Summary:
This sermon on being loved by God is addressed to little children (new believers), old men (older believers) and young men (youths), each with a different message.
Little children: Be thankful to our Father and realise how great His love for us is
Old men: Reminisce on the love of God through our lives and look forward to meeting Him! We still have skills; try to help the young people where we can.
Young men: Believe in the strength of the compelling love of God. This helps us to be strong, and makes the church strong. This enables us to help young people outside who are sad.
We hear many teachings of our worthlessness, and it’s true because we’re sinful! But we are like diamonds in the rough; gold in the ground - how ugly they look! But those who know their value will know that they are precious. God loves us and sees us as precious. It’s time for us to consider ourselves precious and feel beloved. Take some time everyday to ponder this statement: I am loved by God.

God loves His people. It is explicitly stated in the Bible.

For example, we turn to John 11:3-5.
Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

These 2 sisters and brother were ordinary people, just like us. But Jesus loved them. It says Lazarus is the one Jesus loved. In other parts of the Bible, it’s recorded that Jesus loved John. Jesus loved all the apostles, including Judas Iscariot who was to betray Him. Jesus loved the rich ruler. In the famous verse John 3:16, Jesus loves the whole world.

Dan 9:23
At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:

Dan 10:11
And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.

It seems to be quite something to be “greatly beloved”. It’s something to think about for all of us when we say “God loves me” and when we say “I am loved by God”, “I am beloved”.

The second saying is a realisation/feeling. “I am loved by God”. ‘I’ am the subject of the sentence. Too often we take for granted the phrase “God loves us”. We don’t feel it. We should consider the realisation that “I am loved by God”.

In the case of the love of God, it is OK to realise how precious you, each one of us, are to God. This means to make ourselves the centre of His love. And then realise that we are precious to God. We often turn to Psa 116:15.

Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.

We use this during funerals. Now if the death of the saints is precious in the sight of God, isn’t our living also precious in the sight of God? Why is the death of the saints precious in the sight of God? Because God can now take him/her back. The word is ‘precious’.

We have things that are precious to us. Could be a precious pen, a precious piece of clothing. We treat it, touch it longingly. When we understand that we, individually, are precious in God’s eyes, it is something.

Let’s bear this in mind.

John 13:1
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Jesus loved all that were His to the end.

v2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him

Even then, Jesus still loved Judas Iscariot. Let us take some time to think how Jesus could love this useless person. And if He can love such a useless person, He can love us!

What is the meaning of ‘precious’? What is a precious stone? It’s something that has value to the beholder. The world and the people of the world do not consider human beings to be precious. They think only some people are precious.

Recently a wild boar attacked 2 persons. If we read the comments of people, half of them wanted to protect the wild boar. They did not consider the human being more precious than the wild boar. Certainly we’ve read how the Myanmar maid was treated so badly; people don’t consider their lives precious.

But God considers us precious. So it’s time for us to consider ourselves precious. And to feel beloved.

Isa 62:4
You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the LORD delights in you, And your land shall be married.

Do we feel that God delights in us? This verse tells us so. “I am the delight of God”

There are too many unhappy people in this world. Unhappy with their looks. Unhappy with their status. Unhappy with their abilities. But for people who are joyful - there’s a song that says “I’m happy that in this life I was loved by you”; the speaker has always felt loved by God and hopes everyone can realise this as well. That somehow God thinks we are of some value. We’ve heard many teachings that tell us we are worthless. And it’s true that we are worthless because we’re sinful. We are like diamonds in the rough; gold in the ground. And we can see how ugly they look. But those who know will know that these are precious.

It’s very important for us to realise we are very special people. That the human being is a wonderful creation of God. If we compare diamonds to diamonds, there will be bigger ones. There will be brighter ones. More colourful ones. So if you’re small and not so colourful you think you’re not of much worth. But if you compare diamonds to stones or to charcoal, then you know that no matter what diamond you are, you are precious.

So we, just being a human being, whatever our ability, are smarter than the smartest animal. Which animal can drive a car? Which animal can write? Which animal, other than the mantis, can pray? Very special we are. For that reason, we are loved by God. We realise this, and this makes a difference in our lives.

2 Cor 12:15
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.

This talks about the love of Paul for the believers. It states a very sad situation that when Paul loved the believers more, they didn’t like it. This talks about the lack of realisation of people towards the love of Paul. It’s also an indication that many of us don’t realise the love of God towards us. If Paul was willing to spend and be spent for the souls of the believers, we know that Jesus actually spent His life for our souls.

2 Cor 5:14-15
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

When we realise that God loves us; when we realise that “I am loved by God”, this love will control us. If we’re not controlled by the love of God, it means our realisation is not complete. It also means we do not realise how precious we are. Because we don’t realise how precious we are, we try to make ourselves precious, but precious in the eyes of the world.

The love of Christ compels us if we realise that Jesus died for us. This is a very powerful message; the most powerful message in Christianity. And we are reminded of it every Holy Communion.

But do we realise?

Take some time everyday to ponder this statement: I am loved by God.

I love God. I am loved by God. Because of this, I keep the commandments of God. And then I become like the nature of God. And then I am blessed.

John 14:21-23
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

This virtuous cycle of loving God and being loved by God is attained by keeping the commandments of God. A stone is precious after it has been taken from the dirt, cleaned and polished. We must make ourselves better. We do this by keeping the commandments of God.

Those of us who come to church regularly and do the work of God can find this growth and cleaning in our lives. We learn to maximise the potential of our preciousness. There are things that we must do.

Col 3:12-17
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

v12 says we are the elect of God. We are holy and beloved. And then it tells us what to do.

Read the Bible everyday. When we read a passage like this from v12-17, there’s so much that we can strive for. There’s so much that we have not attained. We must learn to read the Bible slowly, and try to live these words. If we compare this passage to Matt 5:4-12 which are the Beatitudes, we find that there are many similar things. But all these things tell us how to live a Christian life.

The speaker hopes we take the time to read these things carefully. It begins with feeling God loves us.

What is this sermon for? Each sermon is meant for different people.

1 John 2:12-14
I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.

Among us we have 3 groups of people. What’s the message for the 3 groups tonight?

“I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake; because you have known the Father”

As children; new believers, this sermon is for us to appreciate the love of God through His sacrifice. A child who cannot appreciate the love of its parents is not growing properly. If we cannot appreciate the sacrifice of Christ in our beginning stage of knowing God, then we are having a stunted growth. People who have just known Jesus Christ, who are ready to get baptised, should feel the great love of Jesus and His sacrifice. It would be rather strange for a person who wants to get baptised to already plan in his mind to only come to church once a week. Where is that feeling of the love of Christ?

In the past, we have had people who delay their baptism because they want to perform the last Chinese rites for their parents. So they say they’ll wait till their parents die, perform the rites and then get baptised so their sins get forgiven. We do not understand that our sins are forgiven for His name’s sake. We do not understand how important it is to be forgiven as soon as possible. We have not known the Father of all. Worst of all we don’t understand that we should try to save our parents before performing the last rites for them. We don’t understand how precious Christ’s death is to make us precious.

It’s important for young believers to be thankful.

Col 3:15-17
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body [which means to be baptised]; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Being thankful to the parent; to God, is the natural growth of the child. The message tonight is for young believers, new believers, going-to-be believers, to understand what it means to be loved by God.

1 John 3:1
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

How much I am loved by God! What’s the quality of one loved by God? That we should be called children of God.

“I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake; because you have known the Father”

This message is for us to realise how great the love of God is for us.

In our Bible studies; in our knowing God, we should feel the thrill/joy of the love of God.

“I write to you fathers because you have known Him who is from the beginning”

There are among us who are old. If life is to be three portions of 30, then the speaker is at the end of the second portion and will be in the third portion next year. So he currently belongs to this group. Some of us belong to this group. Do we feel we are loved by God? What has our 60-70 years been like?

Gen 48:15
And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day

For us who are the fathers and mothers, let us reminisce on the love of God through our lives. And look forward; get ready to meet God! It is commonplace among older people, because of the frailty of our bodies, to be sad. But we need not talk about this all the time. We can do something about it!

An older colleague (80 years old) of the speaker used to say, “Don’t simply go and change things (in your body). If this part isn’t working well don’t change it immediately. It’s just like an old car. If you just change one tire and the other three are old ones, only one part can grip properly. If you fix one leg, only that part can go fast. So take it easy.”

We adjust our bodies to fit our age. Because God has been feeding us all our life. When we realise that, we learn to share the experiences of the love of God with those who are younger. There are a few kinds of old people. There’s some stereotypes - the crabby old man, the forgetful old man, the sloppy old man, the worst is the dirty old man.

We should be the cheerful, kindly old person. The old uncle or aunty everyone loves. Because we realise that God has found us precious, and has kept us in His love. And He is going to receive us to glory. And He’s waiting because the death of the saints are precious. He’s waiting to take back His jewel. So death is not to be feared. We live what’s left of our lives cheerfully.

Many of us have skills which are undimmed. We’re still capable. We can help out in church. We can help the young people. Sometimes the young parents need to do church work but the small little things are running around. We can help them. We can teach the younger kids. Because we still have talent. We can talk about the miracles and experiences of God we have. Of course, we wish to all be like Caleb, to be able to fight the battles of the Lord at 85.

”I write to you fathers because you have known Him who is from the beginning”

And He has fed us all our lives to this day. Let us feel the love of God. Some of our peers/colleagues have passed away. Some of them are in a worse state than we are. But above all, none of them have the hope we have. The speaker’s colleagues had a conversation about the quickest way to die. “Heart attack! No suffering! Very good.” We have a hope because we are loved by God.

“I write to you young men because you have overcome the wicked one; because you are strong and the word of God abides in you”

Strength is expected of youth. It comes from the abiding word of God. Young people must know that you are loved by God. You must walk by faith. That is to say, you must believe in the strength of the compelling love of God. You cannot give up so easily! You cannot be depressed. If we know the love of God, that we are loved by God in this life, it is not a depressing thought. The hymns we sing are meaningful if we understand the words. When young people are strong, the church is strong. And we can help the young people outside who are sad. But we need to have faith in the love of God.

Heb 10:38
Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

I am loved by God. And I must believe it. And if I don’t believe it, God says, “I don’t love you anymore.”

This verse says this. God loves us. And we are loved by God. Then we say, “I don’t believe it. God, how do I know you love me? I’m a young person. I don’t know whether God exists. I don’t know if He loves me. I don’t know if God cares for me.”

The speaker doesn’t like the phrasings of some hymns. One of the hymns say: “Does Jesus care?” The words are of a person who has lost faith. But we’re not one who has lost faith. If any man draws back, God will have no pleasure in us. It’s so so important for young people to be strong. We must have faith that we are loved by God.

So new believers, old members, young people, we are loved by God. Take time in prayer to think about this, and act on it.

“I’m loved by God, so I want to give something back to God.” Let us think about that.