The Consummation of God’s Divine Love for Man
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Matthew 22:37-40 provides the most defining statement Jesus made on how we’re to live our lives. When asked which is the most important Commandment, Jesus told us loving our neighbors as ourselves carries the same status as loving Him. And then He added loving Him AND loving those around us, fulfills everything He requires of us for the entirety of our lives! This is profoundly significant, if not completely life-changing!
Everything we need to know about God and how He wants us to live our lives is wrapped up in these two Commandments. Very much like metal is drawn to a magnet, God’s Divine Love attracts us to spending Eternity with Him in Heaven. And it attracts those around us who see His Divine Love in us. The purpose of God’s Divine Love is to “Salvation” us into Heaven AND to “Salvation” everyone around us, through us, by honoring Him in everything we do.
Everything we need to know about God and how He wants us to live our lives is wrapped up in these two Commandments.
Apart from this reality, there is no reality! No matter how good we are, how much we accomplish, or how much we’re loved, the only thing that will matter 100 years from now is how many people will be in Heaven because of our influence. Nothing else will matter.
The Apostle Paul explained to those he led to the Lord in I Thessalonians 2:19: After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when He returns? It is you! We’ll be celebrating those we led to the Lord for Eternity!
Confess, Believe and Receive His Gift of Eternal Life
Because God’s Love is Divine, He doesn’t care about your past. No matter how far we’ve strayed, God’s gift of Eternal Life is available to all of us. Romans 10:9 explains: If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Believing is receiving and declaring is the confirmation. The two are inextricably connected! This is how we love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
No matter how far we’ve strayed, God’s gift of Eternal Life is available to all of us.
It’s impossible to comprehend the complexity of God, without understanding He’s chosen us as His primary conduit for reaching the lost. How amazing is it? The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you (Romans 8:11). God uses “Christ followers” as the conduit for His Divine Love to those around us. We’ve been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ and given the ministry of Reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:17-18).
Indeed, we are Christ’s Ambassadors and it’s through us that God makes His Appeal to the lost (II Corinthians 5:20). Unless and until you understand that God’s “Divine Love” flowing through you is how you achieve intimacy with God, you’ll be living your life in confusion.
Indeed, we are Christ’s Ambassadors and it’s through us that God makes His Appeal to the lost (II Corinthians 5:20).
The surprise comes when you understand that reaching the lost is not the primary reason God mandates every Christian to share their faith. The act of loving your neighbor as yourself has its greatest impact on you. There’s nothing that compares with God speaking through you (Luke 12:12) and changing lives in front of you. That’s “intimacy” with God!
When you love your neighbor as yourself, you’re as concerned for their Salvation as you are your own. That changes everything you say and do from now until you see Him face-to-face. When you love those around you as yourself, your joy will come from the Salvation of those you meet and influence (John 15:11). And with that focus, you’ll be amazed how quickly your desire for anything that brings repute on God disappears.
Romans 14:12-23 carries an entire commentary on avoiding anything, even a food, if it causes another to stumble. I Corinthians 10:23 explains: You say “I am allowed to do anything” but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything” but not everything is beneficial. You see, it’s not about us! It’s about the impact we’re having on those watching us.
You see, it’s not about us! It’s about the impact we’re having on those watching us.
I Thessalonians 5:22 tells us to: Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. Even the prophet Isaiah, one of the most Holy men in the Bible, shouted “Woe is me, I am ruined,” when confronted with the Holiness of God (Isaiah 6:5). It’s unfathomable that God “Calls Us” to represent His Holiness in this fallen world. There’s no room for anything that distracts those watching us from seeing the purity of God through us.
Make no mistake, most Christians are ignoring this message and will enter Heaven, nonetheless. God’s a merciful God who will surprise us with His Divine Love that’s impossible for our minds to comprehend.
Don’t store up treasures here on earth . . . store your treasures in Heaven. Wherever your treasure is, there the desire of your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19).
It’s time to take personal responsibility for your actions, directed by the Holy Spirit. The extent to which you allow grey areas to remain in your life is the extent to which God can use you as a conduit to His Purity and Divine Love. Indeed, it’s your choice!
You have a decision to make! Are you ready to love everyone around you as much as you love yourself, even those who offend, hate and attack you? God loves the people we hate. Are you ready to love them as well? This is how you fulfill your relationship with God, living for His purpose rather than your own (Romans 8:28).
This has always been God’s plan for your life. God tells us in Jeremiah 1:5: Before I placed you in your Mother’s Womb, I knew you and set you apart to be my spokesman. Isaiah 43:10 explains how you become as one in your relationship with God when He said: I appointed you as my Witness, so that you will know and believe and understand that I am God! This is the epitome of being the person God wants you to be until you ultimately stand in His Holy presence.
The magnitude of what God expects of us is explained in I Peter 2:9 and 11: For you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others (God puts you on display) the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His Wonderful Light. Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners,” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
Note: God holds us accountable when our misbehavior causes people to stumble.
There’s nothing that compares with knowing you’re exactly where God wants you to be, doing what He wants you to do. The paradox is that when you’re loving your neighbors into Heaven, you’re fulfilling the law while paying no attention to it. That’s why Jesus told us that loving Him and our neighbors as ourselves fulfills everything He requires of us with joy and without constraints. That’s freedom!
This is the Consummation of God’s Divine Love for Man.
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