Sermon One - God is Love
Introduction
We hear a lot about love in church. Love for God. Love for others. Love for ourselves. But here’s the question: What is love, really? To answer that, we have to step outside the limits of English.
In Greek, there are four major words for love: Eros (passionate, romantic, and sexual love), Philia (deep friendship, affection, and mutual care), Storge (familial), and Agape (selfless, universal, and unconditional).
When I think about love, I think about this: a deep and profound respect for others. Trusting them. Giving all that you have, without expecting anything in return. That’s the love I try to live. But God’s love… it’s even more than that. God’s love isn’t confined to just one kind. He shows us the loyalty of philia, the tenderness of storge, and most of all, the self-emptying power of agape.
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Respect
From the beginning - the genesis - God showed us love not only through creation, but creation with dignity. Genesis 1:27 says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” So let me ask you this: If we treat one another poorly... aren’t we also treating God poorly? After all, we are all reflections of Him.
James doesn’t pull any punches. He says—how can we praise God with one breath, and curse His image in the next? In James 3:9-10 “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” If we hold God in a high manner, and yet treat man with such disrespect, we are treating an image of God with that same disrespect.
In his first letter, Peter echoes this same sentiment in the second chapter, verse 17 “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” So our creation was God’s first act of love for us, in creating us to reflect Him. This is why Peter says, “Honor all men.” Not because people earn it—but because they reflect the God who made them.
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Trust
To bear the image of God is to carry something holy. But God didn’t just stamp His image on us and step away. He came closer. He loved us enough to trust us—again and again. From Eden… to the Ark… to the upper room, God keeps risking love. And love, real love, always trusts.
When humanity strayed from God, there were lots of choices that he had, and yet he chose to trust Noah to lead the world to a new beginning. After the flood, God put up a rainbow, as said in Genesis 9:15 “And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
After humanity’s collapse, God could have given up. But instead, He chose trust. He gave us a second chance—to begin again, to grow, to flourish. Not only this, but he gave a promise of peace to humanity, with a sign to remember it by. The rainbow isn’t just a symbol of beauty. And it’s not just a reminder of a promise. It’s the mark of a love that still believes in us.
Later, Jesus trusted the disciples, not only as students, but as friends. “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” This is what Jesus says to the apostles in John 15:15. It is imperative to remember that these weren’t model citizens. They were the cast-offs—tax collectors, zealots, doubters, cowards. Despite this, Jesus not only taught them, not only forgave them, but trusted them with his very life.
You cannot have love without faith and hope. 1 Corinthians 13:7 & 13 say “Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Trust is not something separate, but a part of what makes love.
We can’t have love without trust, and no meaningful relationship is complete without love. Faith believes. Hope expects. But love? Love does both—and more. Specifically: love never fails. When God calls us to love, He’s calling us to trust—not because people won’t fail, but because He didn’t hold back His trust either.
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Giving
We live in a world where love is often a transaction. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. But God’s love? It’s not a contract. It’s a covenant. He gives everything… even when we give Him nothing in return.
Take, for example, Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t wait for us to praise him, or to stop our sinful ways, he chose to give us grace for our sins, and sacrifice something great. He went first, not waiting for us to earn anything. That’s what real love does; it doesn’t wait, it gives, without expectations.
Luke 6:35 states “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Jesus isn’t calling us to love like the world, or to reciprocate what we receive, but to love like God. He calls us to be kind to the ungrateful, and love the undeserving. Not because it is what the world would do, but because it is what God does for each of us already.
One of the most impactful instances of selfless giving is found in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus was killed, he was betrayed, and he was set to die by two criminals. Yet, despite this, God gave his son not for his own good, and not for Jesus, but for the betterment of humanity, so that we may be forgiven for our sins. He didn’t give His Son because we’d never sin again. He gave His Son knowing we would. And He chose to forgive us anyway.
Love doesn’t wait for conditions. It doesn’t look at a person and ask, ‘What’s in it for me?’ It simply gives. It opens the door even when it’s been slammed before. It forgives before the apology. It shows up when there’s nothing to gain. Because that’s what God did. While we were still sinners—before we ever said “I’m sorry”—He said, “It is finished.” That is the kind of love we are called to mirror. Not a love that trades… but a love that gives.
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Greater Love Hath No Man
Throughout this message, we’ve seen what it looks like for God to love: It honors. It trusts. It hopes. It never fails. And after all of that, Jesus brings it home with just one sentence, John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
We may think of a soldier, giving their life to save their comrades, or a character in a movie sacrificing themself, but how do we lay down our lives for our friends in our daily lives? It doesn’t have to be literal, or a profound act. It could be as simple as giving time, listening, forgiving, or helping to shoulder someone’s burden, regardless of your own. To love like Jesus is to live like Jesus: not for yourself, but for the ones God has put around you.
As said before, God gave his son for us, knowing that we would still sin. Jesus, and God, showed the ultimate love for us by choosing to die for our sins, but that doesn’t mean we have to die for each other, only give up a part of our lives for each other. To love like Jesus is to live like Jesus - not for yourself, but the people that God has put in your path. He showed us the ultimate love. And while we may never be asked to die for someone… We’re always being asked to give up a part of our lives for each other. That… is love.
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Conclusion
So what is love, really? It’s not just a feeling. It’s not just a word we throw around in songs or on holidays. Love—real love—is God’s fingerprint on humanity. It’s the breath He gave us in Genesis. The trust He gave us in covenant. The Son He gave us on the cross.
God’s love honors. It trusts. It gives. And now… it calls. It calls us to see His image in every person. To trust others, even when it's risky. To love in ways that go beyond words. Sometimes that love looks like listening. Or forgiving. Or simply showing up when someone needs you. You don’t need to die to lay down your life. You just have to be willing to give something of yourself.
So this week, ask yourself: Who has God put in front of me to love? And what part of my life can I lay down for them? Because love, when it’s real… always gives something away.
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Thank you, and God bless