Gospel
of John – Love (continued)
But
because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us
alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by
grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5
1
John 3:1: How great the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called the children of God.
Those who love and follow Christ are the Father's adopted children. Adoption
is the act of taking a person by choice into a new relationship of
love as a parent to a child. A worldwide adoption took place when
Jesus died on the cross. In adoption, the parents choose the child.
God chose the nation of Israel as His firstborn son. But Jesus
expanded God's adoption to all the world. Jesus said, “You did
not choose me, I chose you.” John 15:16 As God did the
choosing in the Older Testament, Jesus does the choosing now because
God has given Him all authority. Why would God give Jesus all
authority? God knows that Jesus will never contradict or go against
God, His will or His ways because He is God.
Small
Beginnings
God
began small in the beginning as Jesus did in the gospels. God at
first chose one man to carry out His plan and purpose on earth. (i.e.
Noah, Seth, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—Gentiles and Hebrews) Then
He moved to the twelve sons of Jacob who would become the small
nation of Israel who multiplied and grew. Jesus, like God, also began
small. He chose twelve men to begin building and establishing His
Kingdom on earth. These 12 grew to 120 when the Holy Spirit came down
in the Upper Room. These 120 quickly grew to 3,000 at the preaching
of Peter, and then kept expanding until the Gospel of Christ reaches
the whole world. All—both Jew and Gentile--must be grafted back
into the tree of life (Jesus—the olive tree -- the Anointed Tree
of Life) in order to come into the presence of Eternal God. The
root (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) support us -- both Jew
and Gentile -- the two branches. Many teach that the root of this tree is Israel, but actually it represents the Tree of Life whose root is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Israel is as guilty of sin as the Gentiles are. God wouldn't graft us into a tree of sin and death. No, this tree is the tree of life whose root is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit into whom all must be grafted because we are all sinners. Both Israel and the Gentiles have to be grafted into this tree of life.
God
and Jesus' Great, Eternal Love
Because
of God's great love given through His Son Jesus, we are called God's
own children. Sinners could not approach a holy God full of sin, so
God Himself took care of that by sending His very own Son to make us
righteous by His sinless, shed blood. Since we are dead in sin, God
had to make us spiritually alive in His Son through grace that
emanated from His eternal, great love. Those who love and follow
Jesus can come into the presence of God boldly and without fear. We
are righteous “in Christ” making us able to approach a holy God. Our righteousness in Christ also prepared our hearts to receive the Holy Spirit. What is holy can only come into a holy place. Because we are "in Christ," believers are
entwined in God and Jesus' great love and grace. The first revelation
we must have as believers is the deep and eternal love that the
Godhead has for us. This great love is given to us from the heart of
God and Jesus. However, this love cannot be complete until it is received and we
return love to them from our hearts. One-sided love is not
complete.
Royal
Law of Love
James
2:8: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture: “Love
your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
The
Godhead's ways are higher than our ways. (Isaiah
55:8-9) God
wants us to walk in His royal law of love, not the Law that brought
death. The entire Older Testament proved that no one could live up to
the standards and demands of the Law. We don't
walk in royal love by celebrating feasts or doing some other ritual.
God wants to place His royal love in our hearts. The Godhead is always concerned with love and our hearts because God is love. Because Jesus and
the Father loved us with a royal love, they want us to love them with
our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and love others as
ourselves.
Jesus
did all that the Law required while He was on earth to fulfill it and
release us so we could now operate out of love for God and others
freely and willingly. We put on the Divine by letting the Godhead change our hearts
so we walk in both Divine love and Divine Truth.
Walking in God's royal love pleases the Lord. Jesus did this
perfectly. The Father witnessed of Jesus as His beloved Son in whom
He is well-pleased. He is well-pleased with Jesus because He obeyed
God perfectly by only speaking what the Father told Him to speak and
doing only what the Father told Him to do. Believers in Christ please
God also when we obey Him. By its very essence, love wants us to
please the one you love. Believers need to know God's heart and connect
our hearts with His heart as John did.
God
knew that we wouldn't be able to walk perfectly and love perfectly in
our flesh body because the flesh is weak. He does, however, want us
to continually grow in His holiness. He gave us the power of the
Helper – the Holy Spirit – and His powerful Word to help us. God
wants us to learn of Him and love Him voluntarily from our hearts.
God's grace and mercy sent through Christ must not be used as an
excuse to enter or remain in sinful behavior. Our actions and words
show whom we love and serve. Christ's Bride is being prepared for her
Holy Husband in the pursuit of holiness.
New
Heart and a New Spirit
God
takes our stony hearts and gives us a new heart of love and
compassion. (see
Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26) His
gift to us is love through His saving faith and grace. He wants to
transform our dead in sin, unbelieving hearts and spirits into a
heart that loves with the heart of God and becomes a living, eternal
spirit.
Faith
in Jesus is done in a single moment but it is a continuing
relationship that must be nurtured, grown and strengthened. This will
happen over time as we continue to spiritually grow through the study
of the Word, prayer, meditation, learning, experiencing and uniting
with other believers. Faith in Christ will bring us into a new
relationship with God. God gives us a measure of faith when we accept
Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That faith must be strengthened over
time. “I
consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord....” Philippians 3:8 Before
we can gain spiritual strength, we have to be weak enough to
recognize that there is no spiritual strength apart from Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Jesus
said, “Without
Me, you can do nothing.” Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God with God and are greater than the weakness and sinfulness of our flesh.
Love
and faith are inseparable. When there is committed faith in the Lord
Jesus, love for others will also pour out of us. Faith takes the Lord
into our hearts--His heart and character. Once we
have Him in our hearts, He wants us to extend that love, nature and
character to others. The love of God knows no favorites. It is
extended to all who will receive it. If we say we love God, then His
love must flow from our hearts to others – even those who may have
hurt us and we want to withdraw from or retaliate against. God didn't love us
because we were unstained or pure. He extended His love through His
Son Jesus when we were sinners—filthy and unclean. This is true
love--loving the unlovely. Not only did He extend His love, He will not leave us or stop
loving us but will continue to finish the work He has set out to
accomplish in and through us. One of those things is to help us love
as He loves.
God
also gives us grace. Grace is getting the favor of God that we don't
deserve. We deserve God's punishment for our sinfulness, but instead
God extends grace to us out of His and Jesus' great love. This great
love and grace was extended in the very beginning of scripture when
He didn't give the first man and woman the penalty they deserved for
sinning against Him. Instead, He covered them with a blood-soaked
skin of an innocent animal to atone for their sin. God loved Adam and
the woman because they were created in His image and likeness. His
was an eternal love in spite of the fact that they had sinned against
Him. Adam and Eve had to suffer consequences for their sin, but they
didn't die a physical death until after they had produced sons to
fulfill God's command to them that they be fruitful and multiply.
This was God's love and grace extended to sinners right there in the
beginning of Genesis. Humanity had to continue and remain to produce
the Seed who would defeat the serpent (devil). Jesus is that Seed. And now, we are His seed that He wants to use to defeat the devil with the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God knew the plan and God would carry it out in spite of mankind's
weakness and sinful nature. This,
brothers and sisters in the Lord, is God's great love and grace.
Our
whole Christian walk is dependent upon God's grace. God
is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having
all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good
work. 2 Corinthians 9:8 God's
grace is extended from the wealth and love of His heart. When we see
and understand God's heart of love, our hearts and love pale tremendously in the
comparison. It is God's desire to make our hearts and spirits more
like His heart and Spirit. When God sets His heart upon us, He will
never let us go. From the beginning of time and the scriptures God's
unfailing love for humanity has been long-suffering and bringing
people to salvation and eternal life. God does not change. Therefore His love will never change or leave us. His love will continue
eternally after all has been completed.
Jesus
will pour His love and grace into our hearts by the power of the Holy
Spirit. The more we know and understand God and Jesus' love, the more
tenderly we will love and forgive others. We will uplift and
encourage to build each other up. We will not tear people down,
condemn and judge. We are to imitate God's love in Christ. This
godlike love counts no cost or sacrifice too great. God illustrated this at the cross. Love by its very nature requires sacrifice. Loving God and others will require sacrifice.
Our
Christian walk is also dependent upon God's truth/Word. Hearing and
understanding God's Word, believing it and doing it is essential to
our Christian growth. Jesus spoke the Word of God with authority
because He is the Word of God. Christ is revealed in every page of
scripture – both in the Older Testament and the New Testament. When
the Word of God dwells richly in us, Jesus dwells richly in us.
Humanity was designed for God's glory. The original Man/Adam was
clothed in God's glory and light when he was created. Jesus, the
Second and Last Adam, wants His glory to radiate from us. God will use the Word anointed by the Holy Spirit to put our flesh to death and clothe us in His glory and light. The Word of
God is:
- Spiritual food – 1 Peter 2:2
- Source of new life – 1 Peter 1:23; Psalm 119:25-27, 33
- Standard of conduct – Titus 2:5
- Guide – Psalm 119:33-35-36, 105
- Restraint – Psalm 119:9-11
- Source of comfort and hope – Psalm 119:49-50
- Sustains -- Psalm 119: 116-117
The
unfolding of God's Word gives us light and understanding. (Psalm
119:130) Knowing
God's high and holy love, grace and truth will bring us to spiritual
maturity and a closer and deeper walk with God. Jesus is Grace, Truth
and the love of God displayed in fullness. When we walk in Jesus, we
will walk in His love, grace and truth.
May
we be ever mindful that love begins and ends in You, Lord God, and
that faith, grace and truth also begin and end with you. You have
been so generous with your love and grace. You have bestowed it upon
the weak and sinful because of your great love. Teach us and draw us
into a higher love for You and for others dear Lord. Help us radiate
your love, beauty and grace to those who are hurting and in the
darkness of sin. Let your light shine before men when they see the
good works you have begun in us. Let them desire to know you and your
love in a deep and abiding way. Help us, your sons and daughters, to
be your light-bearers, your love-bearers, your grace-bearers and your
truth-bearers so others may know the height and depth of godlike love
and who you truly are. What joy that would give Your heart as You
see us doing these things to the glory of your Name. Help us Lord. In
Jesus' precious Name, I pray.
Blessings
and love,
Sandy
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