Last week we saw that Christlike love, given by God’s Spirit to all Jesus’ followers, should characterise their relationship with God and their fellow men.
In meditation 15 we read how Jesus loved his heavenly Father wholeheartedly and sacrificially. In that way He fulfilled God’s first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...”
(Matthew 22:37)
We know that we never could fulfill that commandment in our own strength. Pride, selfishness and rebellion to God come so naturally to all of us.
The apostle Paul describes the character of our utter sinfulness in Romans 8:6-8: "If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. ... For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.”
As we saw before, it is only by conversion, rebirth and the gift of Christlike love that God’s Spirit enables us to love God as wholeheartedly and sacrificially as Jesus did.
In this meditation we will see how Jesus Himself describes the Christlike love that God’s Spirit is able to generate in us. Then we also will discover how the apostles apply Jesus’ teaching and promises to their own lives and to the lives of their fellow Christians.
First of all and of major importance:
The love that God’s Spirit wants to produce in all the followers of Jesus is the love of God the Father for His divine Son Jesus Christ. But this is true and pure love; very different from our impure and faltering ways of love.
And only insofar as Jesus reveals it to us, are we able to comprehend what this true and pure love of the God the Father looks like. That is what Jesus said on the night before His death.
He spoke to His heavenly Father about His desire that His followers would receive this divine love:
“I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you. I will do this so that your love for me may be in them and I in them” (John 17:26).
The apostle Peter shows in his second letter that God will share His divine life and love with all Jesus’ followers:
“This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to all of you who share the same precious faith we have, faith given to us by Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, who makes us right with God.
May God bless you with his special favor and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord, better and better.
As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life.
He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises.
He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature" (2 Peter 1:1-4).
Secondly, the following aspects of Christlike love are only a characterisation! It is not a series of commands to obey. We could never get there by our own efforts. Only God’s Spirit is able to empower us to such love. It is the way Jesus lived. Only such love shows what it means to be created in God’s image:
a.) To love God the Father (and Jesus, His Son) whole-
heartedly means to love Him (and His Son) with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.
In Matthew 22:37 Jesus refers to this ‘Golden Key’.
The apostle Paul closes his letter to the Christians in Ephesus (modern Turkey) with the final greeting: “May God's grace be upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”
(Ephesians 6:24)
The apostle Peter rejoices in the unbridled love of his readers for the Lord Jesus Christ: “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”
(1 Peter 1:8)
In this context we need to repeat two verses from John’s first letter which we already mentioned in the last meditation:
“But anyone who does not love does not know God-- for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
“God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:16b)
b.) To love God the Father (and Jesus, His Son) means to be wholeheartedly devoted only to Him (and to His Son Jesus Christ).
Jesus taught his disciples: “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine” ( Matthew 10:37).
Furthermore, Jesus instructed His disciples: “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13).
The apostle Paul echoes this teaching of Jesus when he testifies to Jesus’ followers in Corinth: “Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live.” (2 Corinthians 5:14)
Speaking about the importance of loving Jesus Christ wholeheartedly, Paul declares to the Christians in the Greek town of Philippi:
“I once thought all these things [his upbringing and his own human efforts] were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him.
I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's Law, but I trust Christ to save me.
For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.
I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:7-11)
The apostle John urges all followers of Jesus to be only whole-
heartedly devoted to God: “Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you.” (1 John 2:15)
Indeed, this unfeigned, unbridled and wholehearted love for God the Father and for God the Son is a gift of God the Spirit. Yet it is a love that needs to mature.
The apostle Paul writes to the Christians in the Greek town of Thessalonica: “May the Lord make your love grow...”
(1 Thessalonians 3:12)
God’s Spirit not only gives us God’s love at our rebirth, He also causes it to grow ever stronger until it reaches full Christlike maturity.
To allow God’s Spirit to grow Christ’s love in us, we need to commit ourselves daily afresh to His guidance and working.
The apostle Paul implored the followers of Jesus in Ephesus:
“Let the Holy Spirit fill and control you (constantly).”
(Ephesians 5:18)
(to be continued)
The Bible verses Matthew 22:37 and Romans 8:6-8 are quotes of the New International Version. The other texts are all quoted from the New Living Translation.
About conversion, see meditations 18-26.
About rebirth or baptism in God’s Spirit, see meditations 27-34,
37 and 44.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
56. THE GREATEST GIFT OF GOD’S SPIRIT IS CHRISTLIKE LOVE
Today we want to start our journey in search of the characteris- tics of Christlike transformation. The first question that comes to mind is: Is there a predominant trait in the character of Jesus Christ that God’s Spirit also wants to produce in my heart and in my church?
The answer to that question is a straight ‘yes’.
Everywhere the Old and New Testament acclaim that love is the most characteristic trait of God’s character. The apostle John proclaims it twice in one chapter in his first letter: “God is love”.
(1 John 4:8 and 16)
And as Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), we read in the same letter: “We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us.” (1 John 3:16)
We also read various times about God’s Spirit in the New Testament that He is the Spirit of love. In his letter to the Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul specifically refers to “the love of the Spirit” (Romans 15:30).
Indeed, the most distinctive character trait of our triune God – Father, Son and Spirit – is their love for each other, for the entire creation and all humanity and especially for all those who follow God's Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah! (see also meditations
15, 16, 17,28)
So, if God wants to restore His image [i.e. Jesus’ image] in us, how would we receive that most distinctive character trait of God, His true and pure love? After all we know how rebellious we are by nature.
The answer to that question lies in the gift of God’s Spirit.
The apostle Paul reminds the followers of Jesus in Rome of the fact that they all received God’s Spirit when they were made right with God.
First he mentions their conversion:
“God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”
(Romans 3:25)
Then he recounts their rebirth:
“...God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:5)
It is God’s Spirit who wants us to experience the love of Jesus Christ. It is also God’s Spirit who wants to empower us to love like Jesus did when He walked on earth. The apostle Paul prays for the Christians in Ephesus:
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he [God the Father] will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.
And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.
May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.
Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:16-19).
In his first letter, the apostle John shows the link between conversion, rebirth by God’s Spirit and the gift of God’s love:
“All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect [or: more mature].” (1 John 4:15-17)
In the same chapter John writes: “... love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
But anyone who does not love does not know God-- for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
(1 John 4:7-10)
As they have received God’s love by His Spirit, Paul urges the followers of Jesus in Ephesus to put that Christlike love into practise in their daily lives. And in doing so, they should personify the character of God the Father and of God the Son:
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2).
God’s Word and the example of Jesus’ life show us that true and pure Christlike love is expressed in a double relationship: love for God and love for others (see meditations 15 and 17).
Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-40:
“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets [i.e. the entire Old Testament] hang on these two commandments.”
In the coming meditations we want to read God’s Word [the Bible] and investigate how God’s true and pure Christlike love, given by His Spirit to all Jesus’ followers, should characterise their relationship with God and with their fellow men.
We also want to explore in the Scriptures how that Christlike love should characterise the life and ministry of every local church, the Body of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
The Bible verses Matthew 22:37-40, Romans 5:5, Romans 15:30 and Ephesians 5:1-2 are quotes of the New International Version. The other texts are all quoted from the New Living Translation.
About conversion, see meditations 18-26.
About rebirth or baptism in God’s Spirit, see meditations 27-34,
37 and 44.
The answer to that question is a straight ‘yes’.
Everywhere the Old and New Testament acclaim that love is the most characteristic trait of God’s character. The apostle John proclaims it twice in one chapter in his first letter: “God is love”.
(1 John 4:8 and 16)
And as Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), we read in the same letter: “We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us.” (1 John 3:16)
We also read various times about God’s Spirit in the New Testament that He is the Spirit of love. In his letter to the Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul specifically refers to “the love of the Spirit” (Romans 15:30).
Indeed, the most distinctive character trait of our triune God – Father, Son and Spirit – is their love for each other, for the entire creation and all humanity and especially for all those who follow God's Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah! (see also meditations
15, 16, 17,28)
So, if God wants to restore His image [i.e. Jesus’ image] in us, how would we receive that most distinctive character trait of God, His true and pure love? After all we know how rebellious we are by nature.
The answer to that question lies in the gift of God’s Spirit.
The apostle Paul reminds the followers of Jesus in Rome of the fact that they all received God’s Spirit when they were made right with God.
First he mentions their conversion:
“God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”
(Romans 3:25)
Then he recounts their rebirth:
“...God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:5)
It is God’s Spirit who wants us to experience the love of Jesus Christ. It is also God’s Spirit who wants to empower us to love like Jesus did when He walked on earth. The apostle Paul prays for the Christians in Ephesus:
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he [God the Father] will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.
And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.
May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.
Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:16-19).
In his first letter, the apostle John shows the link between conversion, rebirth by God’s Spirit and the gift of God’s love:
“All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect [or: more mature].” (1 John 4:15-17)
In the same chapter John writes: “... love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
But anyone who does not love does not know God-- for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
(1 John 4:7-10)
As they have received God’s love by His Spirit, Paul urges the followers of Jesus in Ephesus to put that Christlike love into practise in their daily lives. And in doing so, they should personify the character of God the Father and of God the Son:
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2).
God’s Word and the example of Jesus’ life show us that true and pure Christlike love is expressed in a double relationship: love for God and love for others (see meditations 15 and 17).
Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-40:
“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets [i.e. the entire Old Testament] hang on these two commandments.”
In the coming meditations we want to read God’s Word [the Bible] and investigate how God’s true and pure Christlike love, given by His Spirit to all Jesus’ followers, should characterise their relationship with God and with their fellow men.
We also want to explore in the Scriptures how that Christlike love should characterise the life and ministry of every local church, the Body of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
The Bible verses Matthew 22:37-40, Romans 5:5, Romans 15:30 and Ephesians 5:1-2 are quotes of the New International Version. The other texts are all quoted from the New Living Translation.
About conversion, see meditations 18-26.
About rebirth or baptism in God’s Spirit, see meditations 27-34,
37 and 44.
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