Understanding The Love Of God | Bella Vista Church of Christ

Understanding The Love Of God

Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
12/7/97 am

Understanding The Love Of God

Reading — John 11.1-45


We learn a lot from observing others... Don’t we? This is the reason we have the Bible. Scripture tells us these things were written for our learning.

Romans 15 says, For everything that was written in the past was written for our learning, to teach us that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Galatians 3.24 says, The law was a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

John tells us, These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Church, this is one of the reasons we come to gather three times a week to immerse ourselves in the word of God... To learn how to live by looking at others from the inerrant Holy text. Our Sunday morning series, the past few weeks, has been on examining the life of Jesus and what we can lean from some interesting narratives surrounding His ministry.

So, what can we learn this morning about the love of God, faith, hope, endurance, and comfort from this narrative about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead?

Jesus loved this family... Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Lazarus become sick, and word was sent to Jesus who was out of the country. He was in a place called (Beth-a-bar-a)... Bethany Beyond Jordan... In Perea... Trans-Jordan. Instead of rushing quickly to the home of His friends, Jesus delayed coming two days. By the time He arrived in Bethany, Lazarus was already dead and buried. Mary and Martha didn’t understand His delay. They insisted, that if Jesus had been there Lazarus would not have died. They knew His compassion and had faith in His power. As they mourn their loss in the cemetery, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

Let’s see what we can learn from this narrative about the love of God

FIRST, GOD’S LOVE AND OUR SUFFERING ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Two times in the first six verses, Lazarus is referred to as being one whom Jesus loved dearly. So, we would expect Jesus to drop whatever He was doing, and rush to the aid of His friend. But He doesn’t... He stays in Perea for two more days.
Don’t you know this confused Mary, Martha and His disciples?
- If Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why do He allow him to get sick?
- If Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why didn’t He come immediately?
- If Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why did He let him die?

I mean, Jesus has been healing total strangers, on a moments notice, for three years. And now one that He loves dearly is sick and He lets him die. In fact he doesn’t even come for the funeral. He doesn’t show up till four days later.

Really, He didn’t have to come at all, He could have healed Lazarus long distance. Jesus does this up in Galilee, in John chapter four. A ruler, a rank stranger, comes to Jesus asking help for his sick son and Jesus heals him without ever seeing him.

Explain it to me... Why didn’t Jesus intervene in the illness of Lazarus whom He loved so much?
- Mary and Martha are hurting.
- The town of Bethany is grieving.
If we are confused, don’t you know Mary and Martha are:
- Confused,
- Frustrated
- Angry,
- And disappointed in Jesus.

Question!... Have you ever been confused, frustrated, angry and disappointed with God? Be honest now!

Church, this narrative is a reminder to us all, that God’s love for us and our suffering are not incompatible. A lot of us think like this:
- If life is going well, then God loves us.
- But if we are suffering, then God must not love us.

We all know people who have left the church because of something that happened in their lives that caused them to conclude that God no longer loved them. This narrative explodes this myth... This false philosophy of life. What God allows to happen to us does not contradict His love for us. The presence of persistent pain is not evidence of the absence of God’s love for us. In our reading, Paul asked in rhetoric, What?... Who?... Can separate us from the love of God? The answer is NOTHING... NO THING... NOBODY.

This bring us to point two, sometimes our pain is for God’s glory and for the faith of others. In verse 4 and 15, Jesus tells us that Lazarus’ death is for God’s glory and for their faith. Do you see it?
Verse 4, It is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.
Verse 15, Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.

Jesus knew that more people were likely to come to a faith in Him through a resurrection than through a healing. In fact, He has been healing people for 10 chapters in John and nobody has yet to confess Him as the Son of God. Let your eyes fall to verse 45 in this narrative, Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.
You see, Church, Lazarus’ pain, Lazarus’ death, and how Mary and Martha dealt with their pain, confusion, frustration and anger: resulted in God being glorified, and it resulted in their friends coming to a faith in Jesus... Accepting Jesus.

Do we understand this, this morning?... Do we? Do we understand that sometimes God allows our pain in order to bring others to a faith in Him? You see, the world is watching us in our pain, and in our suffering. And how we respond, how we deal with it, may very well be a determining factor in their faith.

I recently read about a preacher who had preached several very pointed lessons in an effort to get a man to respond to the love of God, acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, and become a Christian. Sure enough after about the fourth sermon, the man responded to the invitation. After the baptism, the preacher asked him, just for my information:  Which of my sermons convicted you?  Just what was it I said that caused you to respond?

The man replied, it wasn’t anything you said. He went on to tell how he had been watching a godly lady in the church deal with her pain of sickness and the loss of her husband. He said, as I watched her the past few months, I kept thinking;
- I want to know her contentment, her joy, her peace, in suffering and loss.
- I want to know and serve her God
- I want to live in and experience His love.

Jesus allows Lazarus to die so that others might see God’s glory. Jesus allows a man to die so that others might be brought to a faith in Him. We must know this morning that, God’s LOVE is working in my pain and yours to bring about His purpose. Sometimes our pain is for God’s glory and the faith of others.

THIRDLY, LIKE MARY AND MARTHA, WE MUST BRING OUR PAIN TO JESUS.
Perhaps we ought to point out here, that God’s purpose is not always seen in the mist of our pain and confusion. We don’t know what God has in mind during the pain. In fact we may never discover His purpose. We don’t have to, because we have God’s promise that whatever it is, He will work it all out to our benefit. This is what our reading, in Romans 8, tells us.

The important point here is that Mary and Martha didn’t retreat from Jesus. They brought their pain, their grief and frustration to Jesus.
Question!
- When God doesn’t show up in our Bethany.
- When He doesn’t act as we think He should.
- When He doesn’t answer our prayers as we want Him to.
- When God doesn’t stay on our timetable.
- When God doesn’t explain Himself and His behavior.
- When the tumor is malignant.
- When the heart attack is fatal.
- When our loved one dies.
- When the business fails and we lose everything in bankruptcy court.
What do we do?

Do we retreat from Him in our anger and frustration?  Do we withdraw our daily fellowship from the community of believers?  Do we withdraw from worship services?  Not Mary and Martha... They come to Jesus with their pain and laid it at His feet.

Mary and Martha can’t see backstage in this drama. They don’t know that resolution, joy and victory are just around the corner. So, they have two choices:
- They can retreat from God and His people.
- Or they can bring their pain to Jesus.

I like what Ken Gire, in his book “Windows Of The Soul” writes. Our closest communion with God comes through the sacrament of tears. Just as grapes are crushed to make wine and grain to make bread, so the elements of this sacrament come from the crushing experience of life.

Church, the choice is ours:
- Will we bring our crushing experiences of life to Jesus and commune with Him?
- Or will we retreat into ourselves and away from others in confusion and frustration.

GOD’S LOVE CALLS US TO A CLOSER WALK WITH HIM AND HIS PEOPLE IN THE FIRES OF PAIN.
This narrative tells us that our pain matters to God.  Does God cry? If God cries, what kind of things does He cry about? There are only two times that Jesus is seen crying in his three and a half year ministry.  One is in this narrative.  The other is in Luke 19, as He looks over the city of Jerusalem.  God cries because our pain and plight matter to Him.

I can remember a time in my life when I got a whipping everyday. I know you find that hard to believe, but it is true. I can remember my Godly mother telling me, this hurts me more than it does you. I knew she was telling me the truth because she would cry while she whipped me. Church, God has the heart of a mother. The Hebrews’ writer tells us that God disciplines us as sons. But this narrative tells us that He cries with us in that discipline.
- Even though Jesus knew that resolution and joy were right around the corner.
- Even though He knew He was going to raise Lazarus.
He still cried with Mary and Martha.

Church, listen to this closely, God is so connected to us, that even though He knows resolution and victory are just around the corner... He is still touched by our heartbreak.

Listen again, Church, the most incredible thing about this story is not that God has power over death, but that He is a God who loves us so much; that He cries over our pain.

SOMETIMES GOD WANTS TO DEMONSTRATE HIS POWER OVER OUR PAIN.
It is interesting to note that Jesus waited until Lazarus had been in the grave four days. The Jews believed it was possible to resuscitate somebody within three days of their death. They believed the soul or spirit hovered around the vicinity of the corpse for three days. So, no doubt, Mary and Martha hoped that Jesus would return within these three days. No doubt they were thinking that Jesus could do something within this three day window. But Jesus waits four days... 96 hours. Jesus waits until everybody has given up all hope. Jesus waits until there is no room for any possible conclusion other than the supernatural divine intervention of God.

Jesus waits until it is:
- So dark,
- So hopeless,
- So impossible
That we can come to no other conclusion, other than this is the work of God.

So, when Jesus says, roll the stone away ... They gasp, saying No, No, he has already started to decay.
- They’re not even thinking of a resurrection.
- At this point they never conceived of a resurrection.
- It never entered their mind.
Resurrection was not an option to them, because Lazarus is too dead.. He is four days dead.

Question! Has God ever waited until it was too late for you, so He could take what seemed like an impossible situation in your life and worked it out to your benefit? Sometimes God’s love is best demonstrated by His Divine intervention into our world. Church, we must know this morning that it was His supernatural divine intervention into our world that saves us.
- Paul says, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Jesus tells us, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

THIS BRING US TO OUR FINAL POINT, GOD WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO BRING US TO HIM.
You see, Church, Jesus didn’t rush to Bethany...
- Not because He was too busy.
- Not because He didn’t care.
But because God, the Father, was orchestrating an incredible event and needed time to set the stage. What a fantastic series of events, orchestrated by God Himself, for apparently one reason. To bring the city of Bethany to a faith in Jesus. You see God will do whatever it takes to get you and your preacher to come to Him in genuine faith.

Consider these thoughts on His DIVINE INTERVENTION.
- God has worked through 5000 years of human history to bring His Son into this world as promised for the forgiveness of our sins.
- He has providently brought some of you into contact with this church, so you can know what to do to be saved.
- He broke some hearts in Bethany, to save some souls in Bethany.
- He may break some hearts in Bella Vista, to save some souls in Bella Vista.
- He may do some things He will never explain, to bring us to an understanding of His love.
- He has used the sacrament of tears to bring some of us to understand that He loves and cares for us... And wants a closer walk with us.
- In some cases He has waited until it was too late to turn our pain into joy, so that we would know, that it could only have been Divine intervention as a demonstration of His love.
- He has providently brought us here this morning, giving us one more opportunity to place our faith, our trust in Him in genuine obedience: Be it, becoming His child by repentance and New Testament baptism. Or by confessing our faults and asking His forgiveness. God will do whatever it takes to bring us to a faith in Him.

A story is told about a woman who was driving home late one night. As she passed a semi, he pulled in behind her and stayed right on her bumper and started flashing his lights. She began to speed up to get away from him and he speeded up. She ran a red light to get away, he ran the red light. She took a quick turn down a narrow street... Much too dangerous for the truck. He took the same narrow street. In desperation she pulled into a well lighted convenience store parking lot. The truck stopped right on her bumper. The driver jumped out and jerked open the rear door of her car and pulled a would be rapist from off the floor, between the seats. The truck driver could see him from his vantage point high above her car!

From His vantage point, God sees us and He is chasing us, doing whatever it takes.

Will God run? The father of the Prodigal ran to greet him while he was still a long way off. God is running toward you, this morning, ready to rescue you from eternal pain -- all because He loves you... Will you respond to His love?

Written By

Bella Vista Church of Christ

Subscribe


You might also like...

Lifeline 3.13.24
Read more...
One Body
Read more...