Perfect Love Without Fear (Part 2) – Receiving God’s Love

(continued from Part 1)

That is captured in time. There is a way to step out of time into eternity. How? By simply believing it’s true. Now then, do you believe? How do you come to the Lord? You come believing. What do you come believing? You come believing you’re perfect. I’ll ask you a question; I want an honest answer. Do you do that? Yes. When did you start? About 2 weeks ago. Oh, wow. Thank you, brother. Sister, do you do this? Sometimes. Thank you very much. That’s good; that’s wonderful, because that’s what I wanted to say next.

Now, you know the next thing you got to drop? You’ve got to drop the belief that you’re perfect. You have to drop believing that you are wholly out of Him and flawless. I love the song that says, “the bride eyes not her garment.” You don’t stand there saying, “Oh, thank God. I’ve come out of Christ, and my robes are beautiful. Nothing was ever so gorgeous. I am holy. I am pure.” Listen. Go ahead, do it for a minute; rejoice that, in God’s sight, you’re the only thing in the universe, beautiful, whole, and perfect. Are you worthy of Him? Yes. Really worthy of Him? Yes.

Now, you know, when I fell in love with Helen, she wasn’t convinced. She sure didn’t want to love me. She had other plans, but I kept loving her, and kept loving her, until she finally couldn’t find anything better to do. So she decided to love me. Then after that, there was no problem. I loved her; she knew it. She loved me, and I knew it. Have you ever, those of you who are married, had this exchange? Have you ever said to your wife, and you’re just looking at her in your door, and said, “I love you.” But then have you ever said, “Wow, you love me.” Have you ever done that? That’s just an amazing thing to realize, to sit there and realize, “You love me.” See, that’s no problem between two humans.

Sisters and brothers, it is a cataclysmic problem between a human…may I use this term…and a god. It’s a tremendous problem between a human and the Lord. Let me ask you a question. Are you mostly human or are you mostly divine? Let’s be clear on one thing: any relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and us that doesn’t do this will miss His mark completely. It will fall short of Him.

I cannot figure out a way to say that in the English language; I can only feel it deep within me. What is my relationship to Jesus Christ? If I take a stand on a relationship with Him, anything less than being His bride, coming out of Him perfect, spotless, and glorious, there will be a tension between the Lord and me from now to the day I die. There will be a standoff. It will be a reluctant wife. Then what can you do? There’s only one thing to do: close your eyes and plunge into His love. I read a verse of Scripture: “As the Father has loved me, even so do I love you.” For weeks now, I have asked the Lord, “What does that verse of Scripture mean?” As the Father loved me, even so do I love you. I believe this is it.

Please turn with me to 1 John 4. I want to ask everyone in this room to take this home; I could almost beg you to memorize it. I will stake everything I’ve said up until this night on this passage of scripture.1 John 4:16. And we have come to know the love which God has for us. And we have come to believe the love which God has for us. Now, I’ll read it. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God. And God abides in him. By this love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment. And because as He is, so also are we.

The difference is we’re in the world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment. And the one who fears is not perfected in love.

Now, what is perfect love? Verse 19. We love because he first loved us. Who are we loving in verse 19? We are loving Him. Why are we loving Him? Because He first loved us. Alright, I’m going to stop there, and let’s see if we can explain all that.

Jesus said, “If the Father loves Me, even so do I love you. Here is God. We read a passage of scripture this morning. Do you remember what it said? How we have been called the children of God? We are called the children of God, yet it doesn’t appear so…and then it says we are called the children of God, which children we are.

Now, please watch this. There is God. Does He have any children? Does He? No. So, He has one child. Who is it? Jesus Christ. Now then, are there going to be more children? No. Not really. Not like that. One came out of God. Jesus said over and over, “I’ve come out of God.” He came out of God. Did you come out of God? No. Where did you come from? You came from Jesus Christ. Where did Eve come from? Adam. Where did you come from? Jesus Christ. God had only one. God only created Adam; He did not create Eve; He built her. God only created one. One child did He ever have. Where did the rest of them come from? Out of the side of that child.