Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
08/29/2014, by John Kincaid
Lesson 343: Because He First Loved Me
Our redemption is like a courtship, where a man sets his heart on his bride. The book of Ruth is a picture of the “romance of redemption”.
John 6:44 Jesus said “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God first loved us. Even little children can understand the hymn “O How I Love Jesus”. Why? Because He first loved me. Like a courtship, God woos and pursues us.
At the beginning of the courtship, we are not interested. We are His enemies, sinning against Him, deserving His wrath. Yet He loves us and keeps pursuing us, until He wins our heart with His love.
Rom.5:8 God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
