I
have referenced several times that being saved, or being a Christian, is an
inside relationship with God. That is
very hard for someone to understand who doesn’t know God. It is extremely hard to put it into
words. There is a “knowing” on the
inside of a Christian that the world cannot comprehend. That is because it transcends knowledge. A person looking into religion from the
outside cannot understand the fulfillment, or joy, a believer in Christ has so
it would seem then that religious people are weird or stupid or ignorant. However one cannot “judge” the God of the
Universe until a relationship is developed with Him. Then, I suppose, if you don’t like him, you
have every right to say so. But there are many who have entered into this
awesome relationship with the Creator who possess no ability to articulate
it. So please forgive my frail attempt
to explain to an ailing world that Christianity is about relationship with the
maker of the heavens and the earth.
Some
days it seems to me that humanity has forgotten the verb love. More importantly
I think we have forgotten we are loved.
It hardly matters if we are aware of the one who loves us because
whether we know it or not we are loved.
Simply, if we know we are loved, we should live with that confidence;
however if we don’t know we are loved, we will live in a self imposed
deficiency. Not everyone has lived
surrounded by people who outwardly love us, but there has always been someone
who has loved us and waits for us to recognize him.
I
would speculate that humanity is in need of this simple verb, love, and the majority of our woundedness
is due to not knowing we are loved and not teaching others that they are loved
as well. There are many times that we get
weary in this life, but what energizes us to go on is the reality that we are
loved. We then, who live as we are loved, are then commissioned to bring fruit
forth from love. If we each truly loved each other, and taught this very deep
verb, the wounds would heal and we’d be set free from bondage.
John
15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.KJV
It’s
hardly imaginable that someone would die for us. Just prior to Jesus mentioning this, he gave
his disciples a commandment to love one another.
John
15:12-17 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved
you.13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.15 Henceforth I
call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I
have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you.16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit
should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may
give it you.17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.KJV
One
of the first things we see Jesus pointing out is to love each other; the second
is, his great love for us in laying down His life for His friends. Then he says
something we might not understand, we are his friends if we do what he
commands, and he doesn’t call us servants anymore but friends. Friends know
each other more intimately than a relationship with an employer/employee. We have some friends in our lives that are
closer than others, Jesus is telling them he chose them as friends, and has
told them about the things the Father told him. He tells us he chose us and commissioned
us to bring forth fruit that would last. And when we are cultivating fruit as
Jesus appointed, we can ask the Father for what we need regarding our
fruit. Lastly he reiterates that we are
to love each other.
Love
brings good things in our lives, yet there are some that have no human to love
them. However the greatest lover is Jesus because he loved us even when we
didn’t love Him. He loved us before we
were born. If we can grasp a revelation
of that, that Jesus knew us and loved us before we were born, and if we can
hide that in our hearts as a seed, it will grow and flourish inside of us. How can Jesus love us so completely, before
our first breath, and then love us when we were covered in refuse in our
miserable state of apathy? Maybe some have never experienced living in hell on
earth, but many have and many are still living in hell on earth. I once heard someone make a comment regarding
people who were exuberant and joyful in worship, wondering how some have such a
deep experience worshiping God. The
answer is simple, when you’ve lived in hell, anything that is not hell is
awesome. What’s more, knowing how much
you are loved by the creator of the universe makes one immensely cheerful.
Rom
5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.KJV
The
Father demonstrated His love for us in allowing Christ to die for us before we
proved ourselves, or cleaned up our act.
Withholding love from someone until they get their life right is a human
distortion of true love. We love whether
someone lives correctly or not, that is the love that cultivates in one’s
heart. The Father loved us before we
were cleaned up and sent Jesus before there was any guarantee of our responding
to His love. What a risk to take. Humans may very well have never turned their
lives toward the Lord, and may even still choose to live in depravity rather
than recognize that God loves us. But that was not a concern in Jesus laying
down His life. Even if this knowledge of
true love had died with the apostles, it would have been worth the price
paid. But guess what, love didn’t die
with the apostles, it is developed in us.
Now here is the rub, just because we go through hard times does not mean
we are not loved.
Rom
5:3-5 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that
tribulation worketh patience;4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:5
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.KJV
We
can praise God through the storm, so to speak, because there is a purpose for
tribulations. This is not to say that God is causing them, as we know that we
have an enemy who stole some authority from Adam, who is the prince of the
power of the air, the god of this world.
This is why we have tribulations in the first place. Anyone who wishes to change their citizenship
will be persecuted by the reigning evil rulership that governs our earth for
this time. However we have hope that the kingdom of evil will be exterminated.
As we have studied before, the Holy Spirit was given to us and through the Holy
Spirit we can spread the love of God everywhere. We have to keep in mind we are
eternal beings and this world is not home or our final stop, it is only an inconvenient
waypoint in our eternal lives.
Rom
8:28-39 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.29 For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.30 Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.31 What shall we then say to
these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?32 He that spared not his
own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things?33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It
is God that justifieth.34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died,
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword?36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day
long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.37 Nay, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.38 For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come,39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.KJV
If
we can build ourselves up with these words we will do well in life. Here is my paraphrase of Paul’s words:
He
called us for a purpose; he foreknew us, predestinated us, conformed us to
Jesus’ image, and made Jesus our big brother.
Being predestinated and called, we are justified and glorified. Therefore with the God of the universe
backing us, the puny god of this world will lose every time. No one can accuse
you with any truth behind it, because you are a citizen of God’s
household. So surely we have everything
we need, he’s not withholding any tools from us. We can’t be separated from the Father or the
Son’s love for us, and no circumstance we face on this earth can change our
position of being loved ones. Therefore
we really are mighty conquers because of His love for us. No earthly or
spiritual beings, or events, can ever do anything to extract us from God’s love
for us.
1
Cor 2:9-10 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him.10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.KJV
God
has prepared some very special things for those that love Him. Human love directed to an omnipotent, omniscient
Creator seems so very feeble. Sometimes
our idea of love comes from people.
Parents who may or may not have loved us, and we then distort our
thinking to attribute these human actions to love. But love, true love, is revealed by the Holy
Spirit in our hearts. Then, as this is
cultivated, it continues to grow within us and the roots go deeper and deeper;
just like a tree that grows above ground, its roots grow below the surface. Then the Holy Spirit reveals the deep secrets
of God to us.
1
John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.KJV
1
Cor 8:3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.KJV
First
God loves us, then as we start to know Him and develop our love for Him we are
assured that God knows us. This answers
the question of who the Lord knows and can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matt
7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.22 Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and
in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity.KJV
It
doesn’t matter what works we have done in our lives they do not give us
entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Therefore works do not guarantee we get into heaven, instead works lead
to rewards after we enter heaven. The
way to enter into heaven is to love God. As we all know it’s not hard to love someone
who loves us. That is what draws us to
Him, his love for us. Knowing he chose us before he formed the foundations of
the world makes us very special.
Eph
1:4-7 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:5 Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will,6 To the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.7 In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace; KJV
It
pleasured God to adopt us, and he made us holy and blameless when we are before
Him. He made us acceptable as well. How many times have we not been accepted or
rejected in the world? Yet he made us to be good enough among everyone
else. Because of His grace as our
adopted Father, he redeemed us and forgave us our sins. What an awesome God, he
does not have to forgive us for anything, but he does. In the end times He will bring everyone
together who loves Christ.
Eph
1:9-129 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:10 That in the dispensation of
the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:11 In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of
him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:12 That we should
be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.KJV
Not
only does he bring those in heaven and earth together, he gives us an
inheritance. He gives us presents? How could anyone reject that? An inheritance
is given to the heirs of the giver.
Eph
2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,5
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by
grace ye are saved;)6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus.KJV
God
made us alive in Christ and he shows us kindness. We didn’t deserve any grace or kindness, but
by loving us first God drew us to Him; and when he did we responded to Him.
Love draws people, whether it’s God loving us, or us loving other people. This is a great key in bringing people into
relationship with God. If we love others
they will be drawn to us and then we can show them God. This is important, we cannot necessarily tell
people to have a relationship with God, they need to see that we have a
relationship with God.
Eph
3:16-19 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;17 That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,18 May be
able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height;19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye
might be filled with all the fulness of God.KJV
God
strengthens us with miracle working power by the Holy Spirit inside of us. This is why Christians have changes on the
inside of them. Christ dwells in our
hearts; and it is by faith, our simple assurance that he will do what he says,
that he dwells in us. Then we are rooted
and grounded in Him. We are not born with
roots, we have to believe on Him first, and then we have a seed. The cultivation of love in us grows the seed
and with it comes roots that stabilize us and keep us balanced. After we are rooted and grounded, we can
start to comprehend all four dimensions of the love of Christ, width, length,
depth, and height. Christ’s love goes beyond the knowledge that he died for us,
it dwells in us. That is when we are
filled with the fullness of God. I like the Message just as another way to
state this.
Eph
3:14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, 15 this
magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. 16 I ask him to
strengthen you by his Spirit — not a brute strength but a glorious inner
strength — 17 that Christ will live in
you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet
planted firmly on love, 18 you'll be able to take in with all Christians the
extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth!
Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! 19 Live full lives,
full in the fullness of God. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary
Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Love
is the action that starts a relationship, the Father’s love for us, and
Christ’s love for us. If we could
communicate that love to an ailing world we could start to see people develop
their own personal relationships with God.
1
John 3:1-2 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not,
because it knew him not.2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall
be like him; for we shall see him as he is.KJV
Love
causes separation from the world. But we
can have boldness on judgment day because we are like him on this earth when we
walk in love perfected.
1
John 4:15-17 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth
in him, and he in God.16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath
to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in
him.17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.KJV
Twice
the phrase “as he is” applies to us.
First, when he appears we will be like him because we will see him as he is, as
he really is. We will be just like that,
whatever body type or composition he has, we will be as he is. Then, we can have boldness because as he is now,
today, so are we in this world. Because
he dwells in us one day, we will be undressed of the corruptible, and dressed
with the incorruptible; and whatever is in him, as we live on earth we are like
that now. That gives us something to
ponder doesn’t it? Being connected with God in love gives us more than just a
passing feeling, or a momentary warm heart, it gives us more than feelings for
eternity. Yet with Christ in us, we are now as
He is. That is powerful, if we can
get a true revelation of that. You are
like Him now! This is our first steps
in developing our personal relationship with God Almighty, Creator of Heaven
and Earth.
