The Good Soil
Mark 4:20 – “These are the ones sown on GOOD GROUND, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
John 16:33 – “These things I have spoken to you, that IN ME you may have peace. In the world, YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you, MY PEACE I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be TROUBLED, neither let it be AFRAID.
Ephesians 3:14-19 – For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, BEING ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
I. Full Potential Demands Being Rooted and Grounded in the Good Soil
• GROUNDED – Founded upon for the purpose of carrying the weight.
• ROOTED – Integrated into the soil for the purpose of connecting us to the ground and drawing the nutrients from it.
II. The True Nature of God’s Love
1 John 4:8 – He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Ephesians 3:17-19 – that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.
• Love is the Single, Unique, Enabling, and Active Power of God
Colossians 3:14 – But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
- Bond (syndesmos) – that which ties together, such as the ligaments in the body.
- Perfection (tēs teleiotētos) – total completeness
• Love Is Satisfactory – Love satisfies the holy demands of justice.
Isaiah 53:10-11 – Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge, My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
• Love Is Substitutionary – Love takes our place.
Isaiah 53:5 – But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
• Love Is Sacrificial – Love gives itself fully.
Ephesians 5:2 – And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
• Love Is Sanctifying – Love keeps God holy while making us holy.
Hebrews 10:10 – By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Romans 3:25-26 – whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be JUST and the JUSTIFIER of the one who has faith in Jesus.
• Love Is Synergizing – Love binds together God’s attributes in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3:14 – But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
• Love Is Transformative – Love changes everything it touches.
2 Corinthians 5:14, 17 – For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; . . .Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
III. The Power of the Life that Draws from God’s LOVE as Its Source
• We Give of Ourselves - God’s love always moves outward, never inward.
1 John 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
• We Reunite What Sin Divided - Sin always fractures.
Colossians 3:14 – But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
• You Make the Impossible Possible
- Holiness in us says, “They don’t deserve forgiveness.”
- Justice in us says, “They should pay for what they did.”
- Mercy in us says, “Let them go.”
- Grace in us says, “Bless them anyway.”
Matthew 5:44 – But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
• You Unlock Your Potential - When your life is rooted and grounded in the love of God, you are no longer limited by your own capacity.