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When Love Came Down · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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We're also going to be turning to another three verses as well, but we begin in Ephesians chapter 3.
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! We've gathered here on Christmas Eve and we gather for a time of worship and a time of prayer.
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But what is our prayer this evening? As we've heard prayers offered up and as we've been praying in our own hearts, what is our prayer?
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I'm sure it's very similar to the prayer that we find of Paul here as he's writing to the church at Ephesus,
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and in particular at the end of this chapter, verse 14 to the end, it is a prayer offered up by Paul for the people he was writing to,
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but also for the wider church as well. He wasn't able to be with them at this time. He was writing to them from prison,
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and yet his heart was very much with them. He hadn't forgotten about them. They were on his mind and he was often praying for them.
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But what does he pray for them and what is in our prayerful hearts this evening?
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Well, as you look through verse 14 down to the end of the chapter, as you read through Paul's prayer,
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what's interesting in some ways is what he doesn't pray for. He doesn't pray for physical, material, or financial needs.
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He doesn't pray for persecution to be stopped or healing of the sick or these kinds of things,
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not because he never did, but because it's not what his focus is at this point.
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He prays that they might be filled first and foremost. As you look at verse 17 to 19 there,
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you see there,
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So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
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may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
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and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God.
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That's the kind of prayer Paul offers. And we've heard in prayer this evening,
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and I'm sure we've offered up in prayer in our own quiet hearts as well,
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that kind of prayer for ourselves and for others around us.
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And especially maybe as we think of this week, when there's a focus among many in the world on the coming of Jesus Christ,
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that people would grasp, that comprehend, that means lay hold of the wonder of the love of God towards us.
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And what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
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and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.
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It's a prayer for ourselves first, that we might have this more and more in our own hearts,
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but it's also a prayer for all around us.
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We prayed for family and for friends and for people far and wide throughout our community.
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I'm sure when you have the radio on just now, you're listening to songs coming through whatever device.
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So many songs that have that sense of a love song, full of love.
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And yet none of these songs can touch the depth of the love that we have in the Word of God.
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The love that we see expressed here by Paul, the love that we sang of in Psalm 36,
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that steadfast love of the Lord, how precious is your steadfast love, what confidence it brings.
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And then we find that shelter in the shadow of his wings.
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It's the love expressed in chapter 3 in these verses by Paul in his prayer for the people.
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And what we're thinking of this evening, and as we think of Christmas Eve,
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and the incarnation of our Lord, the title, if you wish, I gave to our service this evening is
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When Love Came Down.
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That's what we're going to think of, When Love Came Down.
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There's a hymn by Stuart Townend that has that title,
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When Love Came Down.
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When love came down to earth and made his home with men,
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The hopeless found a hope, the sinner found a friend.
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Not to the powerful, but to the poor he came,
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And humble, hungry hearts were satisfied again.
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When love came down to earth, when God sent his son into this world.
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That we would not lose sight of the wonder of it,
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But always lay hold on it for ourselves,
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Comprehend it for ourselves,
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And pray that others would comprehend and lay hold of it too.
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Because in Jesus we see this love so amazing,
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This love so divine in his coming, in his life, in his death, in his resurrection.
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We see the wonder of God's love to us.
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So that's what Paul is praying,
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That the people in Ephesus will grasp,
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This love that surpasses all knowledge.
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We want to think about this love that we see in Ephesians
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By considering how we see it in other parts of scripture as well.
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And we're going to take three other verses
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Into the setting this evening as well.
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And think of just what kind of love this was
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That was shown towards us when love came down.
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And three things we're going to see.
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The love that left all behind.
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The love that bridges the divide.
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And the love that gives life.
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That's the wonder of the love that came down to earth.
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So the first thing we see is the love that left all behind.
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What kind of love did the Lord Jesus show towards us?
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Well in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9.
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The first of our three texts tying into Ephesians.
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2 Corinthians 8 verse 9.
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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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That though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
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So that through his poverty,
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So that you through his poverty might become rich.
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The love that left all behind.
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When you read these verses,
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When the Lord Jesus, though he was rich,
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Immediately our minds,
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When we think of riches,
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We think of money.
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We think of finances.
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And he was rich,
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And yet he became poor.
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Yet it's not about that financial wealth at all.
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It's about relationship.
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It's about what he had with his father in heaven.
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We'll read another text about it in a moment as well.
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But it's this relationship,
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This glory that he enjoyed with his father in heaven.
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And he left it.
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He left it all behind when love came down to earth.
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He came into this world born as a man.
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He humbled himself.
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It wasn't that he was rich financially that he left behind,
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But just the glory that he enjoyed with his father.
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He came in that humiliation,
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As it's so often described.
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The humiliation of being a man,
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And being mocked,
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Being looked down upon,
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Not being received by his own.
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And yet it's this love that left all behind.
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It's a love that we see throughout the Old Testament,
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As God is making his promise,
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Through his covenant to his people.
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How he will be their God,
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He will be our God,
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And they we will be his people.
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It's a love that bears all cost for us.
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So consider then what Jesus left behind for your sakes.
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As Paul describes it here,
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How he left all these things behind.
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Though he was rich,
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Yet for your sake he became poor.
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Now Jesus is described in the Gospels,
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As the word that became flesh,
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And dwelt among us.
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It's that idea where we see that Jesus,
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Came down for his people.
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He came down,
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From that perfect relationship in heaven,
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Into this broken world.
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And when you think of the places he was,
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And the people he saw,
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And the lives he touched.
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He saw the world in all its horror,
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And all its sorrow,
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And sadness,
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And all its illness,
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And death.
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All of these things,
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Sin was there all around him.
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And yet he left all behind for that.
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He took the form of a servant.
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He took on him flesh as man.
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He came to go through this world,
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To the place called Golgotha,
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The place of the skull,
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To suffer the cruelest of death.
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The most shameful death,
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That there was at the time.
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We served for the worst of criminals.
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And yet here he was,
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Put to death on the cross.
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He was rich,
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Yet for his love,
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For his lost people,
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He became poor.
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And the words that also describe this,
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Are in Philippians chapter 2.
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And again you see there,
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How Jesus left all behind.
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How he emptied himself,
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How he made himself nothing.
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Philippians 2 verse 5,
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Have this mind among yourselves,
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Which is yours in Christ Jesus,
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Who, though he was in the form of God,
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Did not count equality with God,
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A thing to be grasped,
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But made himself nothing.
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Taking the form of a servant,
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Being born in the likeness of men,
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And being found in human form,
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He humbled himself,
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By becoming obedient to the point of death,
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Even death on the cross.
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It was our love,
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That left it all behind.
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Is there something,
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This evening that you could add,
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To make the Lord love you more?
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We always maybe have that sense of,
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I'm trying to please God,
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And it's right and good to have that,
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But is there anything you could do,
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That could make the Lord love you more?
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No, because he's loved us,
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With everything.
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He gave himself for us,
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He emptied himself,
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He humbled himself,
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He became obedient,
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To the point of death,
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Even death on the cross.
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He bore our sin,
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He paid our debt,
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He set us free,
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There's nothing we could offer him,
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To make him love us more.
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He paid the price,
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He paid the ransom,
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Being poor,
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That we might be rich,
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Through him.
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So it is that love,
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That left everything behind,
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That we might be rich,
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And know that love,
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In all its fullness.
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So that's the first thing,
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That we see.
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The second thing we see,
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Is this love,
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That reached out.
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For this we turn to Romans,
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Chapter 5,
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And verse 8,
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And again you see,
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Demonstrating the love of God,
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Here tied into,
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The prayer that Paul has,
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In Ephesians 3,
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Romans 5,
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Verse 8 says,
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But God demonstrates,
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His own love for us,
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In this,
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While we were still sinners,
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Christ died for us.
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While we were still sinners,
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Christ died for us.
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It was the love,
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That reached out.
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It wasn't that we came to him,
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And loved him,
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But that he loved us,
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And reached out for us.
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As somebody put it,
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The Lord Jesus did not come into the world,
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To meet with his friends,
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He came to die,
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For his enemies.
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These words hit us powerfully,
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Maybe when we think,
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I'm no enemy of the Lord,
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That cannot be me.
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And yet Romans 5,
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Verse 8,
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Makes it clear to us,
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That we were,
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We were all at one time,
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At enmity with God.
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While we were still sinners,
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Christ died for us.
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We are entrusting our life to him,
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We are looking to him for life,
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But it's the wonder,
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Of the love that reached out to us.
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As Martin was praying in his prayer,
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How he came to know,
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The wonder of this love,
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How the Lord reached out,
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And how it's true,
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For every one of us.
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How it's true,
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How we were lost,
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In this world,
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Until by his grace,
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He reached out,
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He took hold of us,
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While we were still sinners,
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He died for us.
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And you think of that love,
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We can show love to others,
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We can show love,
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And it's easy to show love,
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To some more than others,
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But we think of friends,
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And families who we love,
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But enemies is much more difficult,
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It's sometimes a step too far for us,
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But not for Christ,
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Because while we were in enmity with him,
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While we were still sinners,
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Before him,
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Christ died for us.
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That is how wide,
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How long,
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How high,
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And how deep,
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The love of Christ is for sinners.
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While we were still sinners,
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While we were still enemies,
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He died for us.
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And when you read through the Gospels,
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And when you read through Paul's letters,
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And you read through the book of Acts,
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You see how often Jesus was rejected,
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How often Jesus was shunned.
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He came to die for people,
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Who made idols,
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And false images in his place.
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He came to die for people,
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Who had turned away from the truth of his word,
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And turned to a lie.
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There was this chasm between God and people.
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We were separated from him.
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And the only way for this to be rectified,
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Was for the divide to be bridged.
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And only Christ could do it.
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Only he could come and bridge that gap.
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The love of Christ,
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Is what reconciles us through faith to God.
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Because he came to give his life on the cross.
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And so when we know that we are sinners,
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When we know that we fall short of his glory so often,
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We can see this great love that reached out.
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We can remind ourselves that he took hold of us.
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And that as Paul is praying here,
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That we would comprehend with all the saints.
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That we would lay hold of this love more and more,
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And again and again,
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Daily in our lives,
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To be in that relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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There's that wonderful phrase in Christianity explored,
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I'm sure you've heard it before,
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Where it says,
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We are more sinful than we ever realized,
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But more loved than we ever dreamed.
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That's what the Lord reaching out to us shows us.
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We are more sinful than we ever realized.
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That's what we see when the Lord works.
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When he brings us before him,
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And he shows us our sin,
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We are more sinful than we ever realized.
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But then we look beyond that,
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And we see we are more loved than we ever dreamed.
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Because while we were still sinners,
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Christ died for us.
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John Stott, reflecting on these verses in Ephesians chapter 3,
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On just the enormity of the love of God,
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He says this,
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The love of Christ is broad enough to encompass all mankind,
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Long enough to last for eternity,
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Deep enough to reach the most degraded sinner,
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And high enough to exalt him to heaven.
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There's no bounds to the love of God.
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It reaches out in every direction.
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That is the love we see when we see Christ has come down for his people.
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He has reached out for his people.
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The third thing that we see here is the love that gives life.
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The wonder of this love is the love that came down and gives us life.
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And for this we look at John chapter 10.
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John chapter 10,
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In verse 10 and 11.
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The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
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But I have come that they may have life,
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And have it to the full.
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I am the good shepherd.
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The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.
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He came that we might have life to the full.
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The thief comes to kill and to steal and destroy.
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There was footage recorded outside somebody's house.
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They had their car parked in the driveway.
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The car was valued at £90,000.
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And two thieves appeared at this house.
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And within about 10 seconds,
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They'd got into this car,
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Started it and drove away.
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It was almost crazy just how quickly it happened.
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10 seconds to break into a car that should never be broken into.
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And yet they had the equipment to do it.
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And that's what sin does.
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When we think we're protected,
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When we think we've got everything together,
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It can come in just so quickly.
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And rob us of everything.
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That's what the thief does.
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But Jesus has come that we might have life.
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And he came to lay down his life for his sheep.
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That we might have life in him.
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And so the greatness of this love is expressed.
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That he came to give his life that we might have life in him.
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And when we look at our lives,
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And we look at God,
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We see just how far away we are from him.
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The holiness of God is something that we just cannot come before at times.
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How can we come before a holy God?
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He is righteous.
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And any righteousness that we have is like filthy rags,
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As the word of God says.
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How could we possibly come?
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Well, it's only through the righteousness of Christ,
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Which we receive by faith.
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And that's what we see when we look at these kinds of verses,
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Like John 10.
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The thief comes to kill and destroy.
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But I am come that they might have life.
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He is the one who gives us this life.
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How can we come before him through faith in the Lord Jesus?
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Just like Psalm 130 verse 7.
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O Israel, hope in the Lord.
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For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
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And with him is plentiful redemption.
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And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
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It is only through Christ that we can come before God.
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This love that came down in Christ is so we might be restored in our relationship with him.
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And what love God has shown to us.
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The love that came down was because God sent his son into this world.
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His only son.
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As John 3.16 says,
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That is the love that has been shown to us.
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The love that has come down.
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And that is the love that Paul prayed that we would grasp in this passage in Ephesians chapter 3.
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The wonder of it.
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The height, the length, the breadth, the depth.
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And it is not just thinking about the Lord Jesus coming into the world.
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His incarnation, his birth.
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It is not just looking at the cradle as they would say, but to the cross.
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It is life complete.
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It is life complete.
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Because it is a love unlike any other.
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Christ's love is beyond understanding in many ways unless we know his grace.
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And that is why Paul here is praying.
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That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
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That you being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to lay hold with all the saints.
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What is the breadth and length and height and depth.
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And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.
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That you may be filled with the fullness of God.
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Love has come down.
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And may we remember that love.
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And may our prayer be that we will be filled with more and more a sense of wonder of this love.
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The love that reached out.
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The love that we see in Jesus Christ.
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The love that surpasses all knowledge.
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That will be our prayer for ourselves and for all around us.
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To see the wonder, the breadth and length and height and depth of our love like no other.
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Well let us pray.
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Lord our gracious God.
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We thank you that your word continually opens our eyes to see more and more of the wonder of your love towards us.
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The love that came down.
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The love that was dwelt among us.
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The love that we see in the birth, in the life, in the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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And may we comprehend.
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May we lay hold of it all the more.
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In these days and in all the days ahead.
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May you help us, as Paul prayed, to grasp all of these things.
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To take hold of them.
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The love that surpasses knowledge.
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That we might be filled with the fullness of God.
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So hear our prayers and go before us now.
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Pardoning our sin.
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In Jesus name.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Thank you.