Essential Sermons

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Please let me speak to you as the servant, son, and slave of my God and I do like to open with a verse from Isaiah 55:10-11

For just as rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return there, but water the earth,
causing it to bud and produce,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
so is my word that goes out from my mouth —
it will not return to me unfulfilled (void);
but it will accomplish what I intend,
and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.

As you might be aware of, in English we have  one word for “love”, but in Greek the original language of the New testament we have 4 words for “love” and I add one more as the lowest level for the word “love”.

From “I love my car, my dress, my home”, over friends (philia), over family members (storge), over affections and feelings and more (eros), to finally God’s love (agape).

1. The benevoluntary character of God and His love

God created the universe and our world in 6 days, correct?

What did he do on day seven?

The bible tells us he took a rest:

“On the seventh day God was finished with his work which he had made, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made, day seven he took off from his work and did rest.” Gen 2:2 reports.

Why did he take a rest on day seven?

The answer we can find in verse: God “rested from all his work which he created so itself could produce”.

è Produce

è Itself

è Capable

What does that mean?

God finished his job to create us, the Adamic race, on day six.

Since then, we are by our own: “could itself produce”.

But why is God still taking care of us? He finished his job on day six. 

Furthermore, He later kicked us, the Adamic race, out of Eden, thanks to Adam and Eve by  listening to the wrong party; and as further reported in the bible, we are His beloved troublemakers slipping from one disaster into the next calamities.

Why is God still taking care of us?

Because He loves us.

Does His love bring him any advantage personally? 

No: He owns the universe, our world, all and everything on earth, for himself, he does not need us. 

Why is then God still taking care of us? 

He is and acts as our father: You do not give up on your misbehaving off springs you created.

He chooses to do good because he rejoices in our happiness, and desires our happiness for our own sake, not his sake. It is not about him, but about us.

This attitude is called benevolence.

Benevolence is loving the happiness of others. Benevolence is a compound word, that describes exactly one of God’s characters:

Bene = good

Volence = free will

We can call a benevolent person “good willing”.

We are told that God is love: With other words, He is benevolent to us.

Aha. As our creator, God is our father, we are His children and God loves us.

And He loves us so much, that when things with us – the Adamic race – turned terrible wrong, He took action to help us to come back to Him:

He sacrificed His only son, our high priest and king Jesus, to make a way so we can reconcile with Him through Jesus.

How does this work?

In 1 John 4:10 comes the way

“He loves us so much, that He sent His only Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 john 4:10, The word propitiation means a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him. With other words we as Christians are saved from God’s wrath and reconciled through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, but not because we love God, but because He loved us and He sent His Son on earth to be the propitiation for our sins.

What do we need to do to reconcile with God?

è Baptism (Justification)

è Daily work on ourselves to at least reduce our sins and to reflect on how to do better (Sanctification)

è Faithfulness in thoughts, actions and reactions

è Obedience to His commandments

2. The two similar Golden commandments to love God and to love your neighbor

The two commandments, filed in the Old Testament in Leviticus 28:2, and refreshed and extended, improved by Jesus as reported by Matthew in 22:37-39, can be very helpful for us:

(37) ‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’

(38) “This is the greatest and most important mitzvah / commandment.”

To my surprise I found in some direct translations of the bible (OT: Hebrew to English, NT: Greek to English) for the following verse 39 a different meaning with some consequences:

(39) And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’ CJB

In contrast, almost all English bible versions (NSAP1995, KJV,AMP, NIV and more) translate the verse as:

(39) And a second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

And with the word “similar” I woke up:

Since “like” grants room to understand both commandments as to having something in common but also being not on the same level of priority. Consequently most Christians follow the commandment 37, expressed in “Glorify God” for example.

In contrast, “similar” put both commandments on the same level, there is no ranking one more important than the other one, they are similar.

Following this interpretation of the verses might open for you a different aspect:

Given that based on science and all what is possible in this world, including upcoming opportunities, better exposures for us, the Adamic race, in kind of 

manipulation of our mind,

manipulation of our genes: 

We sense, this is not all.

There is something time-less, transcendental, divine  available for us, which is not part of our daily world.

To understand it, to become part of it, we need to get out of this world 

It is not explainable by science, logic etc. There is no scientific, or logic proof possible on this matters.

As soon as we start to think about this so called “something”, we might experience more, and more questions in us:

Why are we here?

What is the purpose of my existence?

What is the meaning of my life?

For me, Andreas, Jesus gives me the answer for all those questions:

We must love our God (out of the world) verse 37

We must love our neighbor, our human peers (back into the world) verse 38

Out of this world by loving God with your soul, mind, and body

Back into this world with God’s love in you manifested, to love your neighbors as yourself.

What does that mean to love our neighbor?

It is something selfless, for the good of another human without you having any advantage out of it.

And God wants you to multiply His love He gave you, to other humans by loving them as God loves you.

Coming back to the question of the meaning of life.

Is this point to give God’s love to other humans, not the answer to all our questions? 

Yes, it is our God’s answer to our question about the meaning of our lives: 

And who brought us the answer to our question?

Jesus, as reported by Matthew in chapter 22 verses 37-39

3. Practical application

To wrap up:

We must love our God with our soul, mind, and body (out of the world). 

We must love ourselves, including our own in-laws (preparation for going back into the world)

Then we are ready to multiply His love to other humans by loving them as God loves us (back into the world under God’s guidance)

How? 

There are many ways possible, this is one of many ways:

1. Decentralize yourself: It is no more about you: All is fine with you, imperfect as all is.

2. Show God your love by thanking God for all and everything.

3. Make it to your routine to thank God just for a couple of seconds or more several times per day, for example at work, in a traffic jam, etc. etc.

4. Love your in-laws and show them your love by thoughts, actions, and especially your re-actions; even sometimes they drive you almost nuts and you are at the verge of a nervous breakdown.

5. Over time, your new love for your in-laws and friends, will spark through you to other humans in your social environment, thanks to God who now can use you to multiply His love.

Le us pray together the Lord’s prayer .

Our Father in heaven!
   May your Name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come,
   your will be done on earth as in heaven.

11 Give us the food we need today.
12 Forgive us what we have done wrong,
   as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
13 And do not lead us into hard testing,
   but keep us safe from the Evil One.
[a]For kingship, power and glory are yours forever.

Andreas Karl Reinhardt May 2026