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THE LOVE OF GOD

Paul Hutson

I wanted to touch on the greatness of God’s love which is towards us. I believe we had some impression of that this morning as we were assembled together to break bread, the greatness of divine love and the way it has been expressed. The verse I read in Romans says, “God commends his love to us”; that is present in its bearing and application. It is not simply historic matters that we have to do with in the glad tidings, although it does relate to events in reality on this earth some two thousand years ago, but God’s love being commended to us – He commends it to us – it is present, real and living, the opportunity is today. “God commends his love to us, in that, we being still sinners, Christ has died for us” – the One of whom we have sung in our hymn:

We see thee Lord of glory,

Descending from above,

And learn the wondrous story

Of God come down in love. (Hymn 188)

We were reminded in our reading this afternoon – we were reading in early Genesis (ch 4) – of the effect of sin and the way it has come into the world, “through one man sin has entered into the world and by sin death”. I hope there is no one here who would say, ’that does not apply to me, I am not a sinner’. God’s word tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and that includes me as a sinner; I stand before you as a sinner saved by grace. I look on the company here and I see persons who I know have been saved by grace, God’s grace and mercy. The kindness and love to man of our Saviour God has appeared. It speaks there of His mercy reaching out to us as needy sinners at a distance from Himself that we might have to do with the Man that He is setting forward, Christ Himself. We may say that He is the One who is the great theme; the great Object, in the glad tidings. God is pointing you to Christ, commending His love to you in Christ. Christ has died for us, while we being still sinners. Not when we had come to some understanding of things, but He has died for us when we were still sinners, still at a distance from God (see Rom. 5:8). When we were unlovable we may say, God is commending His love to us. He commends it to you tonight, dear sinner friend. If you have not yet had to do with Christ, have to do with Him tonight.

What does it mean that He died for you? It means that He has laid down His life on Calvary’s cross, and shed His precious blood. That blood of such value in the sight of God that it cleanses from every sin. We read in the Old Testament of all the sacrifices that were made. We read of the sacrifice that Abel presented and how God looked upon that sacrifice, the firstlings of his flock and the fat, what was so precious to God because it spoke to God of what was to come in its fulness in Christ Himself. The sacrifice that He was to make – as the writer of the Hebrews says, “once in the consummation of the ages for the putting away of sin“ – that great sacrifice has been made and it is effective and abiding. God looks upon the blood of Jesus that has been shed.

In the Old Testament in the system that was given under Moses, the law of God was given to His people Israel and the tabernacle system was set up and the blood was to be taken in and it was to be sprinkled – the blood of animals – upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat. Paul says in Romans, “God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood“, Rom. 3:25. That is that you put your faith and trust in the blood of Jesus. There is no other remedy for what we are in our sinful state, away from God as sinners. There is no hope for anyone unless you put your faith and your trust in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus that was shed on Calvary’s cross. That great momentous event, that pivotal event in the history of the world, took place some two thousand years ago. The Lord Jesus died, laid down His life and shed His precious blood, that life that was so precious in the sight of God. He lay in the stillness of death, removing forever, before the sight of a holy and righteous God, that order of man that could never please God. The apostle Paul speaks of that, being buried with Him in baptism, the symbol of going out of sight. The Lord Jesus Himself has been into the very realm of death itself, and He has come out triumphant and glorious. The One whom we present in the glad tidings tonight is not a dead Christ, He is living now, seated at God’s right hand in glory, and God is pleased to present Him as a living Saviour tonight. We may say, using the words of a hymn, that He is there at God’s right hand:

With hands outstretched to bless

That is God’s attitude in the glad tidings, God is desirous of blessing, each and every one. God does not rejoice in the death of the sinner, God’s desire is not that men should be at a distance from Himself. We see the way how God quickly moved when that distance came in at the outset in view of Him providing those coats of skin for Adam and his wife Eve, clothed them with coats of skin (see Gen. 3:21), speaking of what was to come in in the death of Christ Himself. That is the only basis that we have for appearing before God, but God desires the company of His creature, He wants you and He is commending His love to you tonight.

I read the scripture in John’s gospel, a scripture that appeals to me and one which I did not really want us to think of simply as an historic event. It was a real event. This was the Lord Jesus in His pathway as we have sung of it in our hymn, the pathway which led from the manger to the cross The Lord Jesus was on that pathway here, a pathway of service to the will of His God and Father, displaying the love and grace of God to men. We see here the way that He comes, it says, “he must needs pass through Samaria”. I wonder whether we might apply it, that He must needs pass through Loanhead tonight to have to do with you, to have to do with each one of us, in view of us each being freshly affected by the greatness and the worth of the One who loves us so much that He has laid down His life for us. It says, “Jesus therefore, being wearied with the way he had come, sat just as he was at the fountain”. Think of that, the reality of the Manhood of the Lord Jesus, a real Man wearied with the way He had come. We may think of the physical exertion of His walking through the roads of Palestine, going about serving men. Today it is easy; with the modern transport we have we get quickly from place to place. Here the Lord Jesus is presented in all the reality and preciousness of His manhood, wearied with the way He had come. He sat there at the fountain in view of having to do with this woman who came out to draw water.

Maybe we are like that, we continue to try and draw on things around us to keep us going through life, but, dear friends, God would have you to do with Jesus, that you might have a transaction with Him, that you might find the resource in Him, the living water, in view of your being able to find that refreshment which this woman came to find. The Lord Jesus appeals to her to give Him by way of a drink, but He moves on quickly to speak of the living water.

Although we did not read it, I had in mind also that the Lord Jesus had to do with her in detail, knowing her history. Dear friends, He knows each one of our histories. We read this afternoon about Cain and how he had slain his brother Abel and he had tried to cover it up. That is one thing we cannot do in the presence of God, we cannot cover things up, we cannot hide things from God. It may be that we can hide things from one another, from our nearest and dearest, from our parents, we try and conceal things perhaps, but you cannot hide things from God. He is the all-knowing God, He sees you exactly as you are, and He is commending His love to you tonight. He would have to do with you in the Person of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is available to you tonight and He would have to do with you so that you can simply speak to Him about your affairs, what it is that is troubling you, the burdens that may be resting upon you. I do not know what they are, but He knows and you can have to do with Him about the pressures and burdens that maybe are upon your soul. Have to do with Him primarily, I would say, in relation to the question of your sins and your sinful state, that you might be assured in your own soul in simple faith that you are sheltering under the blood of the One who has died for you. Can you say that, that ’He has died for me’? To know that you have your faith and trust in that precious finished work. We sing that hymn:

Thousands have fled to His spear-pierced side;

Welcome they all have been, none are denied (Hymn 169)

He will not turn anyone away, however bad you may feel, whatever you feel you may have done that you could not speak about to anybody else, you can take to Jesus, you can talk to Him about it, you can come to realise that His precious blood cleanses from every sin. You can have peace with God because of the work Jesus has done.

Jesus had to do with this woman in relation to the most intimate matters of her life. He says to her, “Go, call thy husband“, she replies “I have not a husband. Jesus says to her, Thou hast well said, I have not a husband; for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom now thou hast is not thy husband: this thou hast spoken truly” (vv 16,17). She had to do with the One who was going on to carry her sins on the cross. He was on His way to the cross here, the steps of the Saviour taking Him on, but He has to do with this Samaritan woman by Sychar’s well.

We preach now in the light of the fact that the work of Christ has been accomplished once in the consummation of the ages; it has been done, it is complete, and the Lord Jesus tonight is available to you now, where you are. He would have to do with you and find you to put your faith and trust in Him. That you might come, as this woman did, to recognise that you have had to do with One who had told you all things you had ever done. “Is not he the Christ?” (v 29). That is what this woman came to in her own soul, she left her water-pot, she was no longer drawing from the resources of things here, she had now found One who was able to give her living water, that would flow out in testimony. That is another thing that flows out from the glad tidings – as you put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ you will find that you want to confess His Name. It may be difficult – I would have to say for myself that I do not confess the Lord’s Name enough, I miss opportunities – but, dear friend, do not miss opportunities. How can we miss opportunities to speak of the One who has given everything for us, laid down His life for us, shed His precious blood? If you put your faith and trust in Him you will want to speak to others about Him.

We spoke this afternoon of Cain and how he denied his responsibility in relation to his brother. What do you think about your friends at school? Where do you think they are going to spend eternity? What about your colleague in the office, where is he or she going to spend eternity? These things come home to me. I work with people, one of whom I know is a practising Buddhist, another is a Muslim. Can I bring in a word as to Christ, is there something I can say to them? We have to be careful about what we do in work circumstances – we are not paid to preach there, we are paid to get on with our work – but maybe a word can be brought in. This woman goes back to the men of the city, the place where she had been in reproach, where her history would have been known, and she was able to point to a man, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?”, the anointed One, God’s Man. All other men have been put aside, she now had God’s Man before her, Christ.

May it be that as a result of the word going out tonight each one of us has some fresh impression of Christ. The effect on the men of the city was that they came to Jesus and they said later on, “It is no longer on account of thy saying that we believe, for we have heard him ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world” (v 42), the One who had come in in view of laying down His life, a pathway of reproach and suffering. What opposition He endured from sinners, everything set against Him, but the Lord Jesus set Himself in committal to the will of His God and Father, that pathway of devotion such a delight to the eye of heaven. God would engage us with Christ where He now is. No longer here, He has laid down His life, that precious life has been laid down in death, having endured the suffering, the hatred, the betrayal of men, betrayal of one who was close to Him in His own inner circle, one of the twelve. Betrayed by such a one, spoken of prophetically, “a man mine equal, mine intimate, my familiar friend“ (Ps 55: 13). Taken by the envy of the Jews, delivered up to the Roman power, the violence of men against His person, the mockery, the spitting, the buffeting, the crown of thorns placed upon His head. What do these things mean to your heart, dear friend? This is what the Saviour endured from the hands of men, and then having been scourged He was taken out to the place of crucifixion there to be nailed to a cross, the most cruel death devised by men. Persons taken living and nailed to a cross of wood and then held up a spectacle of ignominy and public shame, that was the place that men awarded to Jesus. As we were reminded this afternoon, the inscription over the cross, “written over him in Greek, and Roman, and Hebrew letters: This is the King of the Jews”, Luke 23: 38. Every class of man represented. We are no different; that is the place naturally that we would have awarded to Jesus. But for the grace of God which has come in in His mercy to touch our souls where would we be? These things are meant to affect our hearts, God would use these things which He has recorded for us by the Spirit in the scriptures, His word, not to be taken up merely as a matter of history. These are real things, historical events, but what God presents in the glad tidings is living, it has to do with a living Man seated at His right hand in glory. He would have each one to have to do with Jesus afresh tonight, in fresh committal in relation to Him in the scene of His absence and the scene of His public rejection. That is the situation, we see it all around us, Christ is rejected. Maybe there is a veneer of things in the area of the world in which we live, referred to as a Christian land, but how quickly things are turning aside, false religions come in all around us and yet God in His grace is continuing to appeal to men despite the indifference, despite the apathy we see around us, everyone going on with his own affairs. God is commending His love in view of souls having to do with Jesus, putting their faith and trust in Him and His finished work, and being found here for Him in the scene of His absence awaiting His return, because that is the great outlook for the believer. If you have come to put your faith and trust in Jesus who is now absent from this scene, you will be looking for Him to come, that you might find your part and place eternally with Him.

But in this waiting time we are not left alone, the Lord Jesus having ascended up into glory has sent from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit, that precious gift to indwell the hearts of each one who puts their faith and trust in His finished work, in view of there being a present and living response to Him, in view of our being maintained in our Christian pathway, in His absence, in view of our being strengthened. How quickly we get deflected! Speaking for myself I know how easy it is, and the week goes by, and if I am honest how much time do I give to the One who loves us and has died for us? How much time do I give to Him in the course of a day? How much thought do we have for Him? These things are very testing, but the Spirit within our hearts prompts us, maybe at a time of difficulty, maybe some pressure upon you, whether at school or at work, and the Spirit would touch your heart and cause you to look towards Christ that you might be sustained and encouraged in the circumstances of testing. Then too, as we have opportunity, as we have had today, to gather in the Christian circle with those who love the Lord Jesus, there is the opportunity to show our allegiance to Him in a simple and practical way that He Himself has appointed and set on, to remember Him in the breaking of bread. These are practical things which we can say have come right down to us all these two thousand years. We can be thankful that these things are available to us and that we can gather in circumstances of peace and quietness. We think of many areas on the earth where there is much unrest and disturbance and where Christians meet in fear of their lives, where even today those who call upon the Name of Jesus are persecuted and suffer physical violence and abuse. We see something of this; there are two people coming along to the meetings in Grimsby at the moment, who come from Africa. One a Nigerian, the other from Ghana and they are both victims of persecution because of their faith in Jesus. These things are very real. We can be thankful in the circumstances in which God has set us that we have these opportunities to be together, and may we make the most of them. Do not just take them for granted. Do not just come along to the meetings because father and mother come along, do not just think of it as another round of things to do on a Lord’s Day. May it be that you have to do personally with the Saviour. God is commending His love to you. It is real, it is living, vital, and, dear friend, it is urgent. It says, “today if ye hear his voice harden not your heart”. How many times have we sat under the sound of the glad tidings, how often have we put the word off? We will think about it, we will wait until next week – dear friend, do not leave the room tonight without having to do with the Saviour. If you have not yet put your faith and trust in Him in simple faith, turn to Him where you are, commit your life to Him in simplicity. Maybe we talk about things as we are together which are very deep in relation to the scriptures, and maybe some of us struggle in our understanding of things, but the Spirit would help us in our understanding. What we present in the gospel is not complicated, it is not difficult, it is simple – we turn to Jesus, we acknowledge that we are sinners, we need a Saviour, we recognise and accept the work that He has done, that His precious blood covers, cleanses from all sin, so that the whole question of sins and sinful state has been dealt with. So you can stand before God as justified because God does not look upon you in all your wretchedness, He looks upon you as in Christ. He has Christ before Him, and it is what is formed of Christ in your heart that God looks upon and takes delight in. May it be that some fresh and fuller expression of what is for Christ, what reflects His glory is formed in every heart under the sound of the word tonight.

For the Lord’s Name’s sake.

EDINBURGH

29 May 2005

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