YOU ARE GREATLY LOVED
BIBLE PASSAGE: Ephesians 2:3-5, 8 ; Daniel chapters 1
& 2
Picture taken from Google
Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of
Solomon’s Wisdom FB page
FEBRUARY 21, 2021
MEMORY VERSE
But God, who is
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
EPHESIANS 2:4
INTRODUCTION:
When was the first time you had received or heard from
someone “I love you”?
I’ll give you all few
minutes to think about it; let’ go back to that later.
When I was a child, I
thought I was not loved. (Give some situations why thinking this thing.)
To make it short, so
when I first heard the gospel, the words “Someone loves you” struck me.
About the question,
possibly, we first heard from our parents the words, “I love you”. In Daniel
9:23, Daniel heard the words “You are
greatly loved” this is where our title came from. Let’s just give a brief
explanation of the words, “You are greatly loved”. This is a passive voice
which means the subject is not doer but receiver. Why I said this, the sentence
“You are greatly loved” means you’re not the doer but rather the receiver – You
are greatly loved and who’s the doer? It is GOD – “You are greatly loved by GOD”. Amen! So when the angel said to Daniel, “You
are greatly loved” means God greatly loves Daniel.
When Daniel heard them
from the words of an angel, it was not once but three times. Wouldn’t you love
to hear from an angel saying, “You are greatly loved”? Before we read, let me
explain that the word “beloved” which its Hebrew is “chumdah” is found 25 times
in the Bible and it is translated “pleasant”, “desired,” “goodly,” and
“precious”. The word seems to suggest what God’s love does rather that what it
is. Daniel was “desired” by the Lord because the love of God made him
“precious, pleasant, or goodly” in His sight.
It doesn’t matter
whether we are cute, handsome, or ugly, God loves you. I remember the Psalm
139:14; this was always in my mind. I really memorized it because it helped me a
lot every time I had problem in regard to my self-esteem. Other meaning of
beloved is loved that’s why in other translations “beloved” translated to
“Loved”.
·
Daniel 9:23 – At the beginning of thy supplications the
commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter,
and consider the vision.
·
Daniel 10:11 – And he
said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly
beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright:
for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood
trembling.
·
Daniel 10:19 – And said, O
man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be
strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my
lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
From whom do we want to
hear the word, “I love You”? In Young People maybe you want to hear it from
your long-time crush. In couples, you want it to hear from your spouse. Is it
more pleasant to hear “You are greatly loved” from God or from an angel? Of course, from God! In fact, we heard it too, God himself says to us in His word – which
is surer than an angel speaking – “You are greatly loved.”
There it stands in Ephesians 2:3–5, 8: We “were
by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in
mercy, because of the great love with which he
loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ. . . . For by grace, you have been saved through faith.”
This is the only place where Paul uses this wonderful phrase “great love.” And it is better than an angel’s voice. If you have seen Jesus as true and received him as your supreme treasure, that is, if you are “alive,” you are greatly loved. Greatly loved by the Creator of the universe. Just think of it! Greatly loved! It’s good to memorize this verse from Ephesians 2:4, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,”
And now let’s study some
of situations in the life of Daniel and what are the situations showing that He
was greatly loved.
LESSON OUTLINE:
1. FROM HIS YOUTH, GOD’S GUIDANCE HAD
BEEN THERE.
He was an Israelite, about 18 years of age when
Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah about the year 606 BC; he was captured and then
deported to the fabulous city of Babylon, the most magnificent city in the
world. He was of royal descent (relation) (verse 3), handsome, a man of culture
and outstandingly intelligent (verse 4). Because of these qualities King
Nebuchadnezzar chose him and gave orders that he should be trained in all the
language and literature of the Chaldeans (verse 4); he was a Jew among
Gentiles, living in an alien land, a believer among unbelievers –- and God had a great work to do through him over a
period of 70-80 years. It was a terrible experience for him to be deported a
thousand miles to Babylon.
The great love of God to Daniel
appeared in his early and thorough nonconformity to the world. Everything was
done that could be done to make the young Hebrew forget God of his fathers.
Everywhere around them they saw idolatry, lust, and crime. There was nothing
when they went abroad or when they stayed at home but what would suggest to
them the abominations of the heathen.
Let’s try to put ourselves on Daniel’s
shoes. You were kidnapped by an enemy then you are in the process of trainings.
Part of the training is the food, and your belief contradicts to the food
offered, possibly it was against Leviticus law or offered unto idols.
Therefore, this was against his convictions.
It’s hard to live in a foreign land and stand up for your faith. Also,
the emotions of being away from your home and away from your spiritual refuge
is another struggle. Before the early YP of CBT had the thoughts like this, if
Christians decided to work in Manila, the tendency is they adapted the worldly
things. When they came back, there were changes in their lifestyles. Now,
anywhere you go you can adapt many things (either good or bad) because SOCMED
is there.
Sometimes if we have struggles and
problems, questions begin to appear in our minds like why is this happening to
me? Or why me? He had struggles and trials but at the same time, the trainings
were in his favor. Don’t you think these favors were from their own? Let’s read
Daniel 1: 9 and 20.
Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender
love with the prince of the eunuchs.
And in all matters of wisdom and understanding,
that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the
magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
So, you see though there are struggles but God’s guidance is
there. Have you remembered your struggles from your youth? Or the YP at this present time has struggles?
Remember God is always there, and you are greatly loved.
I remember Joseph, one of my favorite Bible characters. Let’s
read Genesis 50:20.
But as for you, ye
thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is
this day, to save many people alive.
We think it’s bad but actually it’s for our own good.
Everything has a purpose. Another verse from Philippians 1:12
But I would ye should understand, brethren, that
the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance
of the gospel;
Paul had many sufferings, but he said
things happened for the furtherance of the Gospel.
Therefore, if we have struggles
right now, let’s remember there’s a purpose and also a lesson we need to learn;
we should have realization. Let’s pray for spiritual discernment.
2. THE WISDOM OF INTERPRETING DREAMS
·
KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR
Remember no one could interpret the dream and even the
astrologers said that no one on earth could tell the dream- only GOD
(Dan.2:11). The king got furious and commanded them to be slain. To save their
lives, Daniel asked God for wisdom and answered prayers followed. Everything he
did, started through prayers.
After having the wisdom, the best
thing is, he acknowledged and gave credit to God. Let’s read Daniel 2:27-28
27 Daniel
answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath
demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers,
shew unto the king; 28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and
maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy
dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Another
dream of Nebuchadnezzar is about a very high tree and again no one could
interpret the dream (Daniel 4) except Daniel. The second dream was particularly
about the king himself. Because of pride, he fell and became like a beast in
the field and ate grass. Daniel’s interpretation happened to the king but the
later end, the king repented and already acknowledged God.
· KING
BELSHAZZAR (Daniel 5:1-30):
In the time of reign of King
Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, we have the story of the handwriting on
the wall. Once again, the wise men of the land were unable to interpret what it
meant.
Why had the king seen vessels
this handwriting?
The king used some of the
utensils taken from the temple as common drinking while praising their idols.
Daniel reminded the king about what happened to his father, Nebuchadnezzar,
that in his life, he had everything, and pride rooted in his heart but at the
end, he recognized God in his life. And yet, he didn’t learn lessons from his
father’s mistakes.
Let’s see Daniel’s heart
regarding rewards from King Belshazzar. When the king mentioned that he would
be rewarded, his reply mentioned in verse 17.
Then Daniel answered and said before the king,
Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read
the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
Daniel had no interest in doing the work of God for physical
reward. Instead, he tells the king to give it to someone else.
Daniel warned the king that he would be killed because of the
abominations and the interpretation had happened.
If
we try to think back what was your life then, aren’t you thankful that you’re
here today? Sometimes I have these thoughts “Oh this is the reason why this
happened”. Do you have those kinds of thoughts too? I have a story to tell that
this has really happened in true life. There was a couple entered in a certain
church, and they got saved. This couple had no child for years and the pastor
was started praying for their desire that they could have a child. After many
months and years of kneeling God granted their request. They were so happy. The
delivery came and sad to say, the mother died. At first, they got mad to the
doctor, who is their church mate, but later on they accepted what happened. The
husband said, “This is the reason why God hasn’t answered our prayers for years
but because of our earnest prayers he answered our petition. If I could go back
the time, I would rather have her.” We don’t know the reason of everything
that’s why should lean on God. He is the source of wisdom. Whatever we have
achieved and whatever courses we have finished still we don’t know everything.
God knows everything.
3. IN THE MIDST OF TRIALS (DANIEL 6)
King Darius made a decree that everyone should bow down to the
royal statue within 30 days. This is in favor of the enemies of Daniel who
envied him. In his response, he prayed to the Lord three times a day (6:10).
Daniel’s response is a good reminder that in the midst of trials the first
thing we should do is PRAY. We all know how dangerous to be in the den of
lions. They’re not tamed animals; they’re wild. God had a purpose why He kept
Daniel alive. Answering his prayers makes God magnify.
And when he came to the den, he cried with a
lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel,
servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to
deliver thee from the lions? (Dan.6:20)
If you’re still alive today, praise GOD! God has
still purpose for you to fulfill. Think
of many times you supposed to be dead but through God’s grace you survive.
Today,
do you have financial crisis? Maybe God wants you to learn something and be
faithful to your financial obligations and be a wise spender, be dependent on
Him or be prayerful. Do you have relationship problem? Possibly He wants you to
consider something and check your heart. Do you have family problem? Maybe God
wants us to check our spiritual life. Do you have work problem? Try to consider
your priorities. Whatever situations we are in; always remember you are greatly
loved!
CONLUSION:
There was a story about a lady. She owned and operated her
own nursery. And she said that one day a 4-year-old girl was brought in for her
to watch during the day, to take care of during the day, and this girl was
different from other girls. She was born in a prison. Her mother was
incarcerated for drugs and had taken drugs all throughout her pregnancy, and so
this little baby was born, and she was a ''crack'' baby. And she had many, many
problems and she had many fears. And she never spoke to any of the people at
the nursery. And she would have fits of rage.
Well, they brought her in. And the proprietor of
the nursery instantly took a liking to this girl, even though she was so
unlovely and unlovable. And when the girl would have these tremendous fits,
the, the owner would take her and take her up in her arms and take her into her
office where there was a rocking chair. And she would rock her, and she would
sooth her, and she would sing, ''Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible
tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong. Yes,
Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me
so.'' And she did that day after day and week after week and month after month
and she started to notice some progress in girl. But every time they would take
a step forward, they would take, seemingly, two or three steps backward.
Well, one day the girl was having an extremely
bad day - fears and fits - and owner picked her up and took her into her
office, and she began to rock her. And as she rocked her and soothed her, the
little girl pulled away from the owner and with tears in her eyes, she spoke
her first words. And she said to that owner, ''Sing to me about the man who
loves me.'' The love of Jesus makes all the difference in the world.
The fact of the matter is that unless and until we feel
ourselves loved; we cannot love. That’s not only
a principle of theology but
of psychology and sociology as well. Just as
abused children grow up to
abuse their children, loved children grow up to
love their children. Loved
persons are able to love. Unloved persons are
not. Christianity says
something startling. It says that God loves and
accepts us “just as we are.”
Therefore, we can love and accept ourselves and
in so doing, love and accept
others.
The best key for depression and losing of hope is the LOVE OF
GOD!
