I
think the biggest challenge that most of us have is trying to comprehend God’s
love (and forgiveness) based upon our past and/or current choices, the wrong
that we have or are currently doing. I’m
probably going out on a limb by saying this, but I would guess that about 95.8%
of us love “conditionally” and that includes well-meaning Christians. As long as you love me back, treat me right,
buy me this, that and the other, treat my kids right, take care of my needs,
side with me on issues that are important to me, keep me in the loop, so on and
so forth, we’re good. But the minute
something comes up no matter how small or great, we can’t stand the person who
we believe and/or who actually has wronged us.
If they hurt us we want to hurt them back. Its “human” nature to want to vindicate
yourself and/or a loved one, that’s why we have so many shootings in our black
and brown communities which is another subject in and of itself.
To
better understand love, we must look at the Love of God, our heavenly Father,
“agape” Love which is UNCONDITIONAL.
God doesn’t just love us, God is Love.
It is his very nature. His
essence is love, his will and works are primarily love. Initially it took me a while to understand
this truth. But here's how I was able to
process it:
•
Do
you know anyone that is negative? If
it’s hot, cold, raining, snowing, windy, overcast, you name it, they are
complaining. They complain about being
broke, their job, the taxes they owe for making so much money, their kids,
their home, their family, the hamster, I mean they put a negative spin on
everything they talk about. They are so negative that if they walk into a dark
room it lights up. Would you say by nature that person is positive or
negative? Right.
•
Do
you know anyone that is always upbeat?
No matter what, they look on the bright side of things. They are always doing something kind for
others, from their heart, not to be seen but because they mean it. If you need it and they have it or have
access to it, you’ve got it. They are
kind hearted by nature.
So
it is with God, his very nature is love, it is who he is, love. There is no hate in him, no evil intentions,
nothing, not even when he disciplines us.
God is the fountain, author, parent, and commander of love. He expresses Himself in terms of endearment
toward His creatures (you, me, animals) and actively manifests his genuine
interest and affection in acts of loving care and self-sacrifice on behalf of
us in pure love. How do we know God is
love: 1
John 4:8
(NLT) – But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love;
but God is also light: 1
John 1:5
(NLT)—This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is
light, and there is no darkness in him at all; God is truth: 1
John 1:6
(NLT)
– So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in
spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth; and God is spirit: John
4:24
(NLT) – For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and
in truth. The new nature that we obtain as the children
of God, his offspring, is love. The
fruit of the Spirit is love, Galatians.
5:22
(NLT) and that love comes down from heaven, administered by God through the
Holy Spirit.
It
is mind blowing that God loves us just as we are:
•
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one
and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son
as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT); and
• But God showed
his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still
sinners. Romans.
5:8
(NLT).
Victory
Nugget: He doesn't want us to stay where we are -- This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
From
a humanistic stand point it seems strange that God would love impure, vain,
vile, dust and ashes like you and me! That he would love us so much that he
would give his own, only-beloved, blessed Son for us and on top of that, the
Son was a willing participant. That
absolutely blows me away. I love yawl,
but I have to tell you, there is no way that I would allow my son to die for
you, not today, not tomorrow, not ever, no ma’am/sir, not gonna happen. But thank God for God and that his love is
infinite and He has enough to distribute to everyone unconditionally.
God
loved us first. He loved us, when we had
no love for Him, when we were buried in our guilt, shame and misery of
sin. He loved us when we were undeserving,
ill-deserving, polluted and didn’t even realize we needed to be washed from our
sins in his sacred blood. Herein is
love (unusual unprecedented love), not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
1
John 4:10
(NLT).
God
loves the believer in, through and because of His Son with a special love.
Those who are united by faith and love to Jesus Christ are, in a different
category from those who are not united, because we are the special objects of
God's love. Jesus said: I am in them and you are in me. May they
experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and
that you love them as much as you love me. John
17:23
(NLT). Christ is referring to the fact that, just as
the disciples had received the same treatment from the world that He had
received, so they had received of the Father the same love that He Himself had
received. They were not on the outskirts of God's love, but in the very center
of it and neither are we. “For the
Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came
from God. John
16:27
(NLT). This is an example of phileo love,
indicating the fatherly affection of God for the believer in Christ, His Son.
This is love in a more intense form than that spoken of for the world -- For
God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John
3:16
(NLT).
We
have the favor of God because we love his Son.
As for nonbelievers, He loves them but why would He give special favor
to those that have rejected his Son after all that they both did for us (God
the Father and God the Son). If you look
at it from a logical sense it doesn’t make sense. Think about it. If you gave two people the absolute very best
of the very best that you had, one rejected it and the other accepted it, which
one would you extend special treatment to?
Which one would you help the most?
Which one would you love the most?
I'm
out of time so we will pick it up in the next blog.
In
His Eternal Love
Tan
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