The Biblical Principle of First #5 Love Always Finds A Way To Express Itself
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Discover how God’s love always finds a way to express itself and why faith working through love is the key to experiencing everything God has promised.
Description
Love Finds Expression Overview
In this message from NTC Ministries, the pastor continues the series on the Biblical Principle of Firsts while transitioning into a rich exploration of how God’s love always finds a way to express itself. Drawing from Genesis 1 and 2, the sermon traces God’s intentional, hands-on creation of humanity as the ultimate act of love seeking an object to express itself toward. The pastor contrasts how everything else in creation was spoken into existence by God’s word, while man was personally formed from the dust and breathed into life, demonstrating a relational intimacy unique to human beings. Key passages from Romans 5:1-8, 1 John 4:16-18, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 55:1-3, and Galatians 5:4-6 are woven together to show that God’s love is not a theological conclusion drawn from logic, but a living experience poured into the heart by the Holy Spirit. The pastor exhorts listeners to return to their first love daily, particularly each morning, where God’s mercies are renewed, faith works through love, and the Holy Spirit empowers believers to live circumspectly. A vivid personal testimony from Switzerland illustrates how love always finds a language to reach anyone.
Love Finds Expression Outline
- 0:00:00 – Transitional Introduction and Series Context: The pastor recaps the flow from the Kingdom Economy series into the Biblical Principles of Firsts, explaining that this message serves as a bridge into the theme of the Expressions of God’s Love.
- 0:08:00 – Returning to Your First Love: Drawing from Revelation and 1 John 4:19, the pastor explains the danger of religious activity without relational love, urging listeners to return to relying on God’s love daily rather than performing duties for Him.
- 0:18:00 – Redeeming the Time and Morning Renewal: Using Ephesians 5:15-16 and Lamentations 3:22-23, the pastor teaches that God’s mercies are renewed every morning and that giving God the first part of each day is the key to walking circumspectly and receiving His wisdom.
- 0:28:00 – Love Needs an Object to Express Itself: From Genesis 1 and 2, the pastor reveals that God created humanity not because He was lonely but because love must have an object. The hands-on creation of Adam and Eve demonstrates the personal intimacy God designed for relationship.
- 0:40:00 – A Personal Testimony in Switzerland: The pastor shares a compelling story of ministry in Switzerland and France, where a bag of Swiss chocolate became the language of love that opened hearts on a train, illustrating that love always finds a way to reach people.
- 0:50:00 – Faith Working Through Love: From Galatians 5:4-6, the pastor warns against becoming estranged from Christ by relying on formulas and religious obligations instead of the love of God, emphasizing that faith only works effectively when it operates through love.
- 1:00:00 – God’s Love Must Be Experienced, Not Deduced: Using Romans 5:1-8 and 1 John 4:18, the pastor draws a sharp distinction between mentally ascribing to God’s love through logic and actually experiencing it poured out by the Holy Spirit, arguing that genuine salvation requires this personal encounter.
- 1:10:00 – The Holy Spirit as the Governor of the Kingdom: The pastor exhorts believers to recognize the Holy Spirit as the most important person in their lives, the one who renews love, imparts wisdom, casts out fear, and empowers daily living when given first place every morning.
Scripture References
1 John 4:16, 1 John 4:18, 1 John 4:19, Lamentations 3:22-23, Ephesians 5:15-16, Isaiah 55:1-3, Genesis 1:1-5, Genesis 1:6-7, Genesis 1:9, Genesis 1:11, Genesis 1:14-15, Genesis 1:20-21, Genesis 1:24, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:1-7, Genesis 2:21-22, Genesis 3:8-10, Hebrews 11:3, Romans 5:1-8, Galatians 5:4-6, John 15:13
Key Takeaways
- God’s love is not a logical conclusion drawn from Scripture but a living experience that the Holy Spirit pours directly into the hearts of believers.
- Returning to your first love is not a one-time repentance but a daily discipline of giving God the first part of your morning so His mercies and love are renewed in you.
- Love always finds a language to express itself, and believers who are filled with God’s love will find creative and genuine ways to reach every person around them.
- Faith only works effectively when it operates through love; without the intimacy of God’s love, even correct spiritual principles and formulas will produce nothing.
- God created humanity differently from all other creation because love requires an object and a personal relationship, which is why He formed Adam by hand and breathed life directly into him.
- Perfect love casts out fear, and the only way to be made perfect in love is to consistently place God first and allow the Holy Spirit to renew His love in your heart each day.
- Just as God so loved the world that He gave His first and best, the principle of firsts finds its ultimate expression in love, and what we give to God first releases redemption into everything else in our lives.
Love Finds Expression Notes
Love as the Engine Behind Creation
The pastor opens a profound window into Genesis by pointing out that God did not create out of loneliness or need. He created because God is love, and love requires an object toward which it can pour itself out. Every creature was spoken into existence by a word, but man was formed with God’s own hands and animated by His personal breath. This distinction is not incidental. It reveals that humanity was designed for a depth of relationship and intimacy that no other created thing was meant to share. The entire biblical narrative of redemption flows from this original act of love seeking expression.
Why Morning Time With God Changes Everything
Drawing from Lamentations 3:22-23 and Isaiah 55:1-3, the pastor makes a practical and urgent case for beginning each day in the presence of God. The Hebrew word for new in Lamentations carries the meaning of fresh, rebuilt, repaired, and renewed. Every morning is a God-designed opportunity for the believer to be restored from the inside. Without this intentional time, the distractions, pressures, and fears of daily life take over. The pastor challenges listeners to give God the first portion of their day as an act of faith, just as the biblical principle of firsts requires offering God the first and best of everything.
Swiss Chocolate and the Language of Love
One of the most memorable moments in the sermon is the pastor’s account of ministering in Switzerland and France. After praying for clear skies over the Swiss Alps and receiving a bag of chocolate as a God-orchestrated gift, he found himself on a French train where no one would speak English. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he slowly unwrapped the Swiss chocolate with deliberate noise until the entire train car was watching. He then shared it with everyone, and doors opened for the gospel. The story is a living illustration of the sermon’s central theme: love always finds a language, and a Spirit-filled believer will discover it.
Estranged From Christ by Religious Formula
The warning in Galatians 5:4-6 is presented as directly relevant to modern believers. The pastor explains that the Judaizers of Paul’s day are a picture of any believer who trades the intimacy of Christ for a checklist of religious obligations. When faith is no longer working through love, it loses its power. Different translations of the passage are compared to emphasize the severity of becoming estranged, alienated, or cut off from Christ. The antidote is not trying harder but returning to the love relationship itself, allowing the Holy Spirit to be the source from which faith draws its life and strength.
The Holy Spirit Is Your Most Important Relationship
Toward the close of the sermon, the pastor makes a bold declaration that the Holy Spirit is the most important person on the face of the earth for every believer. Not a spouse, not a parent, not an employer, and not a government leader. The Holy Spirit is the governor of the Kingdom of Heaven within the life of the Christian. He is the one who pours God’s love into the heart, renews it every morning, casts out fear, imparts wisdom for decisions, and emboldens the believer for witness. Putting the Holy Spirit first in the morning is described as the practical foundation of everything else the believer hopes to walk in.
Hope That Will Never Put You to Shame
The pastor walks through Romans 5:1-8 to show the progression from justification through faith to the hope that does not disappoint. He is careful to emphasize that hope in money, doctors, attorneys, or human systems will eventually make a person ashamed. True hope is anchored in the love of God poured out by the Holy Spirit, which is not a deduction from a Bible verse but a personal and undeniable encounter. The sermon calls every listener, regardless of wealth or status, to recognize that genuine Christianity is not a logical framework but a living experience of God’s love that no circumstance can remove.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that love always finds a way to express itself?
The phrase comes from the truth that God, who is love, created humanity specifically as an object for His love to be directed toward. Just as God formed Adam personally and breathed life into him, love always seeks a personal and creative way to reach its object. For believers, this means that when they are filled with God’s love by the Holy Spirit, they will naturally find ways to express that love to every person they encounter, regardless of language, culture, or background.
Why is returning to your first love so important in the Christian life?
In Revelation, the church at Ephesus was commended for its works but rebuked because it had left its first love. Without the foundation of love for God, all religious activity becomes hollow and loses its redemptive power. The call to return to first love is a call to let God love you first, as 1 John 4:19 teaches, and to rebuild your daily life around that relational intimacy rather than around performance or obligation.
How does faith work through love according to Galatians 5:6?
Paul writes that in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. This means that the power of faith to access God’s grace is not found in religious compliance but in the active relational love between the believer and God. When love is present and being renewed daily, faith becomes the natural channel through which all of God’s promises are received. Without love, faith becomes mechanical and ultimately ineffective.
What is the significance of God forming man by hand rather than speaking him into existence?
Every other element of creation in Genesis 1 was brought into being through God’s spoken word. But in Genesis 2, God personally formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed life directly into his nostrils. This distinction reveals that humanity was created for a personal and intimate relationship with God that is qualitatively different from everything else in creation. It is a foundational picture of how God’s love always moves toward a hands-on, close, and personal expression rather than a distant one.
What does Lamentations 3:22-23 teach about renewing God’s love daily?
The passage declares that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and that His mercies are new every morning. The Hebrew word for new carries the meaning of fresh, rebuilt, and repaired. This means that every morning God makes available a fresh impartation of His love and mercy to every believer who comes to Him. The morning is the appointed time for this renewal, and neglecting it means facing the day without the spiritual strength, wisdom, and love that God has prepared.
How can someone know they have truly experienced God’s love rather than just believing it intellectually?
Romans 5:5 states that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is described as an experiential reality, not a logical conclusion drawn from Bible verses. A person who has truly experienced God’s love through the Holy Spirit carries a witness in their heart that circumstances, arguments, and difficulties cannot remove. Just as a newborn expresses and testifies to the new world they have entered, a born-again believer will have a personal testimony of encountering God’s love that goes beyond intellectual agreement.
Why does the pastor emphasize giving God the first part of the morning?
The biblical principle of firsts teaches that what is given to God first carries redemptive power over everything that follows. Giving God the first portion of time each day allows His love to be renewed in the believer, His wisdom to be imparted, and His Holy Spirit to prepare them for the challenges ahead. Jesus Himself rose early before others and withdrew to spend time with the Father, and David declared he would seek God first in the morning. This practice is not legalism but a lifestyle of relying on God’s love as the foundation for every day.
What is the connection between perfect love casting out fear and the biblical principle of firsts?
First John 4:18 teaches that perfect love casts out fear and that he who fears has not been made perfect in love. The pastor connects this to the principle of firsts by explaining that maturity in love is built through consistently placing God first and allowing His love to be renewed every morning. When a believer lives this way habitually, fear loses its grip because the love of God experienced through the Holy Spirit becomes a greater and more constant reality than any threat or problem the day may bring.
