07/19/2018 - Peeling away the Actions to Reveal the Love
We consider ourselves Christian when we accept Jesus as the Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary, lived, suffered, was crucified, died, was buried, descended into hell, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. These are the tenets of the Apostles Creed, but these are the things we believe, and are only the beginning. The goal of faith is to lead us to love. So I ask today... do you love Jesus as much as He loves you? Have you given your life as He gave His?
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV
In making my opening statement I was not meaning to trivialize the gospel of Jesus Christ, but to differentiate between His actions, and their motive, or purpose. Everything That Jesus did, and that was done in His life, was out of love. They were to reconcile us to God because He loves us, and He desires for us to fully love Him.
We tend to get caught up in the events and symbols of Jesus Christ to the detriment of why He did them. It is easy to believe things we can see, and do, but much harder to believe and participate in the intangible love behind them... so we often do what Jesus said, and forget to love as Jesus loved. Paul warned the Corinthians against forgetting this in some verses of scripture that are often read as part of a passage at weddings, but they are intended to rule our spiritual lives as well.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV
How often do we quote Matthew 25:35-36 regarding the things Jesus said we should do for those in need? Yet we can do these things and still fail at them, if they are just done out of obligation, and not out of love. Add the word “lovingly” to each of these things and you get closer... add the words “with the love of Christ” and you are there.
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'”
Matthew 25:35-36 ESV
Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important, and His response was this...
“Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."”
Mark 12:29-31 ESV
In both of these commandments we are instructed to love. Read them again to yourself because this is the crux of our faith... love. Everything else quoted in this scripture can be done by any moral man, but when they are done by those who believe in Jesus Christ, and with His love, then they are acceptable in the eyes of God who loves us.
So we love with the love of Christ, and in this we are led to give our lives to Him. Out of love, He gave Himself completely as an offering for us, and by that same love we are to give ourselves back. Are you doing that? Is everything in your life done in the love of Jesus; is it wrapped in the love of God? Doing this is not easy, and requires that we constantly remind ourselves of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, and why He made it. One of the most poignant reminders for us is the Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper... Communion. We do this in remembrance of Him, but we don’t just remember his actions; not just the suffering or the act of dying, but the love with which he did this. Listen to the words of Andrew Murray...
“The observance of the Lord’s Supper is a glorious opportunity for renewed dedication to the Lord. Let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what it is to be a committed Christian: undividedly, unceasingly, surrendered to Jesus in heart and hand, at home and in society; living for Jesus, working zealously for Him, a burnt offering given entirely for God and consumed by the fire of the Spirit.” - Andrew Murray
So, do you love God, do you love Jesus Christ, do you love your neighbor, and are you prepared to give your love and life completely to The Lord as you live out His will?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your love; I thank you for the love for me that you felt when you sent your only begotten son to die for me so that my sins could be forgiven. I seek you unceasingly Holy Father so that I can learn to love you as mightily as you love me. Help me to hear the love in your commandments, and see the love you desire of me, even in your judgement. Never has there been such a love. Never has love been so complete and without flaw. Help me Father to love you in this way, and help me to love those around me as you do. Let me see my neighbor through your eyes. Let me feed the hungry with the love of Jesus in my heart... a love that sees past the decrepit nature of their lives and sins they might have as it searches out their heart and finds value in their soul. Help me to be kind to the undeserving, and have empathy for all those caught up in flagrant sin, for there but by the grace of God go I. Perfect my love Lord, even as you perfect my faith, because one without the other is for naught. In this I will love you and praise your name; in this you bring glory unspeakable upon yourself. You are Holy, Holy, Holy, my God who pours love upon us, and who sent His Son to die for our sins. Praised be your name our God of grace and mercy, and Your Son Jesus Christ through eternity.
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 ESV
Rich Forbes