The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on February 14, 2010.

Today we celebrate a holiday. We celebrate something that should be very near and dear to the heart of the church. We observe Valentine’s Day. We observe a holiday about love- the thing that we should know better than anyone else.
(As a side note, I hope that all of the husbands in this room remembered today’s observance.)
The reality is that Valentine’s Day has morphed through the years. It originally began as a Catholic holiday to commemorate the martyrdom of several different Valentines. It remembered Valentine of Rome, Valentine of Terni, and even a third saint named Valentine whom we know little about except that was martyred on February 14 in Africa.
It began as a time to recall the service and sacrifice of these men through the years. In fact, it did relatively little, if anything, to promote a romantic love as it seems to today.
Yet, that changed in the High Middle Ages when Geoffrey Chaucer penned a poem to commemorate the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. In that poem, he referenced Valentine.
Since that time, it has been designated as a day to commemorate and celebrate romance and love. It is a time marked by chocolates, greeting cards, teddy bears, and flowers. It is a day that we hope to spend with our loved ones. It is typically a time when we finally slow down and recognize the gift of love in our lives.
Now, I don’t want to emotionally scar you this morning, but I enjoy our modern celebration of Valentine’s Day. In fact, one of my favorite parts involves curling up on the couch with my wife, snuggling in a warm blanket, and putting in a sappy movie.
In fact, this last week I searched online for opinions on the most romantic story of all time. You would probably be surprised by some of the names on the list. Traditionally, Romeo and Juliet, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Wuthering Heights were atop the list. However, there were more modern movies that joined the list. Movies like When Harry Met Sally, Forrest Gump, Ten Things I Hate About You, Wall-E, and Slumdog Millionaire were also considered to be must-see romance movies.
When searching the lists of what have been titled, “romance classics,” I suddenly came to a revelation. There was not a single list that I consulted that contained the greatest love story of all time in it.
And so that is where I want us to spend our time this morning. I want to share with you The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.
Now, before we investigate this story, we need to understand the essential elements of a good love story. A good love story needs to have powerful, realistic characters- people we can identify with. It generally contains elements of abandonment or rejection. It finds itself at a point of climactic separation. Yet, in the face of that abandonment and there is a constant- an unwavering, selfless love that continues to abide. And while some of our culture’s “great stories” don’t follow the same pattern, an exceptional love story should end with restoration and joy. A love story should have a happy ending.
As I thought about the general story line in most great love stories, I realized that the book sitting in most laps this morning contains a story that has never been equaled or surpassed. The greatest love story of all time is found in the pages of Scripture. And it is a story that we are all characters in.
We are going to jump around this morning and try to encompass the entirety of the love story written for us. But first, let’s begin in an overview passage.

Read text. (John 3:16)

This passage, perhaps better than any other outlines the gospel message. It gives a small glimpse at the greatest love story every told.
And we need to notice where it begins. It begins with love. It starts with…

1.) Affection

In almost every great love story through the ages, the beginning was marked by love and affection. It was marked by a consuming desire to be together.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet began with a spark. There was something within them that drew them together despite the opposition of everyone around them.
Their families would never permit their relationship, but at the very beginning for them, there was attraction and affection. Their story began with love.
And our story is no different.
John 3:16, the passage we just read moments ago begins at that same point.
“For God so loved the world…” -John 3:16
The greatest love story of all time, my story, begins with God and His love.
It begins with His unwavering affection. Before anything else is mentioned in the passage that contains the hope for all humanity, we find that God’s love came first. It begins with His affection.
If you rewind to the very beginning, if you turn all the way back to the onset of our story, we find ourselves in the book of Genesis. We find ourselves at an intersection with God and His love.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Now, you might say, “Well, that’s nice. But what does that matter?” Listen, to understand the impact of this on our story, we must ask the question, “Why did God create them?”
God created the heavens and the earth for you and I. He created them so that we might have opportunities for life and a shared love with Him. God gave to man every seed and fruit bearing plant for food and appointed man over every living thing on the face of the earth.
God created all that we see, for you and me. And He did this because He loves us and desired a relationship with us.
Our love story, the greatest story ever told begins with God’s affection. It begins with a consuming desire, an unfailing love that longs for interaction.
Unfortunately, it does not remain there. Rather, affection is met with our…

2.) Abandonment

How many love stories began innocently, perfectly but eventually fell prey to rejection and abandonment?
You know the typical storyline. The romance, the love is blossoming. Things seem to be going wonderfully. It seems as if it is physically impossible for the relationship to get any better. Yet, there comes a point of decision. Suddenly, this beautiful romance is interrupted by a tempter or temptress.
Time after time, that person abandons their love to chase after something that turns out to be foolish and empty. Time and time again, pure affection is greeted with abandonment.
You know, we love to hate that person in the story. We love to hate those that unfaithful. The cheaters are always so easy to hate. It seems so despicable on the screen.
Yet, it hits far too close to home. Rather, our story- the greatest love story ever told, is wrought with infidelity and abandonment. The problem, you and I are the cheaters. We are the ones that were found unfaithful.
And it began- in the beginning.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” -Genesis 3:6-7
Think about this for just a moment. Mankind enjoyed a time of unbridled, open fellowship with God. It was a time of walking through a luscious, beautiful garden created by God’s hand, while physically conversing with the Almighty God of the universe. It was a time when man could openly love, share, and hear the voice of God.
Yet, that wasn’t enough. Rather, God’s affection, His perfect love was met with humanity’s abandonment.
Where God offered perfection, when He offered all of Himself freely, where He offered love unlike anything we could ever find elsewhere, mankind treated Him with distrust and contempt. His goodness was greeted with the worst we could give.
The one thing that God requested of Adam and Eve was for them to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But apparently, their selfish desires were deemed more desirable than a relationship with a loving God.
And so, Adam and Eve disobeyed, they rebelled, cheated on the perfect partner.
Once again, there is a temptation to look on Adam and Eve with the same disdain that we assign to the unfaithful in our love stories. It is easy to point fingers and question motives. Yet, we are exactly the same.
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin enter the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”We cannot blame Adam or Eve for our separation. Rather, we are the unfaithful. We are the ones that abandoned God. Those cheaters in the story we love to hate, we are those people.
Our story began with a limitless love. It was greeted with abandonment. Yet, in spite of our sinful rebellion, it encountered…

3.) Atonement

We are always amazed in love stories where the victim continues to love and hope for the return of the object of their affection. We are always challenged when the person done so wrong by the cheater continues to love and hope for a renewed relationship.
Story upon story has been written where the one that was left continues to wait and hope for the return of their lost love.
And that is part of the story in our love affair with God. When we essentially spat in His face through a careless lifestyle, when we ran away from His presence and squandered His blessing, He continued to patiently wait for our return.
He did not write us off. He did not prosecute for the wrongs that were done. Rather, He patiently waits for us to determine to return.
God is that faithful, loving person that we celebrate.
But there is more.
It is one thing to wait patiently for the return of a loved one, but it is something quite different to sacrifice personally to help them get back home.
The story is told of a woman in 17th century England. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, ordered a man to be shot for his crimes. He was to be executed at the sounding of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from sounding. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. For her sacrifice, curfew did not ring that evening, and her lover was allowed to live.
The sacrifice and strength of a waiting love was enough to earn the return of this lady’s fiance. What a love story that is! But ours is even better.
You see, our God did not cling to the clapper of a bell. Rather, His sacrifice cost His beloved Son- His only Son His life.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”- John 3:16
God’s sacrifice, the thing that He offered to atone for the things that we had done wrong cost Him the person that was dearest to His heart. And even more amazingly, God did not wait for us to indicate that we wanted to return. Rather, He did all of this in hope of our return- to facilitate our coming back to Himself.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8
God’s love, His atoning sacrifice, was not evidenced by bruised hands. Rather, they were illustrated by the blood-stained, pierced hands and feet of His Son. His love was illustrated by scars from a crown of thorns- and a hole pierced in His side. His love was illustrated through His power to raise His Son from the dead.
We have quite a love story. Our God began our story with love and affection. It was greeted by our rebellion and abandonment. In light of our rejection, He provided an offering of atonement.
He has even prepared for our future together. He has created a perfect, eternal abode where you can be together. But the story is still incomplete. The last chapter of our love story is found in our…

4.) Answer

He is still patiently waiting for you. But He is not forcing Himself on you. He is awaiting your answer. Will you return?
Let me urge you this morning in the words of Joshua found in Joshua 24, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”You have a God that loves your passionately- that loves you so much that He gave His own Son to purchase your ransom. But He is waiting on your decision. He is waiting on your reply. He will not make the decision for you.
The greatest love story ever told includes you. And it is your decision how it ends. You have a God that loves you, that has prepared for you, and longs to spend an eternity with you, but you must decide what you want.