This morning I want you to play a word association game with me. What is the first thing you think of when I mention these words? flowers, candlelight dinner, romance, cards, diamond ring, long walks through the park, hugs, kisses, candy. Now you’re wondering, “Where is pastor going?”

When I say the word “love,” what do you think of? A romantic love? A mushy, “boy meets girl” kind of love? The love between brothers or sisters? Or perhaps you’re thinking of something else.

We as a human race think a lot about love. Songs for centuries have been written about love. In our modern day culture, that appears to be the only subject of songs. One of the stations I listen to even devotes the entire evening to “Love songs with Delilah.” Listen to the titles of some old and some not so old songs; “All You Need is Love,” “What’s Love Got to do with It?” “Love Will Find A Way,” and “Love is a Many Splendered Thing.”

As you can see some are very optimistic about man’s situation. Look at the title, “All You Need Is Love.” As if love can solve every problem on the planet. Some would say, “Can’t we all just get along.” Others are very pessimistic. What does love have to do with our existence on this planet anyway?

God has many things to say about love. Matter of fact, to paraphrase a common saying, “All I ever needed to know about love, I found in the Bible.” This morning’s text comes from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Read Ephesians 2:1-10

¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature^[1] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

One of the difficult things about the English language is that is a borrowed language. It is a language that has developed and changed over hundreds of years. It is not as descriptive as it could be at times. Many times when you see the word love in the Bible, there are three possibilities. First, there is philo. This is a brotherly love. Our city of Philadelphia is called the city of brotherly love. It is a love between siblings. Then, there is eros. Eros is a sensual love between man and wife. It’s where we get the word erotic. The last type of love is agape. This is a unconditional love. In our 21^st century culture, we usually don’t thing much about unconditional love. We usually attach conditions. Well, because you did such and such, I won’t love you as much or I won’t take out the trash.

So you see, love can be a difficult subject matter. Now, let me say this, I do not consider myself an expert, especially when it comes to matters of romantic love. I learn each day, just as you do. However, I do want to discover this morning, along with you, more about love. If you’re pessimistic about love and wonder, “What does love have to do with it?” I want to give you hope.

God through his son Jesus Christ demonstrated his love for us. Why do I say that? Let’s look at our text.

¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature^[1] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Romans, “For all have sinned and all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Remember back to the Garden of Eden. God created the heavens and the earth and all the animals in and on the earth, yet he deemed creation incomplete. Then, he created Adam and he was satisfied. God had someone he could communicate with. The Genesis account tells how God would walk with Adam in the cool of the evening and talk with him. Yet, God sensed that Adam needed a companion. So, God created Eve out of Adam. Notice that God gave Adam and Eve a free will. He told them they could eat of any fruit in the garden except for two trees. They disobeyed. God found them out as he will all of us. Give the same situation, all of us would have failed that test. We have be born sinful and by our own human nature we follow our desires and thoughts. So again let me ask you, “What does that have to do with love?”

Let’s take another look at God’s Word.

⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.

Aha, it’s because of God’s great love for us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” God sent his only son Jesus Christ to die for us, to shed his blood for us. Jesus Christ died in our place. He was placed in a borrowed tomb and then rose again. Paul says that, “[He] has made us alive with Christ.”

Now, I know some would have a lot of trouble with that statement. They would make statements. If God is a God of love, why do we have such tragedy in our world? Why do the innocent suffer? It goes back to the Garden of Eden. Through Adam sin entered the world. We are children of Adam. We all have sinned. We all deserved death. God’s justice demands death. However, God in his mercy gave us Jesus to die in our place. Jesus is the second Adam and through him we can have eternal life.

Let me try to clear this up by reading 1 John 4:9-10. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

This is powerful. Let me tell you why. See God has given us the ultimate example of how to love. God’s love is agape love, no conditions. You know what most of us would have done to Adam and Eve. We would have said, “You made your bed now lie in it.” God did not. He was already working on a plant to redeem man. Most of us think of the word redeem as something you do to a coupon. The concept is similar. What happens when you redeem a coupon? You save money. Does the retailer have to bear the cost? No, the cost is born by the manufacturer. God redeemed us with Jesus Christ. We don’t have to pay the cost of sin. Our creator will pay is for us. Jesus Christ reimbursed God for our shortfall.

Most of us only hear this when we attend a wedding if we hear it at all, but God through his son Jesus Christ is giving us the example of how to treat each other. We need to treat each other with agape love. (Love with no conditions.)

So what is the reward of God’s love?

⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Our reward is eternal life that we can sit with him and worship with him forever. As I was preparing this sermon, I typed in the word “love” and looked for synonyms; words which mean the same thing.) Did you know one of the synonyms for love is worship? When we love each other, we worship each other. God loves us. He desires a relationship with you. Paul tells us the wages of sin is death. What is death? It is separation eternally from God. It is a place where love does not exist. The Scriptures also tell us that God does not want any of us to perish. God created us. He loves us. Think about things you have created. Maybe, it’s a son or a daughter. You have a great love for them. God has a love for his children, just they way you have a love for your children. You know why? Because, God designed it that way. God designed us for worship (or love). It is a two way street. Love goes both ways, just as worship goes both ways. I’ll bet you never thought about it that way before. God desires our worship. And how can we not worship him when remember all that he has done for us. Worship also means God expressing his heart back to us. He delights in your presence, just as we as earthly parents desire our children’s presence.

So what does it take to get the reward of heaven and God’s eternal presence?

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The answer is simple, there is nothing we can do except accept the gift he has given us. We can’t be good enough to save ourselves. We can’t go to church enough to save ourselves. We can’t feed the hungry enough to save ourselves. There is nothing we can do. It is a free gift. What do you do when you receive a gift? You take it with thanks. Why? Because you can’t earn a gift and you can’t earn salvation. It is God’s gift to you. And why is that pastor? So none of us, including me can boast how we saved ourselves. We have to say only by the grace of God. Only by God’s mercy. God’s justice demanded death, but his mercy grants us life, even when we don’t deserve it.

Do you know that you are a work of God? Whether you want to be or not. God has a work for us to do. But first we need to receive him. Receive his love.