The Gospel of Peace
The Love of God
1Jn 4:16 We have come to know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
The apostle John not only believed in God’s love, but he also had experienced it.
He had tapped into the greatest power in existence—the love of God.
You will grasp the fullness of God’s power only to the degree that you grasp the fullness of His love.
Eph 3:17 and that the Messiah would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 you will be able to understand, along with all the saints, what is wide, long, high, and deep—
Eph 3:19 that is, you will know the love of the Messiah—which transcends knowledge, and will be filled with all the fullness of God.
Paul knew that the key to being filled with God’s power was knowing and believing His love.
Love is the motivating factor behind all that God does.
More than anything else, God is love.
Therefore, you know and understand God only by understanding the God-kind of love.
This is the major key to:
- Miracles.
- Healing.
- Faith.
- Peace.
When we pray for the sick, cast our devils, or intercede, it is not a matter of:
- Trying to work up a super faith.
- Trying to change God’s mind.
- The individual having a good enough life to receive.
The great love of God that has already given the very best He has to offer—Jesus.
Our faith is simply a response to the love and integrity of God.
Rom 8:32 The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won't he?
Rom 8:33 Who will accuse God's elect? It is God who justifies!
Rom 8:34 Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.
Paul presented a series of questions that should cause us to realize that God is not the one causing our problems.
Why would Go withhold anything from us after He has already given us the best He has?
He also pointed out:
- God freely gives all these things.
- We received Jesus freely.
- We were not worthy.
- Our lives were not good enough.
So why would God require us to earn anything else?
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Jesus placed no price on His goodness, then or now.
Why preached the Gospel as a free gift?
- So the undeserving will experience the love of God.
- It will bring them to repentance (change of mind).
- They will not want to go back to the pigpen to eat.
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
The original language says, “Who shall bring an accusation against the chosen ones of God?
God is not looking for fault in us, so the obvious answer is no.
God is not a faultfinder.
Eph 2:10 For we are God's masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.
This means the feelings of not measuring up and the sense of fear and uncertainty I feel about approaching God are the products of my own heart.
Our heart condemns us when we sin.
We need to:
- Listen to our hearts.
- Change the behavior that is robbing us of our confidence before God.
But God is greater than our hearts.
Our hearts tell us that we need to change our behavior to live in proper relationship with other people.
The finished work of Jesus, though, tells us:
- That God still loves me and accepts me.
- Us we can come before Him with boldness and get help, even though we may have problems.
Rom 8:34 Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.
Again, Paul pointed out the absurdity that condemnation, faultfinding, and judgment would come from the Lord Jesus.
If Jesus is for us, He cannot be against us.
The feelings of condemnation, the expectation of judgment, are not from Him.
Most Christians agree with this, but they draw the line when a person sins.
They believe God loves when we do right, but few people believe that God loves them when they do wrong.
1Jn 2:1 My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you might not sin. Yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus, the Messiah, one who is righteous.
This verse does not say:
- That God judges us when we sin.
- Jesus will accuse us.
It says that when we sin, Jesus is still our Advocate.
Advocate – One who is for you, not against you.
Jesus is not the one who condemns us.
He’s the One who helps us come out of sin.
Condemnation does not help anyone come out of sin.
Condemnation:
- Destroys confidence and self-worth.
- Paralyzes the confidence that God wants to help us.
- It can make believe that God is against you.
We have been so conditioned to think God is the source of our difficulties.
When trouble comes, our first thought is often, “Oh, no, what have I done now? Why is God doing this to me?”
Isa 54:15 Watch! If anyone does attack you, it will not be from me; whoever may attack you will fall because of you.
Jer 1:19 They’ll fight against you, but they won't prevail against you, because I am with you," declares the LORD, "to deliver you."
Now if God is the deliver, He cannot be the destroyer.
Jas 1:13 When someone is tempted, he should not say, "I am being tempted by God," because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
Tempted – solicitated to evil, trial, or tribulation, or scrutinized.
Do not say that your trials are from God.
The God the church has shown to the world is not the God Jesus showed to the world.
God is the Arthur of love.
All real love comes from God.
His love was demonstrated in the fact that He sent Jesus to die for us.
We did not deserve it and did not even want it, yet in His love, He sent His only Son.
When Jesus comes in us, He brings the Zoë life of God.
All the healing, power, prosperity, and fullness of God are in you in Christ.
As you become persuaded in the love of God, you will allow His life (Zoë) to flow into you with confidence, joy, and thanksgiving.
No comments:
Post a Comment