Hands On Experience Of Gods Love (Part 3) ~ Dr William P. Hohman
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Dr. Hohman reveals why faith works by love and how the Holy Spirit brings God’s hands-on love personally into every believer’s heart and life.
Description
Gods Love Experience Overview
In Part 3 of his series on the hands-on experience of God’s love, Dr. William P. Hohman delivers a deeply pastoral message exploring what it truly means to encounter God’s love not merely as doctrine, but as a living, personal reality. Drawing from Genesis 1-2, the story of Joseph in Genesis 45, Lamentations 1, and key New Testament passages, Dr. Hohman unpacks how God did not simply speak mankind into existence but personally formed man from the dust and breathed life into him — a hands-on act of love. He traces the parallel between Joseph’s reunion with his father Jacob and the role of the Holy Spirit in reviving hope within every believer’s heart. The sermon powerfully addresses why faith must work through love according to Galatians 5:6, and why the Holy Spirit — the Comforter, the Paraclete — is the only one who can shed God’s love abroad in our hearts. Dr. Hohman also uses the sobering account of the Challenger space shuttle disaster to illustrate the voice of genuine love amid tragedy. The message closes with an urgent call to respond daily to the moving of the Holy Spirit and never abandon our first love.
Gods Love Experience Outline
- 0:00 – Introduction to the Series and God’s Perfect Will: Dr. Hohman reintroduces the series on experiencing God’s love hands-on, establishing that Jesus Christ and creation before the Fall are the two elements by which we judge God’s perfect will.
- 8:30 – The Power of Words and God’s Creative Design: An exploration of how God spoke creation into existence and how believers, made in His image, are called to use their words to build, edify, and create rather than declare problems.
- 18:00 – God Formed Man: A Hands-On Act of Love: Dr. Hohman walks through Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 2:7, showing that God did not merely speak mankind into existence but hand-formed man from dust and breathed life into him as an intimate act of love.
- 28:00 – Joseph and Jacob: Hope Revived by Love: The story of Joseph and Jacob from Genesis 45 is examined as a type and shadow of Christ and the Holy Spirit, showing how Jacob’s spirit revived when he saw the carts — the tangible evidence of Joseph’s glory.
- 38:30 – Faith Works by Love and the Role of the Holy Spirit: Dr. Hohman expounds on Galatians 5:6 and 1 Corinthians 13:13, explaining that faith alone is not enough — love must activate it, and only the Holy Spirit can bring God’s love into the human heart.
- 48:00 – Lamentations and the Voice of Love Amid Tragedy: Using Lamentations 1:1-2 and the Challenger shuttle disaster of 1986, Dr. Hohman illustrates the distinct voice of love in the midst of catastrophe and why Jerusalem’s collapse came from forsaking her Comforter.
- 56:00 – The Comforter: The Holy Spirit Sent to Revive Us: Drawing from John 14:15-16 and John 16:5-7, Dr. Hohman presents the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete — the one called alongside to guide, comfort, and bring believers into their destiny, just as the royal carts brought Jacob to Joseph.
- 1:03:00 – Respond Now: The Urgency of First Love: A closing exhortation referencing D.L. Moody’s lesson from the Chicago fire, urging every listener to respond immediately to the Holy Spirit’s moving and never delay giving their heart fully to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Scripture References
Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:7, Genesis 2:21-22, Genesis 45:25-28, Malachi 3:6, 1 Corinthians 13:13, Galatians 5:6, Romans 8:14, John 17:24, John 16:5-7, John 14:15-16, John 14:24-26, Lamentations 1:1-2, Lamentations 1:8-9, Ephesians 5:16, Proverbs 13:12
Key Takeaways
- God did not merely speak mankind into existence — He personally formed man from the dust and breathed life into him, making creation an intimate, hands-on act of divine love.
- Faith must work by love according to Galatians 5:6, meaning that knowledge of scripture alone is insufficient without a genuine personal experience of God’s love through the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit is the Comforter and Paraclete sent by Jesus to bring the love of God directly into our hearts, guide us to our destiny, and revive hope when it has been lost.
- Just as Jacob’s spirit revived when he saw the royal carts Joseph sent for him, our hearts are revived daily when we open ourselves to the tangible evidence of God’s glory and provision.
- Forsaking our first love — as the church at Ephesus did and as Jerusalem did — leads to spiritual collapse, shame, and bondage, while returning to intimacy with God restores honor and strength.
- Responding immediately and publicly to the moving of the Holy Spirit is urgent, because the opportunity to respond grows harder with every delay, as D.L. Moody learned after the great Chicago fire.
- God holds nothing back from those who give Him first place — He who did not withhold His own Son will freely give us all things, but He must remain first and foremost in our lives.
Gods Love Experience Notes
God’s Hands-On Love at Creation
Dr. Hohman draws a vital distinction from Genesis 1 and 2: while God spoke the rest of creation into existence through words alone, He personally knelt down, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed His own breath into Adam’s nostrils. This was not a mechanical act but a deliberate expression of love. God is love, and He created humanity not because He was lonely — for He never changes according to Malachi 3:6 — but because love by its very nature seeks an object. Man was created as an object of God’s love, and the first thing both Adam and Eve saw upon opening their eyes was God Himself, glorious and present.
Joseph as a Type and Shadow of Christ
The account of Joseph in Genesis 45 serves as a rich typological picture throughout this message. Joseph, rejected by his brothers and sold into slavery, rose to the right hand of Pharaoh and ultimately brought salvation to his family — mirroring Christ’s rejection, exaltation, and provision for His people. The royal carts that Pharaoh sent to bring Jacob and his family to Egypt represent the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus to carry believers into their inheritance. When Jacob saw those carts, his spirit revived. He did not simply believe the words spoken to him — it was the visible evidence of glory that awakened his faith and restored his hope.
Why Faith Must Be Activated by Love
One of the sermon’s central theological anchors is Galatians 5:6, which declares that faith works by love. Dr. Hohman explains that many believers know the promises of God intellectually, can cite scriptures with precision, and genuinely desire to see God move — yet remain stuck. The missing element is not more information but an experiential encounter with God’s love through the Holy Spirit. Knowledge of truth, taken alone, cannot produce the life of God. It is the Holy Spirit who sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts according to Romans 5:5, and it is that love which ignites faith into living, active power.
The Challenger Disaster and the Voice of Love
To illuminate the meaning of the Hebrew word ‘how’ that opens Lamentations, Dr. Hohman recounts the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Three distinct responses arose from those who witnessed the explosion: the executives asked how they would save their program, the scientists asked how the mechanical failure occurred, but the parents, husband, and children of Christa McAuliffe cried out in anguish — how did we lose her, did we say we loved her enough? Dr. Hohman points out that the voice of love is always the strongest voice and the most piercing, and it is this same cry of love that opens the book of Lamentations as God laments over Jerusalem.
The Danger of Forsaking the Comforter
Lamentations 1:1-2 and 1:8-9 reveal that Jerusalem’s catastrophic fall from princess to slave, from honored among nations to despised, came directly from abandoning her Comforter. She did not consider her destiny, she turned away in her uncleanness, and she had no one to comfort her because she had rejected the One who could. Dr. Hohman applies this soberly to individual lives, marriages, churches, and even nations, noting that the United States was founded on Christian principles and that departing from God as the first love leads inevitably to dependence on enemies and adversaries rather than the abundance God intended.
Responding Daily to the Holy Spirit
The sermon’s closing urgency centers on the daily, active response to the Holy Spirit’s moving. Dr. Hohman exhorts believers to begin each morning by seeking God first — as Jesus did, as David did — and to renew their love for Him before anything else. He references D.L. Moody’s sobering lesson learned after the Chicago fire, in which people who had been prompted to consider giving their lives to Christ perished that very night without having responded. Every delay makes it harder to respond, not easier. The call is clear: open your heart to the Holy Spirit now, confess Jesus publicly, and never let your first love grow cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to have a hands-on experience of God’s love?
A hands-on experience of God’s love goes beyond hearing about God or knowing Bible stories — it is a personal, intimate encounter with the living God through the Holy Spirit. Just as God physically formed Adam from the dust and breathed life into him rather than merely speaking him into existence, God desires to touch each believer’s heart directly through the Comforter He has sent. This is the born-again experience in its fullest sense.
Why does faith need to work by love according to Galatians 5:6?
Galatians 5:6 teaches that faith is energized and made effective through love. Knowing the promises of God intellectually is not enough to release their power in a believer’s life. Faith must be activated by a genuine experience of God’s love poured into the heart by the Holy Spirit, which then enables the believer to lay hold of God’s promises as personal possessions rather than abstract truths.
Who is the Comforter and what does the Holy Spirit do for believers?
The Comforter, known in Greek as the Paraclete, is the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus after His ascension according to John 14:15-16 and John 16:7. He is the one called alongside to guide, comfort, intercede, advocate, and lead believers into all truth. He reveals the glory of Christ, sheds the love of God abroad in human hearts, and brings believers into their God-given destiny — much like the royal carts Joseph sent to carry his father Jacob safely to him.
What can Christians learn from the story of Joseph and Jacob in Genesis 45?
The reunion of Joseph and Jacob in Genesis 45 offers a powerful picture of how hope is revived. Jacob had lost all hope over 22 years, believing his son was dead. When his sons brought him word that Joseph was alive and ruler over Egypt, he did not immediately believe — but when he saw the royal carts filled with provision, his spirit revived. This illustrates that faith often needs the tangible witness of God’s glory and provision, not just words, to fully reawaken hope in a grieving heart.
What is the significance of the opening word of Lamentations?
The opening word of Lamentations, translated as ‘how’ in English, carries in Hebrew the weight of a wailing, agonized cry — the kind of scream torn from one who has experienced devastating personal loss. It is not an administrative or analytical question but the voice of love confronting tragedy and separation. Dr. Hohman uses it to show that God’s heart toward Jerusalem — and toward every person who abandons their first love — is not cold indifference but grieving, passionate love longing for restoration.
How should believers guard against leaving their first love?
Revelation 2 warns the church at Ephesus that despite their good works and doctrinal diligence, they had left their first love — and this was God’s primary concern. Believers guard against this by spending intentional time with God early each morning, continually renewing their intimacy with Him through prayer and the Word, tithing and giving God the first of their resources and time, and remaining open and responsive to the moving of the Holy Spirit rather than allowing religion or routine to replace relationship.
Why is it urgent to respond to the Holy Spirit without delay?
D.L. Moody learned through the tragedy of the great Chicago fire that allowing people to delay their response to the Holy Spirit’s prompting can be spiritually fatal — some of those he dismissed that evening never had another opportunity to respond. The Bible also teaches that every time a person resists the Holy Spirit it becomes harder, not easier, to respond the next time. God’s love and invitation are always present, but the human heart can grow increasingly hardened when it repeatedly turns away from the Spirit’s gentle drawing.
What does the Bible mean when it says God is a jealous God who lusts to envy?
James 4:5 in the King James Version speaks of the Spirit that dwells in us lusting to envy, meaning that God’s Spirit intensely desires and longs to give believers far more than they could ever achieve on their own. God’s jealousy is not petty or self-serving — it is the passionate, covenant love of One who refuses to share His children’s devotion with lesser things because He knows that only He can bring them into the fullness of all He has prepared for them. His jealousy is an expression of His love.
