
Emmaus Baptist Church Easter Sunrise Service
“Love Never Tires, Love Never Quits”
Happy Easter!
He is Risen!
The Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Love is patient and kind, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, helpful, and trusting. Love never fails!”
Paul wrote his letter in Greek. There are four words in Greek for “love.” He uses the Greek word – agape. Agape is the selfless love for others. The love Paul describes is the love God gives us. The other loves – eros which is romantic love, philos which is brotherly love, and storge which is family love are good and important, but they’re not the love Paul describes.
Yet, we aren’t completely off base when we cherish Paul’s litany of agape love descriptions as if it is the loving we give for our eros spouse, our storge family, or our philos friends. Because how much of God’s agape love we get determines how much we can give – for all the other kinds of love.
Am I saying people who aren’t Christian can’t be loving and kind? No, not at all.
I’m sharing that humans have real limits how much they can love others on their own. Humans can be heroic in their agape, eros, philos, and storge love. But no one can match the boundless love of God. God created love. God is love.
So, Paul wrote that God’s love never tires and love never quits. But, people tire of loving. Humans quit loving. We give up. We can get exhausted by others and their issues. Personally, we can become overwhelmed by our problems, worries, sad memories, real suffering, deep shame, and all the evil and woes of this world. You know people who have given up. They quit doing the hard stuff of loving others. Especially, when the others so badly didn’t deserve their love.
Sometime in your life, you’ve wanted to stop the hard work of loving. You’ve wanted to quit caring. You know people who haven’t earned your love. Didn’t return it. Maybe they were indifferent to your caring or actually hated you.
So, how can Paul say love never tires and never quits?
Because God’s love, which we see in the person of Lord Jesus Christ, never tires. His love never quits.
This sunrise service is about the greatest single gift of agape love, ever, in the history of the entire universe.
This gift began in the fullness of time, when the one, only, true, living, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God put part of His Spirit in a baby boy. Jesus. Jesus was all human in his body and all God in His spirit.
Jesus was a thirty-three year old man and full of life when He became the last sacrifice, the last shedding of blood for the remission of sin. When He laid down His life for his friend. That friend is you and me.
Let’s pause for minute and ask why does an all-loving God demand sacrifices in blood when someone does something wrong? Isn’t that a bit harsh? Isn’t that an awful, mean deity?
No, because the shedding of blood in sacrifices were the symbolic act which allowed people to get closer to God in a personal relationship. Besides, the specific way the animals were killed was the most humane way possible. And, all the animals provided food for the priests and their families.
Furthermore, when God created life in man He breathed life into Adam and Eve. Life is sustained in humans and all animals by breathing in air for the body to send life giving oxygen to every living cell. Life ends when breathing stops. So, all living creatures get life in their blood.
Since the wages of sin is death, the blood shed is life lost in the ceremonial sacrifice as a symbolic payment. It was necessary to be cleansed of sin just as all the rules demanded ritual cleaning before worship. No human could be near God in worshipping with dirt on them or sin in them.
Not being allowed to come as you are to an all-loving God seems as odd as the sacrifices.
But, it’s all about the nature of God. God is holy, holy, holy. He is absolutely pure love. Nothing impure, not right, not holy can get near Him. Or communicate with Him. Or be in a personal relationship with Him.
From the time of Abraham to Jesus, for two thousand years, God let the Hebrews remove their sins with ceremonial sacrifices. God made unique covenants with a man, a family, and a people to have a special relationship between God and humans.
The death of Lord Jesus Christ was the last sacrifice. No more symbolic ceremony is needed ever again.
Jesus took the sins, the wrong thoughts, words, and deeds of every human being who will ever live upon himself.
That’s exactly what Jesus did for you – his dear friend. He took the punishment we deserve. His blood poured out from being beaten close to death and then nailed to a wooden cross.
All that suffering was for love. His love for you. The love God the father has for you. The love the Holy Spirit shares with you in your body and mind.
So, let’s come full circle from bloody ceremonial sacrifice back to love.
Do you ever get tired of telling someone you truly love, “I love you?” Do you get tired of thinking it, feeling it, acting upon it? No, of course not.
Do you ever get tired of someone you truly love telling you, “I love you?” Do you want them to quit thinking, feeling, and acting in love to you? No, never.
God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit never tires of telling you, “I love you.”
The Lord Jesus Christ never tires of saying – I’m with you. I’m for you. It’s going to be okay. No matter what horrible, tragic thing happens, He will not leave us or forsake us. He gave us the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, who physically is in you and in every Believer’s body, will comfort you when awful, terrible things happen. When your fears consume you. When shame beats you down. When the pain you feel is more than you can take. When you see no way forward, nothing good, and no hope. When you fell alone and abandoned. When you are helpless to save, fix, or heal those you love with all of your heart, you’ll feel His love. You’ll know His love. You’ll cling to His love.
Then, after you get to the other side of whatever valley of shadow of death you’ve crossed or if you’ve passed on in death to be in the presence of Jesus, you’ll actually rejoice. Your tears of sorrow will become happy tears of overwhelming gratitude.
His love never tires. His love never quits.
And Jesus goes even beyond all that goodness that He gives us for free in this life.
On Easter morning after the last blood sacrifice was made, the Lord Jesus Christ showed us how much He really loves us. He was dead, dead, dead. Then, He got up and walked out of his grave. Over 500 people saw Him. His disciples were transformed after seeing him alive again. They happily endured any torture or death because they knew what followed.
Jesus showed us God’s power over life and death. He gave us the gift of eternal life if we believe He rose from the dead.
Because He triumphed over sin and death, we will also. Because he walked out of the tomb, we will walk through a door at death to be instantly away from our old body and be in the presence of Lord Jesus Christ. And our departed loved ones.
No great stone and guards could keep Jesus in the tomb. Since no grave could keep Him down, there “ain’t” no grave that is going to keep you or me down. As sure as that sun is rising behind me, so too will you rise. Bright, beautiful, and triumphant.
Thank You, Lord Jesus Christ. Your love never tires. Your love never quits.
Please let the Holy Spirit speak to you, comfort you, fill you with joy that knows no bounds and the peace beyond understanding as we listen to this long and great old country hymn.
Happy Easter and Amen!
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