Rejoice, God Loves You!

Scripture:
 Romans 5:1-5 “Therefore, having been justified by faith,  we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Introduction:
 The dictionary describes joy as
a. Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness.
b. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.
c. To take great pleasure; rejoice.
d. To fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.
e. To enjoy.
f. It’s like the celebrations the football players make when they make an important touchdown.
 Does this really sound like the kind of experience that so many Christians are experiencing today. If we could but realize the great work that has been accomplished because of the love of God. God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die that we could have uninterrupted fellowship with Him. It is because of the love of God that we are able to endure all things that are thrown at us. Regardless of what happens, we have the assurance that the love of God, manifested in Jesus Christ, is with us always and forever. As we rejoice in the love of God, strength is built within us and we are enabled to complete the task He has given us as His ambassadors on earth. One day, as a result of that love, we will be called home because the work is finished. So rejoice and be glad.

I. We are ever before the face of God. He constantly watches over us.
Isaiah 45:15-16 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”
A. Every time God uses His hands, He is mindful of the Church.
B. When He was creating the earth, He had humanity in mind.
C. There is never a moment when we are not under the watchful care of our Lord.

II. Because of this love, all condemnation has been removed from us.
Romans 8:1-3 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. 3The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” (New Living Translation)
A. The life-giving Spirit is more powerful than all the inherited and actual sins that had been accumulated against us.
B. Jesus Christ did for us what we were unable to do no matter how devoted we were to keeping all the laws and commandments.
C. Now that condemnation is gone, we can truly enjoy our friendship with God.
John 15:13-15 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
D. Condemnation goes, friendship comes and with it, the benefits of friendship with God.
1. David, as a man after God’s own heart, established a law in Israel that applies to those of us who are God’s friends.
2. He allowed all his friends to participate in the spoils which he took from the enemy.
I Samuel 30:22-26 “Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. 23Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. 24For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. 25And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. 26And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;”
a. Christ has spoiled the enemy.
b. He has taken back what has been stolen.
c. We receive the benefits of His victory.
3. Even at those times when you have no strength for battle, God’s friendship remains constant.
Proverbs 17:17 “Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.” (The Message Bible)
E. What great reasons to rejoice.

III. The love of God has granted us access to God Himself.
Ephesians 2:17-19 “And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 19Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”
A. It doesn’t matter how far we were from God, His love still reaches us.
B. His love is so great that it makes us family.
Ephesians 2:4-6 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
C. We who were once in the kingdom of darkness are now citizens of the Kingdom of God.
Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. 14God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins.” (New Living Bible)
D. We rejoice in the love of God because it has given purpose and destiny even when we didn’t know we had purpose or destiny.
I Peter 2:4-5 “Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him. 5And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.” (New Living Bible)
E. The reasons to rejoice just keep adding up.

IV. I must rejoice because of the great love of God.
J. I. Packer wrote “He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when His eye is off me, or His attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when His care falters. This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort...in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me and watching over me for my good.”
Psalm 149:1-9 “Hallelujah! Sing to GOD a brand-new song, praise him in the company of all who love him. 2Let all Israel celebrate their Sovereign Creator, Zion’s children exult in their King. 3Let them praise his name in dance; strike up the band and make great music! 4And why? Because GOD delights in his people, festoons plain folk with salvation garlands! 5Let true lovers break out in praise, sing out from wherever they’re sitting, 6Shout the high praises of God, brandish their swords in the wild sword-dance— 7A portent of vengeance on the God-defying nations, a signal that punishment’s coming, 8Their kings chained and hauled off to jail, their leaders behind bars for good, 9The judgment on them carried out to the letter —and all who love God in the seat of honor! Hallelujah!” (The Message Bible)