God Is My Valentine
March 27, 2008 11:32 pm Posts From Pastor EdBy: Pastor Edward S. Yoshida, B.A., M. Div.
SCRIPTURE - I John 4:15-20John 4:15-20
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
INTRODUCTION
When my g/daughter, Rachel, was just a toddler, she would accompany her father to transport her older brother from Newmarket to Toronto, where he was attending J. Language School. When she was ready to go home, I would help her to put on her boots. She seemed always happy & smiling, at least at Grandpa’s. To test her language skill, I nonchalantly asked her, Do you like Grandpa? A big Yes! Then came my nextquestion, Why? Because you love me, was her spontaneous reply. Unaware of the Scriptures at her age, she was making a profound statement. I John 4:19John 4:19
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
also says: “We love Him because He first loved us.” In other words, God should be the object of our Valentine love!
Yes, before we can love others as God expects, we need to know that God loves us. And not only know, but we must feel His love & experience His love. And this love of God for humanity has been expressed since the dawn of creation.
I - It was expressed to Adam, our 1st human forefather
II - It was expressed to Abraham, founder of the Israelite nation
III - It was expressed to Andrew & the disciples
IV - It was expressed to All of us on the Cross
I - It was Expressed to Adam & Eve in their Call
After the original pair disobeyed God & sinned (sin is disobedience to God), they lost their intimacy, their fellowship, with God. Then He took the initiative & came calling for the pair, Where are you?” in the Garden of Eden. (Not that God didn’t know where they were, but He wanted the couple to reflect on what they did).
Romans 5:12Romans 5:12
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: for that: or, in whom
makes this fundamental statement. “For as by one man sin entered the world & death by sin…” What happened to the first couple? Genesis chap. One says God created the heavens & the earth. He created the light and darkness, the day & the night, the 4 seasons, the plants and animals. Last of all He created man & woman in His image as His crowning creative achievement. (In His image means that man-with his intelligence, emotions and will power-can respond to God’s love in worship, fellowship & discipleship).
But the original pair disobeyed. They ate the forbidden fruit (not necessarily an apple). They failed His test of their freedom-to choose between obedience and disobedience. Genesis tells us that there was another factor to this moral failure. It was Satan, that evil factor already present in the Garden even before they were planted there. He led them to question His Word. He led them to twist His Word. He led them to totally dismiss His Word. He finally appealed to their pride-you can be as wise as God. This single act of disobedience brought upon them shame, guilt and tainted human nature. It brought death-separation from God & His intimacy. When God created man, he was made perfectly except that he was untested. God took a risk when He gave man the freedom of choice, & man failed miserably.
God’s Valentine is seen in the initiative that He took to descend into the Garden, walk in the Garden in the cool of the day (if the scholars are right, the Garden was located at the confluence of 4 rivers, including Tigris & Euphrates-probably present day Iraq), and offer to the original pair the word of love and forgiveness.
II - It is Expressed in the Call to Abraham some 4000 years ago - (Genesis 12:1Genesis 12:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
12
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
)
In order to understand this call of Abraham we need to return to the earlier chapters of this book. Chapters 6-9 deal with Noah and the Flood, God’s “Rainbow Covenant” with mankind, the disbursement of the human race from Noah’s three sons. Chapter 11 is the story of the Tower of Babel, when man’s secular civilization wanted to reach heaven with his fired brick tower of enormous height. Since man decides to erase God from his life, God orders a confusion of languages so that people were no longer able to work together. (Biblical explanation of the world’s languages).
Abraham’s father, Terah, lived not too many generations from the flood. We know from the Bible that people were idol worshippers, as was Abraham and his tribe (albeit he had an indirect awareness of the true God). The evidence of this tribal idolatry is found in his nephew, Laban’s, keeping of portable household idols, which Rachel stole when she fled with Jacob from her father’s home. It is further confirmed in Joshua 24:2Joshua 24:2
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
, where he says that “your forefathers worshipped other gods beyond the River (understood as Euphrates). (Had Abraham remained with his tribal relatives, he could not have served the true Creator God of the Bible. He had to be called out from idolatry to become a new community for God. Just like I had to be called out of Steveston village in Richmond during the war to become a Christian and a servant of the Lord)
Therefore, the God of Valentine expressed His love and initiative to Abraham in this call.
III - It is Expressed to Andrew and the Disciples
They were the first Christians, they were the first church and they represent the Christians today.
When John the Baptist first met Jesus, the latter was introduced as “the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” One of the first two disciples of Jesus came from this introduction. He was Andrew, the brother of Peter.
Later, in Luke 5:11Luke 5:11
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
we have the “call of Peter and his partners, the sons of Zebedee, John and James.” We read that they left their boats, nets and everything to follow Jesus. This was their “call.” Luke 6:12Luke 6:12
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
gives us a summary and a formal list of the 12 disciples, after Jesus spent a night in prayer. All 12 of these men were hand-picked, and He loved them to the end, knowing that some would deny, betray and abandon him in the end (John 13:1John 13:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
13
1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
). They were not educated, they were not rich, they were not powerful, but Jesus loved them and took the initiative to call them.
How did they respond to that kind of love in the end? Most of them became martyrs for Jesus. They laid down their lives for Him, save for Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. James, the brother of John, was slain with the sword in the early days of the church. Peter was first imprisoned for his faith, and later crucified upside down in Rome. Andrew was crucified. Matthew was speared to death. Nathaniel was beaten and crucified. Philip was crucified. Thomas went to India and speared. Simon the Zealot was crucified. The second James was stoned to death. The second Judas was stoned. John was exiled to Patmos, but freed later and died naturally in Ephesus. John 15:13John 15:13
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
says: “No greater love has any man than this that he lays down his life for a friend.” The response of the disciples for the God of Valentine was nothing less than the surrender of their lives-in this case physical-for this loving Jesus.
IV - It is Expressed to All of us - John 3:16John 3:16
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…”
After Peter’s denial and Jesus’ death and resurrection, they rendezvoused in Galilee. It was here that Jesus asks Peter three times-parallel to his three denials-”Do you love me more than these?” (This was not a comparison to other disciples who were there but a comparison to things that Peter loved on earth-fishing and other selfish interests) Weepingly Peter now affirms his love for this God of Valentine with a strong affirmative answer, and he ends his life in martyrdom.
Today, most Christians are not expected to offer their lives as physical martyrs, but all are expected to make Jesus their number 1 Valentine. Who is our number one Valentine today?
When I became a Christian at the age of 15, there was a girl two years younger than I. She and her two brothers gave their hearts to Jesus about the same time in Grand Forks, B.C., where we lived during the war. She became a teacher and remained single for many years-until she could be called a spinster. But she loved Jesus and would not consider any male relationship unless he was a born-again Christian. When she visited her relatives in Toronto, I introduced her to a new Christian about her age. Thinking that they made a good match, I encouraged them towards engagement, which was celebrated in the church. But when the wedding date edged closer, the “ghost” of his old mental illness returned. He became paranoiac, accusatory and judgmental. My friend was heartbroken. But she waited more years until Jesus sent another Christian. He was a teacher-farmer, who had recently become a widower with 4 little girls living with him on a strawberry farm in Wash. State. Again, I acted as the match-maker and brought two together. It was Providential in that they married shortly after a period of courtship by correspondence. She entered into this relationship knowing that she will become a step-mother to these 4 girls. But she loved them as her own and she cared for them as if she gave them birth. Today, all these girls are happily married to Christian partners, they all worship together and they make their step-mother the centre of their family gatherings. This is the last Xmas Letter she wrote: “My family is all doing well. The 4 daughters all married Christian men and they are all active in their churches. I have 7 g/children, ranging in ages from 5-16. I have lived on Vashon exactly 30 year, arriving here 12/77. Tomorrow on Christmas Day our family will be gathering at my daughter’s. Then on N.Y’s Day they will all come over here for our traditional Japanese meal. We will have over 20 people gathered here. A wonderful way to start the new year.
(Why is my friend so blessed & rewarded today? Because she loved Jesus “more than these.” She made Jesus her #1 Valentine.)
CONCLUSION -
Until we make God & Jesus our #1 Valentine, we all have our own Valentine, or our several little valentines. Your Valentine could be your only child, your favourite son, or some relationship you cannot release. It could be your habit, your favourite pleasure, your sports, your money or your assets. What will you say to Jesus when He asks, do you love me more than these?
I John 4:19John 4:19
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
: “We love Him because He first loved us”
