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Reckless Perfect love of God.
Reckless: (of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action.
Perfect: absolute; complete
So, this love is careless, yet complete? That does not make sense– Well, am glad it doesn’t otherwise, this sermon would be over.
Let me explain:
We have read, heard and know that Jesus died on the cross for us. And it’s easy to qualify this in our own human thinking.
When we think about love, we think of how we love each other, how we love our pets, how we love as human beings. This is also the way we think of God’s love for us.
We try to understand the dying for our sins on the same level as any other human sacrifice.
I say reckless because, you and I would call it that if someone is doing something that doesn’t make sense or staking too much for no guarantees.
Reckless – of a person or their actions- God is not a Person and we cannot use our own definition to qualify this love.
To better understand the sacrifice, we have to first understand it in our human nature, then after that we can realize that it way above that level and it higher than we think we know.
We understand to the maximum human level and after that maximum level – you find Gods love- The reckless love, love that was poured and is still being poured – with hope that you will receive it and you don’t deserve it, can’t pay for it, you can’t afford it, and its priceless. Yet it’s still being offered.
In reality, no human being would sacrifice their live, with no guarantee that the sacrifice they are offering will benefit a specific individual.
Everything we do as human, in some sense, it’s because we can see some tangible or fulfilling reward.
That is not the case with the Love I speak of today – Christ love
Christ love, dying on the Cross for a bunch of no bodies, messed up beings who don’t acknowledge our creator, and no matter the grace, they continue to sin…Yet grace and Mercy still flows.
You can label this love in different amazing words – but for me- This is a reckless love, a reckless perfect love
It’s doing something that to the human eye doesn’t make any sense, yet to the creator, it has the perfect sense – This sacrifice was fueled by love -and that is what I am calling reckless perfect love.
I want you to fully understand that this love is out of the ordinary- it is literally out of this world.
That someone could leave a kingdom in heaven, which we can’t even comprehend that kind of kingdom since we are again doing it in our human understanding– And come here to die so that they can have a relationship with us.
God had/and still does have the power to clear out a generation and start all over again. Yet, love, reckless perfect love, choose you and I – He comes down to our level and loves us. Knowing perfectly that we will never fully comprehend it.
Paul in Ephesians 3:18-19 says it best “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
This is no ordinary love, its love so great that its specific, personal, the bible says God calls you by name. Your name. 7 Billion people, over 60K species of animals, 1 million species of insects, 300K plants – 1 species of Human being.
My reckless love story: Not so sure it’s perfect but it did get me the girl. Dating Eva, I was broke, broke, – Only had money to pay for a drive-in movie which was about 2hrs away, I was consumed by the love that I was willing to stake an empty tank, I didn’t really think it through.
When we think of love, this is what we try to equate with Christ love. But this love is much more than our feeling, it’s that and much more.
Luke 15:3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?
Vs:7 -In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
- These sheep are not lost in the city, it’s in the jungle, no light, danger everywhere and even the place where the others are being left is not a 100% safe.
- Let’s me break that down to you- if you had a bag of cash $100K and you lost $1000 –(Auburn) Would you in your right mind leave the $99K and go looking for $1K? #Reckless
- That the love of Christ, He leaves the guaranteed 99- and goes for 1
You are worth it, every part of you is worth it!!!
See on a side note, Holy Spirit make this whole 99 thing easy, He resides in you and so when God leave the 99, He is expecting those 99 that have His Spirit to care for each other, build each other, help each other as the good Shephard is looking for the lost ones- That is why the Church has to be in order, we don’t want to have the lost one to come and find the sanctuary looking like the outside world where they are getting rescued from. We are the Church!
Ezekiel 37:9 The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
– Ezekiel is shown a valley full of bones -Why are you messing with the bones God, can’t you just do what you do, create a new people!
-There is this place, where no one goes, except to discard dead body
-These bones used to be alive – Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again!
-He doesn’t care where they came from, what they were doing at time of death, He doesn’t choose a certain few. He prophesies to all Dead bones.
Forgotten valley, nothing good comes out of it. it’s this very place that God want to show hope, that no matter how dead this place looks- God has power to bring anything to life
Just like Ezekiel, there seem to be no hope, His answer is only you Lord knows.
I don’t know your life man, you have been labeled forgotten, no one cares about you, everybody has dismissed- they think that you are far gone- No hope
But today allow me to tell you what God is saying to you…If you are willing, I will resurrect those dead bones, allow me to start putting you together, muscle, fresh, skin, and let me breath into you.
Is there something in your life today that is dead, you have lost hope, it’s been such a long time that you feel like there is no way it’s going to happen,
That situation in your home, that has –“will never happen sign”, waiting for so long, there is no hope, God’s reckless perfect life want to breathe life in to it. Prophesy to those bones, speak as it will happen.
To the human eye, you are not worthy it, you are not worth the sacrifice of time, money or even relationship…. but His Reckless love, this Reckless Perfect love has you covered and your sins paid for in full.
The blood of Jesus was shed while we were still sinners #reckless– we are these dry bones -You and I
I feel a rattling sound of the bones coming together
Lazarus was dead- but these bones were dead dead. No sign of life, discarded, in a valley where no life is expected, no one went there
This evening God is saying, you may think that there is nothing good in you, that all hope is gone, – He is out there looking for you- Calling out you name- The Shephard doesn’t quietly go looking for sheep, he is loud so that his sheep can hear him and come running to him. (Zawadi story)
You are the 1 and He will not stop until His count is 100% or time runs out
God is asking you, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
Don’t miss the last part, that we can prophesy and get the bones moving, muscles coming together, skin intact…. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
Its only when the breath of Jesus comes in it that life begins AGAIN!!!
US for 20yrs ago – I made lots of mistakes- Hanged out with people I shouldn’t have, did things that I detest, Yet, about 7 yrs. ago, God sought me
Bad business to invest in someone like me- #Reckless, Yet His Perfect love had a perfect plan.
Left the 99 and came after me- put me with the 99 – I teach what I have experienced.
If anyone knows grace- This kid knows and have seen and experience this perfect, reckless love.
I heard it all, why do you have to be like that, you are always doing those things, not sure you will ever change, you will not amount to anything, why can’t you be like so and so
Yet His love, Christ love- never gave up on me. He didn’t rescue me to use me, He rescued me so I can see His love, and that love was so great in me, I submitted myself completely to be used by Him.
I don’t fully understand it, but this is what I understand man, its didn’t make sense why He choose me – Reckless, yet some way somehow, He made is work perfectly, and now I can’t stop but sing of His love and I choose to share it with others. Today I stand here before you as a product of God’s perfect reckless love!
I am so glad that He was reckless with me. And He still is- Making investments in what we think is useless – yet His Perfect love puts it all together beautifully.