Loving God
By Rev Charles Seet
(Preached at Life BPC, 10:45am service, 2 July 2006)

Text: Matthew 22:37-38

People often to go to great excess in the pursuit of their interests and hobbies. Some people have a great passion for golf. No day ever goes by when they would not be thinking about their next game of golf. Many young people are so deeply engrossed with video games or on-line games, that they seem to be glued to their computer screens. About 8 years ago, the newspaper reported that one woman in Australia saw the film Titanic more than 100 times, and was still going to watch it many more times! During this present World Cup season, millions of soccer fans will rise up early at 3 am in the morning to watch every live telecast from Germany.

Whenever no limits are imposed, people tend to overdo the things that they enjoy most. Dearly beloved, we must always be temperate in everything that we do, and not go to such excesses. However, there IS one thing that we can rightly do to excess, and it is the only thing in life that we can fully pursue without ever worrying whether we will overdo it or not, and that is – Loving God!

I. What Does Loving God Mean?

According to our Lord Jesus Himself, Loving God must be regarded as the first and greatest of all commandments ever given to man. This commandment had actually been given many times in the scriptures (e.g. Deuteronomy 10:12; 11:1,13,22; 30:16,20; Joshua 22:5). The commandment that Jesus gave in Matthew 22:37 was quite familiar to all Jews since the time of Moses, because it is found in Deuteronomy 6:4,5 – “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”  (The NT uses ‘mind’ instead of ‘might’)

The first thing we want to understand about this commandment is the use of the terms – heart, soul, and might or mind. What does it mean to love God with one’s heart, soul, might and mind? Some interpreters take them all as one, and make them signify the same thing – i.e. to love the Lord with one’s whole being or personality, and they attach no further meaning to it. But what is interesting about this, is the order of the words. Notice that the heart is mentioned first.

Loving God must naturally begin with the heart. It begins with delighting oneself in Him (Psalm 37:4 – “Delight thyself also in the LORD…” cf. Isaiah 58:14; 1 Peter 1:8). The heart must have the earnest desire to strive after Him and seek Him for His own sake. Some would call this the internal aspect of love, the aspect which focuses on emotion, disposition and motive. But love cannot remain only as an inward feeling. If it is really genuine love, it will be outwardly expressed and put into action. This leads to the external aspect of love, which focuses on the will. This is expressed in the choices we make, the thoughts we think, the words we speak, the things we do, and generally, the way we live our life. These internal and external aspects of love can be seen in the words, “with all thine heart (internal), and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (external)”

Another thing that we observe about the commandment to love God is the use of the word “all” – 3 times – all thine heart, all thy soul, and all thy might. This repetition of the same word brings out the ‘allness’ or wholeness of the love we must render toward God, as opposed to loving God with a divided heart, soul or mind. That means that our love for God must be a singular and superlative love. We must love God much, much more than we love any thing or anyone else. The term ‘all’ also implies fullness of effort – like in the expression – “I’ll give it all I’ve got” that we sometimes use to show the full intensity of effort.

Now comes the question:

II. Why Should We Love God?

A. Because God Made Us To Love Him

God made us as creatures in His image for that very purpose! Acts 17:26,27 – “And [God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us”. We human beings were specially created different from all the other creatures. We alone bear the image of God so that we can feel after Him and share wonderful fellowship with God, our Creator. To love God with all our heart, sould and mind is to fulfill the purpose of our existence.

But because of sin, that purpose has not been fulfilled. Sin has rendered us incapable of loving God as we should. In fact sin has made us enemies of God. Colossians 1:21 – “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled.” (cf. Romans 5:10; 8:7) But while man failed to love God, God on the other hand has loved man and manifested His love to man. This brings us to the second reason why we should love God:

B. Because God Has Manifested His Love To Us.

1 John 4:19 – “We love Him, because He first loved us.” Our love to Him is a response to His love toward us. Humans possess an understanding that love ought to be responded to, reciprocated or requited. E.g. when a parent lavishes love on a child, it is only right that the child should eventually love its parent. Thus, when we know that God loves us, we realize that we ought to respond to Him with love. And that means that one way to love God more is to be more keenly aware of how much He actually loves us. How can we do that? God has manifested His love to us in several ways – ranging from the most general to the most specific.

1. In Nature

First of all, God’s love toward us is generally manifested in giving us life and all the manifold blessings that come with life on earth. The goodness of God toward us can be seen in every part of nature around us – all these constantly declare not only His power, but His love as well. That is why there are psalms in the Scriptures that celebrate God’s love as seen in His goodness to all His creatures (e.g. Psalms 65, 104).

2. In Redemption

But there are also psalms that commemorate God’s love in His work of redeeming His people (e.g. Psalm 77:15). God manifested His love to us more intensely, by sending His only begotten Son to die for unworthy sinners. Romans 5:8 – “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Ephesians 5:2 – “as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” Such a supreme demonstration of love constrains us who are His children to reciprocate by loving.

3. In Personal Deliverance

Now, besides this great manifestation of love to His people as a whole, God has also manifested His love to each of His own dear children personally, as individuals, and in different ways. Each of us have our own unique experience of God’s love, because reach has different circumstances of life. Those who have experienced a greater measure of grace from God tend to love Him more than others.

In Luke 7:41-43, Jesus related the parable of two debtors who were forgiven by their creditor. “…the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?  Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.”

Some of us have experienced God’s love when He delivered us in times of great personal trials. Some of us have testified to God’s love to us in granting undeserved victory over our fears and over personal sins. Some of us have experienced His love through the sufficient grace He grants to cope with our infirmities. And some others have experienced God’s love in the many prayers He has answered. The Book of Psalms abounds with expressions of thanksgiving and praise to God for personal deliverances like these (e.g. Psalms 34, 40, 116 – “I love the LORD, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.”).

C. Because God Is Worthy of Love

But there are also psalms that praise God for no other reason than the fact that He alone is God, and most worthy to be praised (e.g. Psalms 148,149, 150). We can say that these psalms represent love to God in its purest state – a love that has progressed far beyond a mere response to all the benefits received from God, as being the main reasons for loving God. When we love the Lord for no other reason that who He is, then it no longer matters if God blesses us or not, helps us or not, or delivers us or not. He is to be loved regardless of what He does or does not do for us. Our love for the Lord will then not be waxing and waning like the waves of the sea, but will assume greater constancy and stability.

And so, as we grow in our relationship with God, let us aspire to love God purely for who He is, rather than for what He does for us. So that like Job, we would be able to say, “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him…” (Job 13:5). Having seen the reasons why we ought to love God, let us now consider:

IV. How Should We Love God?

 I would like to suggest four essential ingredients that make up love toward God, based on the word “LOVE”. L stands for Loss-bearing for God.

O stands for obeying God. V stands for Valuing everything that is God’s, and E stands for Enjoying God. Let us begin with the first ingredient:

A. Loss-Bearing for God

Whatever losses we are willing to bear for the Lord are an indication of how much we really love Him. E.g. Abraham loved God more than his beloved son Isaac, and was willing even to sacrifice him upon the altar when God commanded him to do so. In Mark 10:17-23, a rich young ruler came to Jesus earnestly seeking eternal life. He had faithfully kept all the commandments of God. Jesus looked at him with love and told him that he lacked just one thing: to sell everything he had, give the money to the poor and then to become a follower of Christ. The young man went away very grieved and sorrowful, because that was the one thing that he could not do: He loved his wealth too much and he just could not bring himself to part with it.

Dearly beloved, if you want to know how much you love the Lord, here is a test: Ask yourself what loss you are willing to bear for His sake. This especially applies to carrying out His will for you. Perhaps Christ may one day call you to forsake all and follow Him. What will you do then? This brings us to the second ingredient in our love to God, which is …

B. Obeying God

If you really love God, you would not mind doing anything He tells you to do including all the commandments, laws and instructions that He has given. In fact you would be most willing to obey, because you do them all out of love for Him. Willing obedience is the real indicator of how much you love God.

This is why the scriptures tell us that love fulfills the Law (Romans 13:8; Matthew 22:40). To obey God’s law out of fear of the consequences, rather than out of love for God is to come under the condemnation of the law (cf. litterbugs afraid of $1000 fine). To obey the law out of guilt, as an attempt to make atonement for past sins is legalism of the worst kind, as it denies the adequacy of Christ’s atonement.

The law is rightly to be obeyed out of love. That is why, according to the Shorter Catechism (Q42) the sum of the Ten Commandments is, To love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus Himself said that those who keep His commandments are the ones who truly love Him. (John 14:21 – “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me”; cf John 14:15,23; 15:14). Dearly beloved, if you profess to love God, do you keep His commandments?

The willingness and zeal to obey God’s commandments, brings out one point: He who loves God would love whatever God loves, and hate whatever God hates. His love brings him into full agreement and harmony with God. This brings us to the third ingredient that is required in loving God.

C. Valuing Everything that is God’s.

Value greatly all the things of God, rather than the things of earth. And the things of God include the name of God, which those who love Him will hold in reverence; the Lord’s Day, which we willingly keep holy, the Church of God, to which we devote our time and attention, and the Word which we read and study most diligently. If someone you love deeply wrote a long love letter to you, will you not read and treasure every single word in it? I am sure you would. In the same manner you must hold the words that God has written to you with the highest esteem, by reading it daily, studying it thoroughly and applying it lovingly.

Now, when we value or treasure the things of God, then the things of this world will lose their attraction to us. The Bible mentions this clearly in 1 John 2:15, “Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father (God) is not in him.” Let us learn to treasure or value the things of God rather than the things of the world.

Thus far we have seen three basic ingredients that make up love to God. The fourth and final ingredient which we must not leave out, is:

D. Enjoying God

The very first question in the shorter catechism is “What is the chief end of man?” And the answer that is given is “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” This speaks of the intimate communion or fellowship that love will produce in our relationship with God.

Psalm 16:11 describes this enjoyment of being with God – “…in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Perhaps some of us here may have at one time enjoyed this intimate fellowship before, but we have somehow left our first love. Do you recall what Jesus said to the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:2-3? He commends this church for its works, labour and patience, but he also says that something was wrong with them.

He said, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” Dear friends, please consider whether the same thing is true of yourself: Have you left your first love? Has your love toward God grown cold? This is something that Christ Himself predicted about the Last days: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12). I think that it is good for us to make an honest personal assessment of our lives at present. In the sermon outline I have provided a list of signs of spiritual decline that you can use to take stock of your lives today. If you can find them in your life, it may mean that you have left your first love for the Lord.

WHEN you grow bolder with sin, or with temptations to sin, than you were in your more watchful state—then be sure something is wrong.

WHEN you make a small matter of those sins and infirmities which once seemed grievous to you and almost intolerable — something is wrong.

WHEN you confess but do not forsake sin, and when you acknowledge but still neglect duty — something is wrong.

WHEN you settle down into an easy Christian life, leaving out the hard and costly part — something is wrong.

WHEN your God and Saviour grows a little strange to you, and your devotion consists more in conversing with men and their books than with God and His Book  — something is wrong.

WHEN you are averse to talking about the things of God or to the company of heavenly-minded Christians — something is wrong.

WHEN you delight more in hearing and talking, than in secret prayer and the Word — something is wrong.

WHEN you use the means of grace more as a matter of duty, than as food in which your soul delights — something is wrong.

WHEN you regard too much the eye of man, and too little the eye of God — something is wrong.

WHEN you are more afraid of being counted over-strict than of dishonouring Christ — something is wrong.

WHEN, without necessity, you absent yourself from worship services — something is wrong.

WHEN the hopes of heaven and the love of Christ do not interest you, but you are thirsting after some worldly enjoyment and grow eager for it — something is wrong.

WHEN you spend less time alone with God in Bible reading and prayer than in pleasing yourself in other things — something is wrong.

WHEN the world grows sweeter to you and death and eternity are distasteful subjects — something is wrong.

WHEN you grow hot and eager about some disputed point, or in forwarding the interests of some Christians, more than about those matters which concern the great cause of Christ — something is wrong.

WHEN the faults of others are more a matter of gossip than secret grief and prayer for them — something is wrong.

WHEN you make light of preparing for the Lord’s Day and the Lord’s Table and think more of the outward form than you do of heart condition — something is wrong.

Perhaps you are now convinced that things are not right between you and God. What should you do? What remedy is there if your love to God has grown cold? Look again at the reasons given earlier in the message why you ought to love God, that you have learned in this message – That it is the very purpose of being created in His image; that you are constrained by His great love toward you.

And most of all, you ought to love God because He is worthy of the highest regard and the very best love that you can give. And then make it your prayer right now to tell Him, “Lord I love Thee, but I realise that my love for Thee is small. Please help me to love Thee more and more.”