thinking but overall she was smart. I loved her. I cared about her. I did my best for her. But life goes on. On occasion I find myself thinking about her- especially when I see someone that looks like her. My wife knew her and, though I am not sure Naomi cared much for her, she never said anything- except maybe a few bad jokes.
Who was she? My green 1973 Ford Pinto with a leaky sun roof. What a beaut. A little rusty on one side but still a beauty. I paid $150 to my Aunt Marjorie. Oh, those were the days. I auctioned her off so I could pay for my baby blue 1974 Dodge Dart. Now that was a real car. I loved that car.
We can find love in the wierdest places. Quite honestly, to most of you here, you would think that a car being a person’s love would seem unreal. But yet, it can and oftentimes is very real. In our mechanical and technical world we find ourselves spiraling downward into a chasm in search of love and meaning but only finding hate and despair. Some find their source of love through their job or hobby and even through the material things such as a car or computer. There are those who love animals either equally or more than humans. And so as a human race we search on and on for real love but in all the wrong places.
Where in the world can I find love? Do I find it in my job? My church? My family? My friendships? My hobbies? Where can I locate real, satisfying love?
Some look to other people for love. They figure that a relationship with another person is going to bring satisfaction. Even Christian people make this mistake. This could be in the realm of the sexual but I don’t always think so. What I am talking about is who do we look to for approval and security? You may still look to your mother or father for their approval on what you do now. You might even wonder years after their passing what “Mother” might think or if “Father” would approve. The danger with finding love from other people is that it is not a perfect love. And we will find ourselves in bondage to our parents, our friends or even our spouses if we are not careful.
Please understand me. A parent will not expect you to be like them or act on their wishes and whims. It’s one thing for me to raise my children at home. There are expectations within our family life that are beyond question. However, one day they will leave home and likely marry and have children. I am no longer in charge of their life. Yes, I need to be there for counsel if need be. But I can no longer be distributing my approving nod to them when they are bad or good. I have seen so often where parents have tried to be in control of their children after they have married and have a family of their own. And even after the parents have passed away, the children feel as though mom and dad are watching and giving approval or dis-approval
You cannot experience true satisfying love in your life if you are worried about meeting someone else’s expectations. As a husband I must not over step my bounds in my demands on my wife. She must not ever feel as though she is less than I am. And I must not place on her expectations and comparisons. (More on this subject next week.) As a father, I am to lead and guide the spiritual aspects of my family and provide for them in the physical and emotional realm. However, I am not to be a dictator of the home.
We all search for fulfillment. We want to succeed at something deep inside of us. I have found through the many years of playing basketball that there are those guys who get their fulfillment in life through the game. They practice their free throws and do the things that they need to do in order to feel successful on the court with their peers. Now I don’t simply mean professional or organized basketball but I mean the church pick-up games. Some search for fulfillment through their volunteer labors with a civic group in the community or even their church. Yes! There can be a satisfaction with the work we do with our hands. There is a particular fulfillment that we gain by succeeding in the work place. There can be a contentment in having a relationship with another person. Our fleshly and earthly love for another person can be fulfilling. But...
But in our quest for love- for that real, deep and nurturing love we cannot find it in our life’s efforts or from another person or in this world. Experiencing love in the fallen world that we live in is like trying to hold a bubble in our hand. We have it for a fleeting moment but is gone in an instant.
Where can I find true love? And how do I experience true love?
We know from God’s Word that true love can be found and experienced through Jesus Christ. Without Christ’s death on the cross none of us would be able to experience the love of God in our own hearts. His death makes this possible.
Every one longs to be able to love and feel loved.
How can I love if I am not loved? I can I know I am loved? How can I know what love is? How do I know what love is when it happens to me?
Our greatest enemy to experiencing love is ourselves. “Self” gets in the way of being loved. God wants to prove Himself to us but yet we try to love ourselves instead of letting God love us.
Do you long to experience God’s love in your life? Do you long to be able to love others in a real and true way? Do you long to be loved and be able to love?
It can only happen through Jesus Christ.
You see, man’s sin may have separated him from God but God’s love was not separated. God still loved us while we were yet sinners. It didn’t matter how great or small our sins were we were still loved by God.
And that is the centerpiece of God’s love.
Too often our view of love is like that of my 1973 Ford Pinto. I love it until something better comes along or I love it because I am supposed to. But what God’s love does in our hearts is stir us to love because He loves. And to love like He loves.
God’s love is perfect.
So what does God’s love translate for us this morning?
Because God loved us He gave His son to die in our place.
We could not experience God’s love without seeing to what extent God would go to prove His love for us. I could not truly experience God’s love in my own life unless Jesus had given His life in my place. And I in turn cannot love others unless I have experienced God’ love in my life.
If you have not experienced the deep satisfying love of Christ how can you love your spouse, your children or others in a proper manner?
We could not experience God’s love unless we come to the cross. There is not one person in this world who could experience what real love is unless they come to Jesus Christ. And then after coming to Jesus Christ they must allow the Holy Spirit to perfect that love in his own heart and life. If you want to know what love is then you must humble yourself before the cross. This is an every day experience. Even as seasoned old Christians we must continually look to the cross to understand what real love is all about.
We could not experience God’s love without living a life of faith. Too often we experience the indwelling of the Spirit and that freshness of new life only to stray off course and begin to take credit for our own efforts of perfect love. I cannot love others with my own strength. If I do it will only last a season and will be a selfish love. Experiencing God’s love means living a life by faith. Remember what Paul wrote earlier in chapter one? “The righteous will live by faith.”
In May Timothy McVeigh will be executed for his crimes against the people of the United States. The bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City killed nearly 200 people. He deserves to die for what he did. There is no question of his guilt.
We were all emotionally moved by the scenes that followed the disaster. The children in the day care center, the workers who had come to work as though this were any ordinary day. Timothy McVeigh viciously violated the laws of life and he deserves to die.
Suppose that a few moments before his death that President Bush, the most powerful man in the world were to step into that chamber and pardon Timothy McVeigh for what he had done. We would be aghast. There must be punishment for his crime. And then suppose that he offered his daughters as a replacement for Timothy McVeigh? We would immediately recognize that this is not right.
But you see, that is what happen when God stepped into our chamber of sin and death. He pardoned us of our sin and offered Jesus Christ as the substitute for that sin that has separated us from God. This is what love is all about: While we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly.
My prayer for you today is that you can live a life that expriences God’s love. I don’t care who you are or where you have been in life, deep down inside you want to be loved. And the best kind of love comes from God.
