Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
Welcome to Redemption Church in Plano, Texas. My name is Chris Fluitt I am very happy to be sharing the word of God with you.
We would love our online viewers to let us know they are there and please tell us where they are from. Please leave us a comment. Wherever you are receiving this message, we know that God is with you and ready to do something amazing!
The Same Jesus
We are in the 3rd week of our The Same Jesus sermon series
In week 1 we told you the same Jesus is Alive, Unchanged, & Returning.
In week 2 we told you the same Jesus still does miracles.
Today I want to tell you the SAME Jesus offers HIS same undeniable LOVE..
The Same Jesus, The Same Love
This is a very personal message. We can talk about his power being the same… we can talk about his plan being unchanged… we can talk about His Word, His Truth, never passing away… but when we talk about his LOVE… I don’t know what gets more personal than that!
I am telling you today that the love Jesus has for you, has never changed and will never change.
Jesus has loved me in the past…
Jesus loved me
Can you think of a way that Jesus loved you in the past? There are more examples than we can name, but name them anyway…
He created us and the entire world… everything was created by Him & for Him (Colossians 1:16)
He came to earth to bear our sins upon the cross so that we could be reconciled, or brought back to God.
He called you and drew you…
He forgave you…
He was patient with you…
He heard you… he saw you… He loved you…
Galatians 2:20 (NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Jesus, the Son of God, loved me… and gave himself for me.
Everything Jesus did was out of love for you and the rest of humanity.
In the past Jesus loved you. Before any of us were born, Jesus loved us.
In fact the reason we are able to love Jesus is because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19 (NIV) We love because he first loved us.
Most people don’t need convincing that Jesus LOVED them. We all have to be convinced that Jesus still loves us… because of sin.
Sin – Jesus loved us, but then we sinned… now what?
What is sin? Sin is any action that builds a wall between you & Jesus.
Isaiah 59:2 (NIV) But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Lying, stealing, murder (hatred), adultery(lust), disobedience, a lack of faith, a lack of love… these are all sins… they all put a separation between us and God.
Sure Jesus loved me… but I have done some really bad, shameful things… I have done bad things, spoken bad things, and thought bad things… Jesus loved me but surely I have messed it all up with my sin.
If these are thoughts that you have had, you need to listen up. We misunderstand how Jesus loved us in the first place.
Jesus loved us… not because we are perfect. He loved us in spite of our imperfections.
1 John 4:10 (NIV)
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sin out of love. THIS IS LOVE!
You want to see love? You look to the cross where a sinless man died for the sinful man, out of love.
Romans 5:6 (NIV) You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:7 (NIV) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
Romans 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Sin can’t stop the love of Jesus
Your sin… My sin… can’t stop the love Jesus has for us.
Jesus loved you and He continues to love you.
Jesus Loves Me
Right now, in the present, Jesus loves you.
Isaiah 49:16 (NIV) See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
The nail scarred hands of Jesus are a reminder of His love. You are engraved on His hands.
Matthew 10:30 (NIV) And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Psalm 56:8 (NLT) 8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
God is aware of your every hurt.
Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV) The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
Over and over in your New Testament Jesus saw people with their tremendous needs. He answers our shortcoming when this phrase appears… “He had compassion on them…”, “He was moved with compassion.”
Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 14:14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Matthew 15:32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry…
Matthew 20:34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Mark 6:34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
James 5:11 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
When the Lord looks at you He is not driven to anger… That is a false concept and a great lie. No, Jesus is moved with compassion.
Jesus Loves Me
Jesus loved me. Jesus loves me. And Jesus will love me.
Jesus will love me
Don’t worry about it!
Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Matthew 28:20 (NIV) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Revelation 21:4 (NIV) ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Jesus loved me.
Jesus loves me.
Jesus Will love me!
Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
The Same Jesus, The Same Love
The same Jesus who called a bunch outcast fishermen… has the same love for you today.
The same Jesus who healed a group of lepers… has the same love for you today.
The same Jesus who knelt to the ground and wrote with his finger, chasing off the accusers and rescuing the woman caught in the act…: He has the same love for you today.
The same Jesus who spoke to a small man in a tree named Zacchaeus… He has the same love for you today.
The same Jesus who was betrayed and forsaken and called for those same betrayers and forsakers back to him… He called Peter who denied Him 3 times… He has the same love for you today.
The same Jesus who saved a man named Saul, who had been persecuting Christians… The Same Jesus has the same love for you today.
The same Jesus who wept at the tomb of Lazarus… The Same Jesus has the same love for you today.
The same Jesus who loved me when I, as an 8 year old, walked down to the front of the Church and asked Jesus to forgive me of my sin… The same Jesus loves me today.
When I was 8 years old I remember what I repented of… I repented of stealing a hotwheel car from a classmate… Later at the age of 18… Later at the age of 30… today at the age of 40… I have need to repent of things much more damaging than a stolen toy…
I have said things that have hurt people… I have thought of things I am ashamed of… Many of my actions have fallen so short of His Holiness…
But the same Jesus who loved an 8 year old boy… the same Jesus loves me just the same.
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
I am confident of His love for me.
Jesus knows you intimately.
Jesus loves you infinitely.
Jesus is not mad at you, but madly in love with you.
The Love of Jesus is…
Unconditional!
Unchanging!
Unequaled!
Unmerited!
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.