Because He First Loved Us

[ Preached by Pastor Kenneth Chin at Acts Church Malaysia – 7 May 2017 ]

Because He first loved us …

We can have joy.

When we are loved, we will have joy. Many of us are able to wake up in the morning with hope despite the challenges we go through because we know that we are loved.

In fact, God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son for our sins (John 3:16)! If we do not feel that joy, then perhaps we may have forgotten while in the midst of all our challenges, that we are indeed loved and He wants us to be filled with joy.

The most joyful people in the world are those who know that they are loved because they learn to love the very life they have been given.

We can have power.  

The power of knowing God’s love.

John 15:9-12
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Drawing from scripture above, Jesus loves us just as He is loved by Father God. He could only love us because the Father first loved Him. What Christ has done for us on the cross was dependent on His love for us.

The principle that we can apply from Him – when we are loved, we can love others.

We can love others.

The world will be a better place if we learn from Christ.

Just as Jesus has loved us, Jesus continues to teach us to love our neighbours. The greatest motivation to love is to know that we ourselves are loved. And we will find joy in loving and serving others.

Love can be expressed in many ways; through forgiveness, honour, respect, trust and service. We will be able to love others in the same manner that God has loved us.

We can have confidence.

When we do not know that we are loved, we will look for love and for the approval of someone, but we actually already have the approval of the Father. Jesus has done it all for us and we now live in liberty and with confidence.

Those who are confident can perform tasks that seem to be of little importance to others while remaining secure in themselves, not needing to stand out or be exceptional. In John 13:1-5, Jesus could wash the feet of His disciples because He knew who He was – that He belonged to God.

Each and every one of us are dearly loved by our God. And because He first loved us, we can have joy, power, confidence and we can love others.