 So, a little bit of review in order to keep you caught up with where we are at in the class. This is our Biblical Theology class and let's see if we, I'm going to start to get, pick people out of the class who can define Biblical theology. Sergio, can you help us out? Yes, you saw me looking for people, right? So, it's looking at a broad scope about a topic with a story at hand. Jack, can you add to that? So, you take a topic and you look at how it's developed throughout the Biblical storyline. Biblical theology is concerned about the storyline. Sismic theology has the bottom line. So, they both can be studying a topic, but one is going to tell you the bottom line what the Bible says, the other is going to develop the storyline. Your Biblical theology forms your systematic theology. Okay, so we went over in the beginning part of the class the tools that are needed, the exegetical tools, in order to rightly understand our Biblical theology, and then from there we form our systematic theology. And so, some of the themes in the Bible that we've covered so far is creation. We looked at how the Lord is the Creator and we are His creatures, and how that storyline begins in the Garden of Eden, and then creation is renewed and restored at the end of the story, right? The new heavens and the new earth. Then last week we looked at the fall, and the storyline of the fall and how the fall helps us understand why there is death, destruction. And we looked at some of the breezing through a jet tour through the Bible on the understanding of the fall. So today we're going to do the same thing, but with the love. We're going to take up the theme of love and we're going to see how it's developed and how the storyline goes through it. And then after we do that, after you look at the storyline, then we look at some of the patterns and we look at some of the bottom line. The systematizing of the love of God, okay? Okay, so in the Bible, what is the introduction? What does the Bible mean when it says that God is love? Now, so have you ever heard that misused before? How, some of the ways that's misused. Okay, don't judge because God is love. God is obligated to forgive any sin anytime I ask for it. Like he's a vending machine of forgiveness. You know, I just get it that because God is love. Okay, how else has that, have you heard that abuse, Keith? Yes, so they'll reverse that phrase where God is love. They'll say, it's the same to say, thank God, love is God. And make an idolatrous view out of love. Yes, so Jack is bringing up an old lie. An old lie that gets brought up every home now and again. That the Old Testament God is the judging God and the New Testament. That's the loving view. I remember, I heard a story from, I was listening to the Shepherd's Conference and they're talking about inerrancy this year. And there was a story brought up that where Gresham Machen, if you guys know your church history, about 90 years ago, he's somebody who stood up for, against liberalism and for the authority of inerrancy. Very key figure in church history. So Gresham Machen is trying to communicate about how a view of, a bad view of inerrancy, how it destroys the church. It's an illustration of missionaries that are sent to China, I believe. Gresham Machen did, where they're explained to the little girl about how in the Old Testament God was judging and how the New Testament God is love. And she said, oh, I understand now. I understand. This little girl, she says, I understand. God got saved in the New Testament. The Old Testament was when God was unconverted and now God has got saved in the New Testament. And Machen is using that as an example to say, look at how the perversion, the perversion of, because you don't believe the Bible, you don't believe all that is true, then you make moral judgments and say, that's not loving, that's not loving, God doesn't do what's loving. You begin to define love, and here's the point. You begin to, people will be defined love and therefore define God in their own terms. God is love and I'm the one who defines love. So I will define what God should do and what God shouldn't do. Instead, we need to let the Bible define love. The Bible define love, okay? And then we'll rightly understand it. Okay, so let's begin to look at the storyline of love, okay? So I'm going to take some of the same points I did last week. When I went last week, I went through some of the storyline of the fall. And then now we're going to think about, in light of that the fall, the love that God has. Okay, so last week we talked about how the fall, and I'm going to do the same thing, jet tour through the Bible, okay? So if you keep your Bible open to the next book of the Bible, I'm going to just flip from book to the Bible, book to the Bible. Okay, Genesis, we think about the fall in Genesis, where, like Pastor Rick was talking about, how Eve sees the fruit, she sees that it's good, and she rebels against God. She calls, in effect, she calls God a liar, and she rebels against him with Adam in chapter 3. How does the love of God shown in light of the fall? He provides a promise of redemption. The first time the gospel is spoken in the midst of the curse, in the midst of the proclamation of the curse, God shows his love. Flip over to, we think about Genesis 6. And the flood, effects of the fall, the judgment that comes from the flood, and the world, there's an execution of most of the world. How is the love of God shown at this point? Yes, Noah's family is taken out, and God puts a rainbow in the sky, and as a promise that he will not flood the world again. Think about Babel. After the great flood, Babel is the destruction of where God confuses and puts all sorts of languages in the world. So that now, even in the room, we speak multiple languages here, right? Thank you, Ben. We speak multiple languages, and that's a result of the judgment of God. But think about the love that he will show, even in this, and how in Revelation, there are many tribes, tongues, and nations, and they're all around the throne. So what men meant for evil, and trying to build this tower to become God, to be idolatrous, God makes many languages, and in the end, he takes many languages and multiplies the praise. He multiplies the glory. The many spectrums of color in creed, in nation, in language, means that God has glorified all the more. That the praise of heaven gets more flavor because of the many different tongues, tribes, and nations. Okay, think about, flip over to Exodus. We see the effects of the fall in Exodus, when people receive the law of God, then they turn to a golden calf, and they say, this is our God. How does God show his love at this point in the story? Yes. That's right. Instead of destroying them, he provides the Ten Commandments again. He allows them to live, and what are the purpose of the Ten Commandments, but to lead them to see that they have no righteousness, and they need a Savior. The love of God is shown here. Okay, flip over in Exodus. Remember in Exodus last week, we talked about in chapter 9 and 10, Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire before the Lord, and they're destroyed. What is the love of God shown in this? I'm sorry, Leviticus. Leviticus 9 and 10. Leviticus 9 and 10, Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire. I'm referencing a more obscure story. Okay, in that one, think about the love of God shown in the purpose of the book of Leviticus. The purpose of the book is to show how to worship God in holiness. It shows the character of God that he's holy. Think about the love that he's showing in the destruction of Nadab and Abihu and how he has not killed many of us when we have offered immoral worship to the Lord before in our unconverted state. Going to many of us going to church when we're unconverted. Saying we're worshiping God. Instead, he offers this example. What love is revealed by God. Continue on in the story. Flip over to Numbers. Numbers, the people of God begin to attempt to enter the land. They refuse to have faith that the Lord will deliver them. So he turns them off to the destruction of wilderness. How is the love of God shown in the book of Numbers? Yes, so he keeps his promises to the generation to keep Israel. The generation that has unbelief dies off. But he keeps his people and will bring them back to the promised land. Keeping his promises. Do you see the love that God has? What about in Deuteronomy? In Deuteronomy, in the song of Moses. In the end of Deuteronomy. In 32. In the song. In the final sermon from Moses. He knows that the people are going to rebel. And he foretells the rebellion that the people have. And that's where the famous sermon sinners in the hands of angry God comes from. This text that their foot shall slip in due time. Talking about how the judgment of God is going to come. And he knows it. So then how is the love of God revealed here? But he speaks in the book of Deuteronomy of a prophet who will come. He speaks of a prophet who will come. And there will be atonement provided for the people of God. Do you see how even in the midst of the law given, the love of God is spoken of. And referred to and seen. What about when we go over to the book of Joshua? And the Canaanites are being wiped out. How is the love of God shown in the book of Joshua? God is destroying a people, the Canaanites, for their sin. He delivers the children of Israel. There's also a Canaanite who's delivered. Who's that? Yes, Rahab. And is she a moral, upstanding citizen? Who is she? She's a whore, a prostitute, a harlot. And then she is brought into the line of the Messiah. She gets to be the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother of Jesus Christ. Do you see the love of God that's shown? Continue on with the story, the book of Judges, a time when men do what is right in their own eyes. And there's this continuing cycle, continuing cycle, that people go into sin, they cry out to God, well who does he raise up? He raises up a judge, a judge to deliver them. How is the love of God shown in the book of Judges? So he, these things, he's delivering them? He doesn't have to hear the people, right? Yes, his mercy? His mercy, in the end, he will raise up one day a judge that cannot do what these judges do. Christian? Yes, so we see the faithfulness of God keeping his promises by the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. Okay, we flip the page or flip the next book, in the book of Ruth. How is the love of God shown in the book of Ruth? I'm going to pick out somebody who heard the first sermon. Brenda? Yes. So the kinsman redeemer, he sends a kinsman redeemer, a husband for Ruth. And we see the love of God, even for Naomi, who is, calls herself, you know, bitter. Mara, I think she says, call me bitter. Instead, at the end, you see her holding Obed. And they call her like the mother of Obed. Where you see, and who is Obed, but the grandfather of David. So where does that put him in the line? Yes, of Jesus. Do you see the pattern of love developing throughout the scriptures? We turn to the book of Samuel. We see in first Samuel and second Samuel. We see, remember last week how the fall, we see the people rising up wanting a king. They want a king, and they choose Saul as king. God gives them over to the desires that they have. But what's the loving thing that God does here? He says he'll be with them if they obey him. Yes, and he chooses another king, a king after his own heart. And who's that? Yes, David. Do you see the love that God has for his rebellious people? Continue on in first and second kings. We see a cycle, a lot like the judges. Where a king will rise up, and most times, especially in the northern kingdom, he is an evil king. The people go into idolatry, they forsake God. But God lovingly sends the prophets. Who are some of those prophets? Yes, Elisha and Elijah. And they, in their time, they raise up the school of the prophets. They raise up others who follow them. And continue to preach the word of the Lord. Do you see the love that God has in raising up these men? What about in first and second chronicles? First chronicles ends with the Babylonian captivity. What's loving about the Babylonian captivity? How is the love of God shown? Brenda? Yes, it's discipline. It's also only for 70 years. Brenda? Yes, that he brings them back. Before they go there, they know that it's only 70 years. That he's going to bring them back. Do you see the love that God has? What about with Ezra and Nehemiah? God brings them back, and he brings them back to Jerusalem, where they're in the Promised Land once again. And he gives them Ezra to preach the word of God to them. How else is the love of God seen in Ezra and Nehemiah? Josh? Yes, yes. This merciful care that God has purposely planned out Nehemiah's relationship with Cyrus in order that the wall would be rebuilt. The importance of the wall is extremely important. Imagine if every person in Orlando, every thief knew that you had no locks in your doors, and they could come into your house whenever you wanted. And not only that, but the city is representing the heart of worship of God. So as that city goes, so goes the kingdom of God. So this is an extreme example of the mercy and the love of God. In the Book of Esther, we see the fall happening. The effects of the fall is that Haman has a plot to murder the people of God. Not just one person, but all the people. Effects of sin and the fall. How is the love of God shown in the Book of Esther? So there's Jim. Yes, he has a plan. A plan to save. It starts out with a strange plan, right? With Vasche being the queen being rejected. And we would know where this story is going. Where another queen comes, Esther. And it's for a greater purpose of saving the people of God. Claudia? Okay. In the Book of Job, we see the effects of the fall. With Job receives pain, suffering, his children die. Can anyone in the history of the world say they've suffered as badly as Job? Paul, maybe? I would still say no, you know? He doesn't have kids. Yeah, a wife who tells him to curse God and die. He doesn't have kids who die. Paul doesn't have friends who tell him bad things. He has many hard times. So how is the love of God shown in the Book of Job? Yeah, he restores his life. Gives him all things new, Josh? So we see where God brings Job to repentance. And he restores all the things that he has. And God purposely and finally sets up Job. So that all of us can have hope. Every one of us can look to the example of Job. And be encouraged on how to respond rightly to suffering in this world. What a loving example the Lord has set. And it comes right to you. Right to you when you suffer. Picking up the pace. The Psalms, we see where the Lord is our shepherd. His loving care. We see many examples of how to respond and trust the Lord in how he's our rock. Many songs in the Book of Proverbs. We see the fool and the effects of the fall and the fool. But we also see those who have the opportunity to be wise. In Proverbs 8, the love of God is revealed as wisdom cries out in the street. Freely offering her wisdom. In the Book of Ecclesiastes we see the effects of the fall and the vanity of trusting in pleasure, money, fame. But then we see the love of God correcting us to see that the whole conclusion of the manner is to fear God and keep his commandments. For this is man's all. The love of God is revealed in the major prophets in Isaiah and Jeremiah as they preach against the sin of the people but they look to a coming Savior. The suffering servant in Isaiah 53 or the Lord our righteousness in the Book of Jeremiah. We see the love of God in the Book of Daniel in all the trouble of the kingdoms of this world and the kingdoms that rise and fall. There is one coming. There's a rock coming who's going to hit the metal man, the statue of representing the kingdoms of this world and he'll destroy it. And his kingdom will consume the world and never have an end. In the minor prophets we see the love of God spoken of with this care for Israel. In with Hosea where he's told to take Gomorrah. He's told to take a prostitute as a wife so that God would be able to communicate what Israel has done to him. How they're a prostitute to him and how Hosea is to take her back and woo her back and that's what the love of God does. It does with a sinful people. The love of God goes on and on and on and on and it culminates in the promises in the in the gospels. Where every one of the gospels ends with Jesus Christ coming and dying on the cross. Fulfilling all of the promises the culmination of the story and all of the as you turn back into the epistles turn to Ephesians. Chapter 3. Looking back at this plan of salvation in chapter 3 verse 14. For this reason I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family and heaven and earth is named. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. Paul is saying I have a prayer request. I have a prayer request and this is what I pray. That the church would understand the riches of his glory and be strengthened by it by the Holy Spirit. Be rooted and grounded in this through faith and to understand what? In the end of verse 17 being rooted and grounded in love. May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and the length and the depth and the height. To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. What is this prayer request? But that you would understand this lesson. His prayer request is for the church to understand this lesson. The height, the depth, the width, the length of the love of Christ. This storyline then comes with the love of Christ coming where he comes in his return. And he sets up the marriage supper of the Lamb where we will feast with the king of kings. This is the love story of the Bible. Do you like a good love story? This is the best of all, this is the best of all of stories. Let's begin to look now back at the outline. What are some of the patterns that we see? I'm going to hit these very quickly. Some of the patterns that we see as we went through some of the scripture is we see marriage. Marriage is a picture of the love of God. How he says how he's married to Israel. Remember that? We read that in the call to repentance in Jeremiah chapter 3. Then in Ephesians the church is spoken of as being married to Christ. So we see marriage as a pattern and a picture. Point two, we see the story is structured by covenants. His covenants are with some and not with all. He is covenant with Isaac but not with Ishmael. He is a covenant with David but not with Saul. He is a covenant with Jacob but not with Esau. He continues the covenant in the beginning with Seth but not with Cain. So his covenant was with some, his covenant to love. Point three, we see a discontinuity and continuity. We see a continuity in his love and relationship with Israel and then with the church. With the same sort of picture. But a discontinuity in the churches of all tribes and tongues and nations. In point four we see the story, we talked about some of the type of marriage that we see when the Bible talks about the love of God. Okay, so then what's the bottom line? What's the bottom line? Who does God love? How does he love and why does God love? If you understand the storyline right, then you'll understand and pick out some of these bottom line truths, these doctrinal truths, okay? We see that the love of God, first who does God love? The Father loves the Son. The greatest picture of love in the Bible is with the Trinitarian love. Give me an example of how that's expressed. So the most famous version of the Bible, John 3.16, expresses the love that God has towards the world and that love is highlighted by the cost of how he sends his only begotten Son. Josh? So we see the love that the Father has for the Son, how he's given all things into his hands and the continuing beauty of the relationship that they have with one another. So we see God has a passion for his own glory. That is the purpose for which God has made the world is consuming God. God is consumed with the idea that he does all things for his glory. And this highlights the relationship between the Trinity and how they work together. The Son works to glorify the Father. The work of the Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son because of how the Holy Spirit wants the Son to be glorified and how his work and ministry is directed for this very goal. Okay, so who does God love? God loves the Son. God loves the world in point two. Do you remember in Mark 10, 21, when you see the rich young ruler and Jesus is taking the rich young ruler through the law and he looks at him and what does he do? He loves him. There's a difference, right, that he loved that he has for Peter, the love that he has for his church, the love for he has, but he even expresses a type of love to the world. He loves reign on the just and the unjust. He loves the desiring all men to be saved. This is a love that God has for all. But yet point three, God loves his own people distinctly. And we spoke about how some of those distinctions, where God loves Isaac but not Ishmael. God loves Jacob but not Esau. And Romans 9 highlights that and God decides whom he's going to love and who he's not going to love. He doesn't have to show love to everyone. And that there is a great difference between the love that he shows for his elect and for the love that he shows generally to all. God loves sinners. Romans 5-8, while we were ungodly. God loved us. Isn't that a beautiful picture? Okay, so then how does he love? How does he love? He loves providentially. He decides whom he's going to love, whether it's the common grace, you know the love that he shows the reign on the unjust, or he decides whom he's going to love. And he loves sacrificially. Ephesians 5, 1-2 talks about the cost. He loves perfectly. And I would add to that he loves at a great cost. He loves sovereignly or providentially. He loves the ungodly. How does he love? He loves it ungodly. He loves in what he gives. He gives eternal life. He gives himself. There could be no greater love. There is no greater cost than what the Lord Jesus Christ paid. There is no greater gift than what God gives. He gives himself eternally. There could be no more group of ungodly people or people more or less deserving of love than us. And he shows love to us. There is no one who has less responsibility to love than God does. And he's the one who decides to love a particular, a group of people, the church. If your heart is ever moved by love. Is your heart a stone? If it is ever moved, if you ever shed a tear with thankfulness for love, it should be for the love of God. If you ever have a happy feeling of being loved, it should be that God has loved you. If you ever feel grateful for love, it should be for the love that God has shown you. Why does he love? Because he decides to love. And he doesn't have to. He chooses to love. This story of love that we go through in the Bible now comes to you. Now comes to you. You fit into the story. I pray that you would understand and comprehend how amazing God's love is. There are many things to meditate on and many truths to spend time. I've done this many times thinking through the love of God. Thinking through how to categorize these points, how to understand the love, how to... I've thought many times about how undeserving we are. And that shows the love of God. Many times about how sovereign he is. Who he doesn't have to do it, but he does. Many times about what he gives. Many times about what the cost of what he gives. And I just long to love God more. I long to dwell on his love more. I desire to know God more in this way. Do you... Do you understand the love that God has for his people? If you do, then it has great demands on your life. It will cause you to act in a certain way in great love for him. The one who's been forgiven much. Loves much. Loves much. I'll close up. Some people say you're like a short Paul Washer. I think they say because you tell the same stories over and over again. It's one of the reasons why. So I'm going to tell one of those stories again. Bear with me if you've heard it before. I enjoy it because it makes me think about the love of God. Remember those points about what we talked about. Cost, sovereignty and what he gives and how deserving we are. There's a man who's in a prison camp. And he's in a prison camp in a prison of war camp. And the people are doing hard labor. And they're doing hard labor under watch of the guards. And what happens is the guards line everyone up. And they say they count the shovels. They count the tools. And there's one missing. And the guard begins to suspect that one of the prisoners has taken the tool. And could be used as a weapon. And he begins to go up and down the line. And no one is speaking up. And he's saying tell me who has this shovel? Who has this? And no one responds. And he begins to say I'm going to shoot the people. I'm going to begin to shoot the guys in the line. And they will die unless the person steps up. And so he cocks his gun. And he addresses one person in line. And he's about to fire. And somebody farther down the line says I took it. The guard walks over, shoots him in the head. The guy drops to the ground dead instantly. And the guy says you can go back to the barracks. And as one of the prisoners goes back, he sees his shovel was the one left under a cart in a way where he didn't see it. He was the one who forgot to bring his shovel back. And he realizes that the guy who died, he lied. He took the bullet so that others wouldn't have to die when somebody else forgot the shovel. And he thinks this guy thinks about the love. And he thinks about that cost him his life. He thinks about how he made that decision to do that when I was the one who forgot it. And when somebody dies for another, no greater love has this than a man laid down his life for his friends. This is the point of the story. But the love of God has so much more costly. Because he faces the wrath of God on the cross. He suffers more on the cross than any sinner ever will in hell. The love of God is so much more sovereign. He's not forced into the situation by gunpoint. He decides to do it all on his own. This man in the story dies for one of his fellow prisoners, but Jesus Christ dies for his enemies. He would die for the prison guard. The love that God has for us, no story can compare. There is nothing that can compare to the love of Christ. I pray that your understanding of it would grow. And your love for him would grow. Let's pray. Lord God, please forgive my feeble attempts to communicate your great love for us. Please, Lord God, help us to grow in our love for you. You have loved us so much, and we are so forgetful of that. Please help us to recall and to renew our minds by your word about your love. So please bless the second service and your worship of your name. We love you Lord, and are thankful to be here and worship you. Amen.