God Our Father - Part 12

God is Love!  We know this is true because the Scripture tells us this in 1 John 4:8,16.  God has a default nature that is redemptive and it is motivated by His love for us.  The Scripture tells us that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  God is longsuffering when it comes to humanity.  If God loved us this way before we repented how much more does He shower His love on us now that we are His children.  We have been working our way through 1 Cor. 13:4-8 and discovering the love nature of God.  This week we looked at the last half of verse six which states....... but rejoices in the truth;.  Love rejoices in the truth.  Here are a couple of other translations of this verse that share with us what love or God is like.    

(Love or God) rejoices when right and truth prevail. AMP

1 Cor 13:6 (Love or God) Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, (THE MESSAGE)

1 Cor 13:6……….(Love or God) rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  (New Living Translation)

1 Cor 13:6………………(Love or God) joyfully sides with the truth.  (Weymouth)

• Love (God) rejoices in the truth.  What does this mean?  This means that love (God) celebrates truth or the manifestation of truth in all of its forms.  God celebrates in the triumph of truth in our lives. 

   

• He celebrates in the manifestation of Himself in the lives of people.  This fits perfectly with what we are talking about because Jesus is truth and everything that He did was a manifestation of love and truth.  So, when Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil this was a celebration of truth.  Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. NKJV.  
• Love celebrates in truth because truth sets all people free.  Jesus said in John 8:32 - and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.    

Jesus also shows this love in Luke 15.

Scripture:  Luke 15:1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying: 4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. NKJV

• This is the Lord rejoicing in truth triumphing over lies or iniquity.  Lies lead people into a place of being lost.  This is why God or love rejoices in the victory of truth because it brings the lost back home. 

 

• Listen to what one commentary states about this parable, as you do I believe you will see the motivation of love in this description.  The shepherd’s search was rewarded; the lost sheep was found.  In Jesus story the shepherd did not drive the lamb back to the flock, he did not drag it back with a noose around its neck, nor did he throw it in a bag with a good scolding.  Rather, he lovingly placed the dear animal upon his shoulders, draping its legs around his neck with its soft head nuzzling his ear.  His attitude was not one of reproach over the carelessness which resulted in separation, but of rejoicing over the reunion and restoration of a lost one.  His joy was so great that it must be shared, so the shepherd called together his friends and neighbors, inviting them to rejoice with him. (The Complete Biblical Library New Testament Commentary – Page 769)

Conclusion:  Love rejoices in the truth operating in our lives.  God rejoices in truth because it sets that captive free.  What truth has love (God) shared with you lately?

In Christ, Pastor Sean