Strengthened by Divine Love for Life’s Trials
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him
who loved us. 38 For I AM PERSUADED that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Above everything else, the Father’s primary plan is to make us mighty in love. Since this is the mission statement of
God’s leadership over our lives we can have confidence in concluding that in every SEASON (phase of years in our lives)
the goal of God is that our hearts grow in love. We can confidently conclude then that whatever favor, pressure, victory,
or difficulty in our lives has the primary purpose of positioning us to receive more of God’s love and have our heart’s
awakened in love back to God and others.
B. God’s plan has always been to bring forth voluntary lovers of God from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue
(Psalm 2; Revelation 7:9; 19:7). He will bring to His Son the mandatory obedience of all creation, including unbelievers,
believers, angels, demons, etc. However, God’s specific gift for His Son is a people who voluntarily choose to love Him.
The eternal purpose and desire of God has been to provide a family for Himself and a bride for His Son. God’s ultimate
purpose of creation is to provide an equally yoked bride that is suitable to Him. He has worked very intentionally to select
and train this bride to reign with Him in voluntary love.
C. How does God accomplish this task to bring forth voluntary lovers? The Eternal Word came forth from the very
bosom of the Father in the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person (Hebrews 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4;
Colossians 1:15) wrapped in the ‘likeness’ of sinful flesh to declare His name that supernatural love from and for God
would be awakened in our hearts! (John 17:26)
II. THE BOND OF LOVE IN THE FACE OF JESUS’ SEVEREST TRIALS
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”…
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 3:17, 4:1)
5 … suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
HEAR HIM!”…9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision
to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”…12 … the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their
hands.” (Matthew 17:5,9,12)
A. The gospel accounts record 3 instances where the Father spoke audibly. Two of these occurrences the Father
declared His affection and pleasure over Jesus (Matthew 3:17; 17:5) whereas in the third one He spoke to His Son for the
benefit of others (John 12:28-30).
B. Premise: If the Lord was to strengthen us before a great hour of testing then I am sure of one thing, He would speak
to us about being His beloved in the same way He did for His Son. He would speak to us about His enjoyment of our lives
in the fact that we were genuine before Him and well pleasing to Him
1. Just as we see a strong loving relational communion between the Father and Son prior to the two most significant
testings in Jesus’ life, so also are we to be strengthened in this loving relationship through the testings in our own lives.
Though the nature of Jesus’ testings and ours may differ profoundly, we are to take great confidence in the inflexible
power of communing love under the trials of human weakness, Satan’s rage, and physical torture. In short, that “nothing
can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:38).
2. Why can we have such confidence? Because we have been joined to Jesus in the new birth. It is of benefit to be
reminded at this point that our salvation is not mostly something that ‘happened to us.’ It is not mostly a work that was
merely accomplished for us and added to our ‘account.” But rather, our salvation is a Person that we have been joined to.
3. Consequently, we are to look at these accounts of Jesus and conclude that if His loving fellowship with the Father
was not broken under the testing of the devil (in the wilderness) nor under the brutal torture of the cross, then we too can
be victorious in love because of being united with Him as a branch to the Vine.
C. Of particular notice is that the Father is about demonstrating His love. Our God is a God of demonstration. The
Father demonstratively declared His love for the Son. He openly manifests or unveils the depths of His heart by sending
the enfleshed Word of His heart, the very Son of His love, from the corridors of Trinitarian love that we might behold His
glory.
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…8 But God DEMONSTRATES
HIS OWN LOVE toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 MUCH MORE then, having
now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies
we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, having been reconciled, we shall be
saved by His life. (Romans 5:6, 8-10)
D. Let’s look at a glorious picture of this love in demonstration with Jesus and his disciples.
III. HOW CAN IMMATURE BELIEVERS ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF MATTHEW 3:17?
A. Oftentimes there is a wall or stumbling block that we all hit. Namely, we can see why the Father loved Jesus and
that His love was pleasing to Him. Surely the Father cannot feel the same way for us in our weak struggling way? The
whole of our lives must draw upon this root system (Ephesians 3:17) of our identity as loved and lovers of God. We can
have the assurance of God’s delight while ‘coming up short in our attainment’ in the context of a wholehearted pursuit.
The assurance of God’s personal delight and acceptance is the ‘fuel’ whereby one matures through weaknesses. God’s
enjoyment of us is not to be confused with Him approving of everything we do. The areas He disapproves of will bring
divine correction.
B. The truth is that Jesus was well pleasing to the Father in His perfection, but we can also be enjoyed and our love
received as genuine even in our immaturity because of the life, work, and Person of Jesus and the cry in our spirit to be
wholly God’s.
C. Jesus strengthened His own disciples before their hour of crisis.
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. (John 15:9)
1. At the Last Supper the disciples were about to face one of the most difficult hours of their lives on many points.
a. First, they were going to betray Him (Matthew 26:31). The spiritual crisis they would experience by betraying
the Son of God who loved them perfectly would be a paramount crisis in their spiritual lives.
b. Secondly, Jesus knew they were going to be deeply disappointed because the One they loved was going to
suddenly be taken from them in death leaving them in a serious state of confusion for awhile.
c. Thirdly, they were going to be the recipients of fierce persecution and martyrdom. Jesus was preparing them
for this.
d. Fourthly, He knew that in the days to come He was going to ‘break up the party’, so to speak by disbanding
this apostolic company and sending them out to the four corners of the earth to strange and new places and new
relationships. That was going to be tremendously disruptive in their lives.
D. Jesus speaks to them in the same wisdom of what God the Father spoke to Him in His hour of testing. Jesus
assured them of them of His passion for them as well as the authenticity of their immature love. Our weak love does not
negate God’s delight nor is it viewed as hypocritical.
E. Let’s zoom in on Peter’s experience - Luke 22:31 (Satan’s sifting & Jesus’ intercession) Matthew 26:31-35 (denial
prophesied), 41 (spirit willing but flesh weak); John 21 (Peter returns fishing).
F. 3-Fold Questioning of Peter by Jesus
1. Question one (21:15)
a. Jesus (21:15a):“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
b. Peter (21:15b):“Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”
c. Jesus (21:15c):“Feed (nourish) my lambs.”
2. Question two (21:16)
a. Jesus (21:16a): “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
b. Peter (21:16b): “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”
c. Jesus (21:16c): “Tend (lead) my sheep!”
3. Question three (21:17)
a. Jesus (21:17a): “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved…
b. Peter (21:17b): “Lord, you know all things. You know I love you.”
c. Jesus (21:17c): “Feed my sheep.”
G. It is not enough to only have the knowledge of God’s acceptance of us in our weakness; we must also have the
assurance that our love for God is genuine though weak (or maturing).
H. Peter had made the declaration earlier Jesus dismantling Peter’s basis of confidence in his love for Jesus rather
than on Jesus’ love for him. Peter evaluated the security of His relationship with Jesus based upon his commitment to Him.
Immature love for Jesus is not false love. Our love of God is genuine long before it matures.
I. The basis of our confidence and security in God must be in His commitment to us rather than in our track record or
attainment of obedience.