God Still Loves the World and He Always Will (Part 1)

On Wednesday night, Jan. 29, 2025, American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, DC collided with an Army helicopter and plunged into the Potomac River. Sixty-seven people lost their lives! The WSJ states: “The deadliest plane crash in decades was a reminder that lives are made up of ordinary moments and there is no way to know when the extraordinary might intervene. Millions of Americans were shaken by the idea that it could have been them, including frequent fliers grounded by the tragedy and parents who had flown that weekend for their own kids travel sports. It was also a reminder that people fleetingly share spaces with strangers every day, without knowing whether those same people might be beside them when they draw their last breath.” American culture today is filled with people who constantly think of death because they are lost and their soul is crying out for a right relationship with the Lord Jesus.  Why?  Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God has placed eternity in the heart of man.  We know before we’re born that we’re going to die.  Our loving Lord uses this fact of life to draw us to Himself.   The title of this message is God Still Loves the World, and He Always Will.

Read John 3:1-21 with a focus on John 3:16. This you must know:  John 3:17 states...Jesus died on the cross for you.  He died a physical death.  He was buried in a tomb owned by a rich man.  After 3 days in the grave, he arose from the dead.  Let us look at John 3:16 as God would have us look today.  (1) For God so loved the world... God's motivation toward you is love.  God's love is not limited to white people.  God's love is not limited to black people.  God's love is not limited to one sect of people.  God's love is endless and infinite, meaning never-ending.  God's gift of love is for the whole world.  You cannot fathom the love God has for you.  It is indescribable.  Human love cannot compare to the love of God.  God's love was expressed in the giving of His most priceless gift, His Son, Jesus. Romans 5:8,9 - "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."  Love originated with God.  The Bible says in I John 4:7-12 and 16 – “12 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”  God is love.  Love is His supreme quality.  God can be known only by those who live in love.  Yet we could not know how, nor be able, to love Him if He had not first loved us.  If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected or matured in us.  To live a love-filled life is to be God-filled.  When your heart is supernaturally changed by the transforming power of God, you receive the love of God.  Is the love of God in your heart?