We Love Because God First Loved Us

Friends,

It has been a rough past week.  I shared last week about peace and security in the Lord…and that topic would still certainly be appropriate for a time like this.  Many people have a lot to say at times like this, a lot of opinions are shared when we have tragedies occur, which is their prerogative.  I guess I am just the opposite.  For me, at least, it is not a time to plea or pontificate…but a time to ponder and pray.  I just don’t know that anything I would have to say would be sufficient to deal with the raw hurt, anger, fear, sadness and other emotions that people are feeling…feelings which are entirely real and understandable.

So, whether it is the right thing or not, I try to let Scripture speak.  I want to hear the voice of God when bad news seems to be overwhelming.  It is not much different when I get called to the hospital to help a struggling family.  Sometimes…most of the time…people just need you to be present, and they need to know that God is present.  So, as it came to sharing this message today, I spent a significant amount of time thinking – what does a preacher person say?  There are a number of important passages that we could and perhaps should consider.  I tend to default to the Scriptures that remind me of God’s attributes, and what it is that He shares with us and wants us to know.

Today, I want to talk about one of my favorite Bible characters, and some of my favorite words that He shares with his readers…with us.  John is known as the apostle of love.  This is certainly due, in no small part, to His understanding and grasping the nature of his Father…and in this section he tells us that God is love.  One of the keys to John’s writings is that he wants us to know that anyone who knows God has been born of God’s love and will…and is responsive to God’s love and will.  At the beginning of chapter two of John calls his readers, “My little children.” As an aged person at this point, all of his readers would be like his children…and this reflects the fact that we are all children of our Father.  This is our big picture.  John provides to us some critical information concerning love (here, 1 John 4:7-21)…and he starts with this -- Love is not God; love does not define God, but God does define love, for God is love.   Much of what is called “love” in modern society is in reality…lust.  It bears no resemblance or relationship to the holy, spiritual love of God.  The “God kind of love” is special, unique -- agape, from the Greek, meaning – a love that knows no boundaries…it is unconditional, powerful.  It is born out of the very essence of God.  It is unique because it was delivered to us in the most powerful way --through God’s only begotten, one of a kind, Son…Jesus Christ.  None of this took place or was prompted by any love that man has ever had for God…man has betrayed God over and over – it was prompted by His love for us.  The Father was the initiator!  Unbelievers love their families, and even sacrifice for them in many respects.  Many people have some kind of intellectual understanding concerning God, but what is lacking – a personal relationship…a personal experience.  But, John says, God is invisible -- no one can see Him in His essence, only through special appearances of His glory, shekinah – burning bush, pillar of fire and cloud, mercy seat.  Yet, Paul says – “Jesus is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).  By taking on a human body, Jesus was able to reveal God to us (John 14:7ff).  God wanted to do more than just tell us of His love, rather, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  And even more than this, He wanted to live or abide in us!   He says this six times in this section.  And so He is able to do so through His Spirit…bearing His fruit.  Jesus ascended and left His Helper, the Holy Spirit to guide us.  In this way, the Father reveals Himself through the lives of His children. 

So, men may not be able to see God directly, but they can see God in us…the Father in the lives of His children.  His love is experienced in us, and then it is expressed through us to all.  Christian love is evidence that people truly know God!  It is not simply an intellectual pursuit, but through an exciting day by day walk that makes us Christ-like.  At the same time, there is the other side of the coin.  This is the part that the world does not understand, unfortunately.  We love not only those who are like us, but even those who are different from us or would be enemies to us.  For those of us who are in Christ, we can and must always find ways to reconcile our differences in the Lord.  As children of our Father, we may fuss like regular children, but we also forgive and move on.  We cannot love God and hate a brother or sister in the Lord.  We love, unconditionally…and are a blessing to all.

Yet another wonderful characteristic of the Father’s love is that His positive love removes negatives, such as fear and punishment.  Knowing the persecution that early Christians were experiencing at the time of John’s writing this letter, one would think that they would have plenty of reasons to be afraid.  Not so!  John says that we Christians can experience boldness or confidence toward our Father…we do not need to fear the past, present or future – the love of God transcends all this.  We are indeed sons and daughters in relationship to our Heavenly Father, and not prisoners who cringe before a judge, because our judgment is not future…it is past.  Jesus Christ took our sins to the cross and suffered judgment for all mankind – if we are in Him, we have no need to fear, but can have blessed assurance.

Rob Chaffart shares this -- Point Pelee's Lifesaving station in Ontario, Canada was established in 1901 as a result of the numerous lives and vessels lost to this peninsula. With its many shoals and reefs, it is most certainly a sailor's nightmare.  On November 22, 1906, the Conemaugh, a wooden steamer, lost all control in the Pelee passage. It hit the shoals with such a force that most of the blades of the propeller were broken off by the impact. The crew was in dire panic.  The team of seven at the nearby lifesaving station set out immediately to the rescue. Their task wasn't easy however, and it was made even harder by the tumultuous waves that constantly invaded their tiny boat. Once they were finally near enough to the Conemaugh, the crew went about the task of rescuing the crew.  One thing they didn't do, however, was try to pick and choose who would be saved. Imagine if they had said something like this: "Oh, here is Joe, my neighbor. A real jerk of a man! I don't think there is room for him in my boat. Good riddance!" But no such thought ever entered their heads. Rather, they made three trips, risking their lives each time, so that anyone on board of the Conemaugh could be brought safely ashore.  Would we have done the same? I'm speaking to those of us who have experienced God's love in our lives! Why is it that we have no trouble loving God, but when it comes to loving our fellow mankind, we are left wanting? So often we end up pondering how it is possible to truly love others. After all, we have been burned so many times, and these wounds continue to haunt us every step of the way.  How can we love like Jesus does? Is it even humanly possible? Immediately we are reminded that "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold..." (Matt 24:12 NIV) It is completely normal, given the evil in this world, to hesitate to love. Nevertheless, this Bible text continues "…but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matt 24:13 NIV). Those of us who do not let wickedness influence us in our love for others are the ones who stand firm!  We were destined to love! No wonder the evil one tries to thwart God's plans by every means possible! Will we let him? It all depends whether or not we are "standing firm".

We can know…we can experience genuine agape love, if we fully know the Father through the Son and have His Spirit dwelling, living in us.  We also understand that the love of the Father is sacrificial!  Know that the love of God is part of His very essence.  When we understand the Father’s love for us, it makes all of the difference in our lives.  Even, if we have not had a good example of an earthly father’s love in our lives.  When all of the pieces of the puzzle come together and in place in our lives, God’s plan becomes apparent to us and real for us.  When we understand our Heavenly Father’s love for us, we share this love with others and have no need to worry or be afraid.  He helps us to grow in our love for Him and for others.  We have everything to look forward to in our hope of joining our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  If we are living for Christ, we can be confident that we will be with Him one day.  We can now respect and understand just how it is that the Father had done what He has done for us…He wants us to be with Him!  We were all steeped in bad news at one time…news like the world has to offer.  But, now we have the Good News that we enjoy, and that we need to share with a world that desperately needs it.  Life is short…love is what matters.  The Father’s love through His Son is what matters most – and it is what makes the difference for us, His children.

Blessings, Don

Reconciling the Abijah Accounts

Friends,

I am going in a different direction from the norm here, but hopefully it will be a blessing to you.  Something struck me while I was reading 2 Chronicles.  It was an insight that provides an illustration for something that I have come to understand for a while now concerning interpretation…and it is interesting that I would find something of an Old Testament illustration to help provide insight for a New Testament principle.  This is certainly not the first time this has happened.  As I have stated in other places, if I had a dollar for all of the poor exegesis and illustrations using Noah and gopher wood, as well as Uzzah and the ark, to try to justify new covenant authority, I would be further ahead in my retirement account.  That said, the following illustration is actually in context, and concerns two distinct, but related passages. 

What we see in 2 Chronicles 13 is that Abijah becomes king of Judah, following his father, Rehoboam.  In the Chronicles account, Abijah appears to be a man of God who leads the armies of the Lord to victory over the armies of North Israel.  There are twenty-two verses displaying the heroics of what took place under Abijah’s reign.  But, something occurred to me while reading this…there are only four kings of Israel and Judah in the divided kingdom that were considered “good kings” (and all were from Judah, by the way).  They were Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah.  Abijah is not on the list.  This is because we need to go to the Kings’ account concerning Abijah to get the other side of the coin.  The account in 1 Kings 15 is about a third as long as the account in 2 Chronicles.  It is here that we see that he “committed all the sins of his fathers.” There is very little information about Abijah and the war with Israel here…it is pretty succinct, and the basis of the message is – Abijah was a bad guy like his father (and most of those who came after him).

So, the question that comes into focus is – how does one reconcile these two accounts?  Many people would have to deduce that one of the stories is correct, while the other one must be in error, because there could only be one possible explanation that is correct.  Yet, I believe that this is the beauty of both accounts -- they can both be reconciled. Both stories concerning Abijah are true…it is simply that the Chronicler has a different focal point than does the author of 1 Kings.  (It is similar, in some respects, as to what we see with the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Each is accurate, but from the unique perspective of the author…even as to whether there were one or two angels at the open tomb).

One of the difficulties that came as the result of being raised in a church culture and exposed to a model of interpretation where an “either/or” deduction reigned was that it would often pin us into the corner and we would have to take a stand that only one thought could be correct.  And therefore, by the rules of deduction that were in place, the other position, by necessity, would have to be wrong.  So, it could only be gopher wood, and therefore, it could only be Matzos used for the Lord’s Supper (for example). The Chronicler offers a perspective concerning Abijah that is unique in that he is not really as interested in what Abijah is doing, as he is in what God is doing in the situation concerning the war with the kings in the divided kingdom.  It may be true that Judah was “seeking the will of the Lord” in relationship to their battle with Israel, but it would not necessarily mean that Abijah was “a righteous and holy leader for God’s people.”  Abijah himself is not as important in the Chronicles account as much as God is and what He is doing through Abijah in the situation.  It is not the first time that God would have used people with some significant struggles, who would even be at odds with Him…Jacob and Jonah are two others that come to mind.  Besides, if God did not respond to sinful people who sought Him and trusted in Him, we would all be in trouble.  So, Judah has a moment in the sun, where they seek the Lord and He responds by delivering them from a force that was twice their size…once again, a story that is repeated in the Scriptures. It is about what God can and will do with and for His people.

So, what does this mean as it relates to the new covenant?  There are accounts where it seems that there might be discrepancies.  I will offer two thoughts briefly that can be expanded at a later time.  How often a person participates in the Lord’s Supper, for example – was it daily (Acts 2), or was it once per week on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).  The text in 1 Corinthians 11:17ff offers some insight, but it is not definitive as to which is should be.  It is easy to get pushed into an “either/or” scenario, when “both/and” may be quite acceptable, as well as accurate.  Paul spends the better part of the last section of Romans (particularly chapter 14) explaining how these matters can be so…that there can be a church that has members where some are vegetarians and others eat meat, (or where some meet at the building on Sunday evenings and others meet in homes) -- and it all works.  Even more challenging – are the believers in Acts 2 in the same spiritual situation as those in Acts 8 and Acts 10?  It is apparent that all are in good standing with the Lord and the church at that time…but what of today?  Many believers would say – those Christians are not acceptable…I cannot fellowship with them.  Yet, it is hard to see how we could or would not accept what those in the first century church did accept.  Furthermore, how can we “critique beyond a doubt” using “deductive methods” an event that is altogether spiritual and led by the Holy Spirit?  It is not any different today than it was then.  It is important to consider that there is more than one proper perspective that could be available and acceptable to the Lord and His body as it relates to the above matters, as well as many others…some things to study, ponder and consider.

Blessings, Don