A.When we consider the love of God, we may think of it from two standpoints: His love for us and our love for Him.
B.Presently, let us consider the love that we have for God.
II.THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
A.Notice two passages in which our love for God is identified as both the greatest commandment and the key to eternal life.
1.On one occasion, Jesus was asked specifically about the greatest commandment in the Law, and He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37 – a quotation from Deut. 6:5).
a.This commandment was originally spoken to Israel, but it now enjoins every person to love God with all of his being and ability.
b.Jesus also identified the second greatest commandment as “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:38 – a quotation from Lev. 19:18).He said that the whole Law and Prophets depended on these two commandments.We will give this further consideration below.
2.On another occasion, Jesus confirmed that loving God is what we must do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25-28 – also quoted from Deut. 6:5).
a.Keep in mind that Jesus was asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”This shows us that love is something we do rather than something we have or feel.
b.Also consider that eternal life in Christ Jesus is the free gift of God (Rom. 6:23), but we must love God in order to receive it.
B.Our love for God is not emotional in nature, but rather it is practical and active.
1.First, let us understand that to love God one must love Christ, for Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me” (John 8:42).
2.Let us also understand that to love Christ we must keep His commandments
a.Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
b.John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1John 5:3).
3.It is also necessary to love our brethren in Christ in order to love Christ and the Father.
a.Remember how Jesus connected the first and second greatest commandments (to love God and to love your neighbor).These are the basis for God’s laws and all commandments.
b.Consider 1John 4:20 – “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
c.Loving our brethren is not a matter of emotions, but it is a matter of both caring and helping in times of need.Consider 1John 3:17-18 – “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
4.To love God is not only a matter of doing certain things, but it is also a matter of not doing certain other things.
a.Notice 1John 2:15-17 – “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
b.Also consider James 4:4 – “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
C.Consider what it means that to love God is a commandment.
1.To love God is a choice.Only you can decide whether you will obey or disobey the commandment.
2.To love God is learned.You must be taught the meaning of the commandment in order to obey it.
3.To love God is necessary.You cannot fulfill God’s expectations of you without loving Him with all your heart, soul, and mind.
D.The fact that to love God is the greatest of all commandments means that our love for God must exceed our love for everything and everyone else.
1.The Lord said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37).
2.He also said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).
3.This is a matter of priorities.Remember, the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.We should love parents, spouses, children, and even ourselves, but our love for God must exceed them all.
III.HE FIRST LOVED US
A.Consider 1John 4:19 – “We love, because He first loved us.”
1.Notice that the object of our love is not identified in this verse.God’s love for us has taught us not only how to love Him, but also how to love everybody else (brethren, spouses, family, enemies, etc.).
2.We have learned love from the greatest demonstration of love that man has ever known, which was shown through Christ’s death on our behalf.
a.Jesus taught us the deepest meaning of love.Consider 1John 3:16 – “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
b.Notice the Lord’s words in John 15:12-14 – “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.You are My friends if you do what I command you.”
B.Let us sing song #287 in Praise for the Lord – “I Love the Lord.”
IV.CONCLUSION
A.Do you love the Lord?
1.Jesus asked Peter three times whether he loved Him, and each time Peter answered, “You know that I love you” (John 21:15-17).
2.How do you answer?Does the Lord know that you love Him?
B.If you love God, then show it by keeping His commandments and loving His children.
