Burdens of Believing in God

My boyhood impression of God was very positive.  I learned about Him from my parents and other adults; and from the Bible.  Jesus seemed like a kind man with gentle, assuring words like, “I am the Good Shepherd (John 10: 11).  However, as I grew older, I began to view God’s commandments as burdens that restricted my freedom.  I was particularly wary of Jesus’s stern principle:  If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me (Luke 9: 23).  Was Jesus my Friend or was He a cruel taskmaster?

Whoever He was, Jesus was patient—and persistent.  I could not dismiss the Gospel claims about Jesus dying on a Roman cross for the sin of humankind; then, being raised from the dead on that first Easter morning.  Maybe Jesus had every right to invite me to “take up my cross daily” and follow Him.  After all, He had left me an example—He obediently carried His cross to His death by crucifixion.

As an adolescent, I learned to associate “cross bearing” with the love of God for all people.  That God’s love is expressed through “burden bearing” became more real to me one Christmas when we received stamps from Father Flanagan’s Boys Town.  Each stamp pictured a boy carrying his younger brother on his shoulders to school in the deep snow.  On each stamp were the words of the older brother expressing his burden-bearing love: “He ain’t heavy, Father.  He’s m’ brother.”

God continued to affirm His love and patience toward me as I finished high school and college.  Then, as a graduate student, I repented of my sin under the Power of Christ’s cross.  I felt the burden of sin and guilt roll off of my shoulders.  Then, through prayer, I invited Jesus to become Lord of my life, and willingly began to live as His servant.  Since then, I have been making it my priority to follow Jesus’s invitation in Luke 9: 23, noted earlier.  In seeking His path of self-denial and cross-bearing, I am moving ever closer to what the Apostle Paul described as knowing Jesus intimately, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3: 10).  But, please don’t think I have “arrived spiritually.”  I gladly identify with Paul’s humility when he wrote, Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on… (3: 12).

Being a Christ-follower (disciple) requires disciplines that take years to develop.  Thankfully, God does not ask His followers to “go it alone.”  Instead, each obedient Christ-follower (those who “keep His commandments” as explained in 1 John 2: 4-6) “abides in Christ” and Christ abides in him or her (1 John 4: 16).  Therefore, Christ-followers are spiritually united with each other in the body of Christ.  And so, we who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another (Romans 12: 5).  Like embers of a fire that maintain their glow by staying together, so each Christ-follower can keep his or her faith ablaze by following God’s plan to regularly gather together for worship, study, and relationship-building in Christ (Hebrews 10: 23-25).

John the Baptist--Burdened and Alone
In spite of my growing faith, I was still puzzled with the apparent contradiction between the blessed life God offers and the burdens He expects His children to bear.  Matthew 11 addresses this apparent contradiction.  Here we learn that John the Baptist was languishing in prison like an ember from the fire separated from the fellowship of other Christ-followers.  John’s faith was apparently faltering.  So, he sent his disciples to inquire whether Jesus was really the “Expected One.”  After all, John had been sent as a forerunner of Jesus to call his listeners to repentance and to point out the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1: 29).  Could it be that John had been mistaken?  If not, why was Jesus requiring him to bear such a burden of lonely imprisonment and impending death (Matthew 14: 1-12)?

F.B. Meyer writes in Great Verses through the Bible (Zondervan, 1966): 
“The Baptist was tempted to take offense with Christ, first, because of His long delay in asserting Himself as the promised Messiah; and secondly, because of His apparent indifference to his own welfare. "If He be all that I expected, why does He leave me in this sad plight, extending to me no word of comfort; making no attempt to free me from these dark, damp cells."

Meyer then applies John's suffering to the lives of burden bearers today:
“Are there not such hours in our lives still?  We say, if He really loves us and is entrusted with all power, why does He not deliver us from this difficult and irksome condition? Why does He not hurl these Prison Walls to the ground? Why does He not vindicate and bring me out to the light of life and joy?”

Jesus answered John's plea with this encouraging reply to the messengers John had sent:  Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me (Matthew 11: 4-5).

In the words of F.B. Meyer, Jesus was saying to John the Baptist,
“’Tell him to trust Me, though I do not deliver him.  Assure him of the blessedness which must accrue to those who are not offended at My apparent neglect.  I will explain all to him some day.' Thus, he speaks still.  He does not attempt to apologize, nor to explain--He only asks our trust and promises blessedness to those who do not stumble at life's mysteries.”

Jesus-- Perfect Burden Bearer
Today, many people bear heavy burdens.  Those who reject God’s claims on their lives and live under the penalty of sin may encounter unbearable burdens that lead to depression, drug addiction, and even death.  At the same time, obedience to Christ does not guarantee an easy path.  Statistics reveal that more and more Christ-followers are suffering greatly for their faith.  At least 327 million Christians are enduring persecution according to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).  Approximately “245 million Christians in the top 50 countries on Open Doors USA’s 2019 World Watch List experience high levels of persecution (i.e.: torture, rape, sex-slavery, forced conversion, murder and genocide), an increase of 14 percent from 2018.”

Many people who have been and are still suffering for their faith have been encouraged by the words of Jesus to the imprisoned John the Baptist.  First, Jesus’s words contained no hint of condemnation of John’s weak faith and doubt.  Instead, we see a God who allowed John to suffer the burden of rejection and persecution now come alongside through His Son Jesus with words of love and encouragement (v. 4-6).

Second, we see Jesus’s response when His ministry faced the burden of ridicule and rejection: He sought comfort in the Spirit of God and in fellowship through prayer with His Father in Heaven (v. 25-26).  And finally, Jesus, as if He is strengthened in His own resolve, lovingly invites all to come to Him by faith to receive relief from heavy burdens He knows we are carrying, and invites us to share in His “easier yoke.”  Jesus says,

Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (v. 28-30).

When we submit to Christ’s “easy yoke” in faith and in recognition of the great burden He bore to purchase our freedom from the curse of sin (2 Corinthians 5: 17), we gain access to His love and strength to bear our own cross for Him.  Jesus reveals Himself as gentle and humble in heart, willing to understand our limitations and to give us a reasonable yoke to bear.  As we submit willingly to His strong presence under His “yoke,” we will actually find “rest for our souls.”  What an amazing truth!  Jesus makes our burdens lighter because He helps us carry them.

Burden Bearing Benefits of Abiding in Christ
The Apostle John as a young disciple of Jesus experienced close-hand Jesus’s great love for His Father in Heaven and for all mankind.  John’s Gospel includes Jesus’s most thorough teaching on burden-bearing obedience to God as an expression of our love for Him (John 15: 9-13).  In his first letter, John explains in warm, personal terms the blessed result of saving faith in Christ:  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5: 3).

The aged Apostle John who penned these words had learned the answer to the apparent contradiction of how a person could find blessedness in burden bearing.  John’s answer, in a word, is “love.”   John wrote in 1 John 4: 19, We love, because He first loved us.  He wrote in 1 John 3: 1, See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. 

How do Christ-followers respond to such great love?  By offering their willing obedience.  Jesus described obedience as “abiding in Him” like branches connected to the True Vine (John 15).  Just as the branches of a grapevine produce fruit from nutrients supplied by the vine, so our abiding in Christ produces in us the fruit of righteousness—i.e. expressed qualities of right-living that please God.  These qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, etc. (Galatians 5: 22-23) are formed in us as we yield to the work of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives.  He is our Helper, Teacher, and Counselor (John 15: 26; 16: 13-15).  As we abide in our Savior, love our Father in Heaven as Jesus loves Him, and rely on God’s Spirit to empower us, God’s love in us becomes blessedness in the midst of the burdensome. 

Remembering the words of the boy carrying his little brother, I can say, “Jesus’s commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5: 3), He’s my Brother.  He’s shown His love for me by dying on His cross, then rising from the dead and sending His Holy Spirit.  Thanks to His Spirit, my Helper, Teacher, and Counselor, I can find His yoke easy and His burden light (Matthew 11: 30).”

How About You?
Maybe you are now carrying heavy physical or emotional burdens.  If we are honest, we have to admit that we all bear burdens of one sort or another.  Some of us bear burdens of our own making by our wrong choices.  Christ-followers remember Jesus’s promise that in the world you will have troubles (John 16: 33a).  Many Christ-followers experience God’s loving nearness most when the burdens are greatest.  In those times, we realize the remainder of Jesus’s promise:  …be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.   Have you experienced peace, relief, and even blessedness during times of heavy burden bearing when you surrendered to Jesus’s yoke?

LOVE: Part 5 - Is God-Fearing Love a Contradiction?

Christianity is unique among all religions of the world.  According to the Bible, God is a living and personal God who created all things and seeks relationship with us through the Gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. This relationship will last for eternity in a real place called Heaven where Christ-followers in new bodies will personally recognize and enjoy relationship with each other for all eternity.   Christianity is also unique in its encouragement of virtues such as unconditional love. 

According to 1 John 4: 16, God is love.  Love (agapeo and phileo) originates from God and is expressed most fully by Christ-followers through a spirit of thankfulness and forgiveness.  I am planning to discuss these elements of love in PART 6 of our series of articles on LOVE.  But first, I want to address an often confusing question; namely, “How can a God of love be a Holy Judge who requires that we approach Him with reverent fear?”  A correct answer to this question is important.  The Bible teaches that we cannot acquire a spirit of thankfulness or express forgiveness to others unless we first learn to approach a holy God with reverent fear and respect.

What Does It Mean to “Fear God?”
The Bible commands us to “fear God.”  This teaching of Judaism and Christianity may be an immediate “turn-off” for you unless you understand what the Scriptures really say about the fear of God.  Moses used the following words, recorded in Deuteronomy 10: 12 (NIV), to underscore the importance of fearing God (emphasis mine):

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…

Notice the sequence Moses uses:  fear --> obey --> love --> serve.  He means that our love for God is made real to God only when we obey His commands in His Word.  In turn, obeying God as willing servants or stewards is grounded in reverent fear of God.  Fear of God allows God’s Spirit to empower Christ-followers to love and serve Him.

One of the purposes of the Old Testament biblical revelations of God was to teach fallen mankind to fear or show reverent respect toward Him.  For example, Moses reacted in great fear of God when he interceded for the people of Israel after they had sinned by worshiping the golden calf.  Moses wrote to Israel and to us, I was afraid of the LORD's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the LORD listened to me.  (Deuteronomy 9: 19, GNT).  The author of the Book of Hebrews writes that when Israel gathered at the base of Mt. Sinai near the presence of God, The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear (Heb. 12: 21).”

Love God…and Fear Him?
But how can a God whose anger and wrath incites great fear be called a God of love.  One explanation is that the word “fear” does not mean that God incites unhealthy fear or terror.  But, try explaining that to Moses!  Based on the writings of Moses, there should be no question that he had learned to “fear God.”

 I have often wondered how a fearsome God can expect us to believe He is a God of love whose commands are worthy of our obedience.  I received my best answer to this question recently when I was checking the electrical circuit breakers in our basement.  Like most “breaker boxes,” ours contains two thick cables that connect electrical power to our home from outside utility lines.  The exposed wire within each cable is anchored to a contact within the breaker box by large screws.  From these contacts, electricity flows to and from individual circuit breakers, each wired into a separate circuit or path of electricity that serves to power individual appliances within our home—e.g. kitchen lights, furnace, etc.  Each circuit is protected by a circuit breaker which can be “thrown” in order to interrupt current flow in the event of an overload.

Knowing what I have just explained about electrical power, you can understand why I “fear” the inside of our breaker box.  I believe my fear is justified.  Touching the bear wires without insulated gloves could prove fatal.

By analogy, my question becomes, “How can I ‘love’ something like electricity that causes fear of death?”  The answer is found in the same sequence as the commands God gave to Moses:   fear --> obey --> love --> serve.  When I base my attitude and behavior on my fear (healthy respect) for electricity and don’t touch the wires, then I have nothing to fear.  As part of God’s creation, electricity “obeys” the laws of His creation.  Therefore, as long as I respectfully follow God’s unchanging laws governing electricity, I am safe from harm.  There are no unwanted surprises and I am free to enjoy, even “love” the benefits of having electricity flowing in and around me in our home.  Likewise, as Moses teaches us in the Scripture cited above, Jehovah God loves us and desires that we learn to love Him in return.  But we can only learn to love God when we first become aware of His awesome power and discipline, and then respond by offering Him our reverent fear and respect.

Fear Those in Authority Over Us
My illustration of a healthy fear and respect for electricity also applies to relationships with human authorities.  The basketball player who has a reverent respect for his or her coach has learned to be respectful because he or she knows the consequences of being disrespectful or lazy.  Athletes who willingly submit to well intended demands of their coaches will often develop a greater love and devotion to them, resulting in a more excellent performance in competition.

When we learn to fear God, we can expect that we will experience God’s love and the benefits of His love and mercy.  Wise King Solomon gave us a major principle at the beginning of the Book of Proverbs:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction. – Proverbs 1:7

Notice that Solomon’s teaching is very much in line with that of Moses.  The progression is: fear --> knowledge --> wisdom --> obedience (implied).   When we submit in reverent respect for God and His Word, our heart and mind are open to receive both knowledge and necessary wisdom to help apply that knowledge in God-honoring obedience.  And, God interprets our obedience as a language of love for Him.  In return, according to the psalmist, God grants us peace of mind.  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them (Psalm 119: 165).

In recent years, we have been struggling as a culture to render necessary fear and respect for those in authority.  News reports frequently report incidences of disrespect and threats of violence toward authority figures including the President of the United States, high court justices, law enforcement officials, and school teachers.  But we should have no reason to be terrified of those in authority unless they we have broken the law.  Law-abiding citizens should know “great peace,” being free from the fear of being arrested.  If we want to live quiet and peacable lives, we ought to obey the law; then, love and pray for law-enforcers who risk their lives daily to protect homes and communities.

No Fear of God Brings a Fateful Future
We should not be surprised by the behavior of those who choose not to fear God and who refuse give Him the reverent respect He deserves.  For example, in Romans 3: 9-18, the Apostle Paul describes the traits of the unrighteous human race as unprofitable with mouths full of cursing, bitterness, and deceit; their feet are quick to shed blood, and the way of peace they have not known.  In 2 Timothy 3: 1-5, Paul elaborates the behavior that will characterize “the last days:”

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

It is clear that those who refuse to submit to God in fear and reverent respect according to the progression of  fear --> knowledge --> wisdom --> obedience (implied), are instead destined to a progression that we might outline as follows:  no fear of God --> rebellion --> foolishness, ignorance of truth --> dysfunctional life (as described above).  Eventually, a godless approach to life leads to hopelessness, despair, and fear. 

In summary, we have explained that fear, or reverent respect, is essential to obeying God and God-ordained authority figures; and also, to obeying laws of nature regarding its potentially harmful aspects like electricity.  Likewise, fear of God motivates respectful obedience to His special revelation (His Word) and His general revelation (e.g. laws of creation regarding electricity).  Our obedience in turn demonstrates our love for God and opens our hearts to His love and peace.  Read 1 John 4: 13-18 which underscores the security that is assured to Christ-followers through God’s Word and the inner voice of His Holy Spirit.


The child of God who is secure in God’s love is empowered to express unconditional love through two actions that uniquely authenticate his or her Christian faith in daily practice; namely, thankfulness and forgiveness.  These virtues will be the subject of my next article, “LOVE: Part 6 - Humbly Received, Graciously Given."

LOVE: Part 4, Dying to Be Loved, Reborn to Love

The Christmas story may be considered the world’s greatest love story—a “true love story.”  According to the Bible, the Greatest Lover, Immanuel, meaning “God with us,” takes on human form, is born of Mary in Bethlehem, lives a sinless life of obedience to His Father in Heaven, and eventually gives His life as the “Lamb of God” to take away the sins of the world.  Today, as I read, study, and write my fourth article about love, I am struck by the breadth and depth and height of God’s love for people like me.

As we noted in Part 1, the love of God is “What the World Needs Most,” but many are looking for love and purpose in life in the wrong places.  In reality, both unconditional love (agape) and friendship love (phileo) originate from “Out of This World” because love originates in God.  Thankfully, we can love others “Because He First Loved Us.”   In fact, God was loving all of us even while we were still sinners, rebels rejecting His pursuing love. 

Although the Bible defines love in words, God’s greater purpose is to demonstrate His love, especially through the Gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Even when Scripture seems to define love, there is action involved.  Romans 5: 8 illustrates God’s love in action (emphasis mine):  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  From this principle, we learn that our love for God and our neighbor should not simply be in words, but in obedient actions.  John the “Apostle whom Jesus loved” challenges us, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth (1 John 3: 18).

What should be our response to the love of God through Jesus Christ?  It can be nothing less than a commitment to give up the right to ourselves so that God can take the throne of our lives.  In short, our response to God’s loving pursuit should be repentance.

My Response to God’s Love:  Repentance
When I come and look upon the Cross of Christ, I see the raw, naked exposure of the horrible consequence of my sin.  There, a holy God motivated by His love for me and for the world, yet unable to overlook sin, placed it upon the perfect God-Man, Jesus Christ.  At the Cross, the penalty of my sin was satisfied at an infinite cost to God—the suffering, abandonment, and death of His beloved Son.  Here was death of the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3: 18).  I can only come to God through faith and repentance. 

Oswald Chambers writes, “The bedrock of Christianity is repentance.  Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God…”  Think of it!  Because we are dead in our sin, we cannot come to repentance on our own.  Nor can we truly repent because we are sorry for our sin; or, because we want to try to live a better life.  Instead, as Chambers adds, “The only explanation of the forgiveness of God and of the unfathomable depth of His forgetting is the Death of Jesus Christ.  Our repentance is merely the outcome (not the cause) of our personal realization of the Atonement which He has worked out for us.”

United in Christ’s Death, Raised in His Likeness:  Atonement
By repentance and confession of sin, we identify with the suffering and death of Christ.  But how do repentance and God’s atonement come about in a person’s life?  The short answer is that God’s Spirit is responsible from beginning to end.  Again, Oswald Chambers explains: “The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Spirit, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life.”  Chambers describes the true repentance which brings our atonement (think “at-one-ment”) with God as follows:  “Conviction of sin, the marvel of forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace.” 

"Then your love for me will be in them, and
I will be in them." - John 17: 26

I do not understand the atonement.  The Apostle Paul illustrates the atoning work of God’s Spirit in terms of our baptism or “submergence” into Christ:   Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?  For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.  And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives (Romans 6: 3-4 NLT).  Having been “born again” through the at-one-ment in Christ, the love and power of His Spirit within us compels us to love and follow Him in obedience.  Chambers concludes, “The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about.”

Set Apart, to Abide in His Love: Sanctification
Although we want to consistently obey, God knows that we still live in earthly bodies that bear the marks of the fall of Adam, prone to wander away from Him and His truth.  But if we have died to sin and become united with Christ in His death, we have all the resources of the Triune God who prays for us, loves us, and teaches us through the Word (Romans 8).  Personally, when I read and meditate on Christ’s intercessory prayer to God the Father, in John 17, I can feel the arms of God around me—arms of protection ready to draw me away from evil, and arms of love to welcome me into God’s love.  For example, in one part of Jesus’s prayer, He asks His Father to make us holy, or sanctify us (set us apart), by His Word (emphasis mine): 

They do not belong to this world any more than I do.  Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.  Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.  And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth (John 17: 16-19 NLT).

In John 15, Jesus calls those who would follow Him to abide in Him, or “remain in Him.” He said, I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15: 5).  This invitation to abide in Jesus is a love-based command to be obedient—i.e. to be a Christ-follower.  It is also an open-arms invitation to join in the loving relationship that has been eternally shared within the fellowship of the Triune God.  Consider this loving invitation in Jesus’s words:  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (John 15: 9-11). 

A Living and Loving Sacrifice, Offered in God’s Temple
I have been thinking much about how the truths of repentance, atonement, and sanctification should affect my day-to-day spiritual walk as a Christ-follower. First, it helps me to remember the Apostle Paul’s strong urging that, in light of the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living (not dead) and holy (not blemished or stained) sacrifice… And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…(Romans 12: 1-2).  Elaborating on the notion of our bodies as a living, holy sacrifice, Paul asks us in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

My second point in attempting to apply God’s atonement in my life hinges on the first.  If my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, then I should be continually asking myself, “Do I regularly strive to be conscious of the presence of God’s Spirit in the temple of my body?”  I think of it this way:  We have all been in a party or reception where we sensed an absence of the values and behavior that we would consider God-honoring.  If we are Spirit-filled, it’s as if we can sense that the Spirit of God is grieved by what is happening.  Conversely, when we are among fellow Christ-followers, the conversation and values being shared should be uplifting.  If so, there ought to be a bond among us based on our common joy in the love of Christ. 

What is my point?   It is this:  My thoughts, words, and actions should be such that my body and life as God’s temple are a pleasant sanctuary for the Holy Spirit to live within—not like a party or reception with an atmosphere that is godless and grievous to the Holy Spirit.

In summary to this fourth article on real love, God invites us to come to the Cross of Christ as revealed in the Gospels.  There, we stand in awe before this horrible scene of suffering and death where God’s justice was met and satisfied by His mercy and love.  There, God’s Spirit does His work--the conviction of sin in our life that brings repentance and the formation of the Son of God as we are “born again.”  With a new heart and Master, we continually exercise the spiritual disciplines (prayer, time in the Word, fellowship, and service) necessary to maintain our body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

 Chris Tomlin’s added refrain to the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” is a fitting prayer of submission and repentance that leads to forgiveness and the embrace of God’s love:

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless
Your name

How About You?  We are all “dying to be loved” whether we realize it or not.  May your response and mine be to die to sin and self-ish-ness, and be renewed in the power of God’s Spirit.  Maybe you have never come to the Cross of Christ in repentance and confession that you are a lost sinner in need of forgiveness of your sin.  If not, may I refer you to Steps to Peace with God which explains how you can become a Christ-follower according to the Bible? Then, you can experience the greatest Gift of Christmas, Immanuel—“God with us.”  God with you!  God in you--through His abiding Holy Spirit.  And, if you have questions, please contact me at silviusj@cedarville.edu

LOVE: Part 3 – Because He First Loved Us

Welcome to Part 3 from my personal study and meditation on the love of God for mankind and for His creation.  As the songwriter expressed so well, all of us have a longing for “love, sweet love…” that which the world seems to “have so little of.”

In LOVE Part 1: “What the World Needs Most,” we considered the emptiness that results when we seek love apart from God.  But when we yield to God’s pursuit of us, we experience real love and are transformed by it.  We stop worshiping ourselves and plunge by faith into the infinite sea of God’s great love.  When we have become immersed (“baptized”) in God’s love through His Holy Spirit, all thoughts of ourselves being a source of love begin to dissolve away and our whole disposition changes.  

LOVE Part 2: “It’s Out of This World” pointed us toward God as the ultimate source of unconditional (agape) love.  John opens his Gospel with the claim that God’s Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1: 14).  “The Word” is God incarnated as Jesus Christ Who came to Earth over 2,000 years ago to show us God’s love and to save us from our sins.  Today, God reveals His love both through the inspired Word contained in the Bible (e.g. 1 John 4: 7-10) and through the amazing form and function of His creation (Romans 1: 20). 

Sunflower heads orient in the direction of the sun.

 God’s love comes to Earth like pure rays of sunlight after traveling 90 million miles—literally, from “out of this world.”  Sunlight warms the planet, causes plants to grow, and supplies food and oxygen essential for life.  Just as life on Earth depends on energy from an outside source, we cannot be alive spiritually and be lavishers of love unless we are transformed by the light of God’s truth and love as revealed in the Scriptures.

God’s lavished love still manifests itself through transformed lives of Christ-followers.  As we explained in LOVE Part 2, God transforms the life of each lost sinner when he or she hears the Gospel (“Good News”), realizes their “heredity of sin” (Romans 3: 23), and chooses to die to “self” and be “born again” through union with Christ (Romans 6: 1-14).  It is God’s love and grace that draws the sinner to hear and respond by faith to the light of Truth (Ephesians 2: 8-9). 

When God’s love works in our lives, we honor Christ and His Gospel in the sight of others who need God’s saving love (1 Peter 3: 15).  Now, we will discuss how God’s lavished love transforms us into lovers of Him and our neighbor.  The key to our spiritual transformation is hinted at in the title of this article, “LOVE Part 3: Because He First Loved Us.”

The apostle John wrote, We love because He first loved us (1 John 4: 19).  If we believe John’s claim to be true, then how exactly does God’s love transform us and enable us to lavish His love on the people and the creation He loves?  The answer is evident when we consider John’s statement, “because He loved us first.”

First, John’s use of the word “because” suggests that we ought to love God out of a realization of all God has done to redeem us.”  The Apostle John was moved to exclaim, See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are! (1 John 3: 1).

Our realization of God’s love is elevated to obligation when we read 1 John 4: 11:  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  This ought brings moral significance because it commands us to assign value to God and to other people with whom we associate.  The moral and ethical reason for loving God and our neighbor is confirmed by the command in 1 John 1: 6, Love means doing what God has commanded us, and He has commanded us to love one another….  Our love is only registered in God’s eyes when we obey His commands.

But there is a third element of our “motivation” to love besides realization and obligation.  The word “because” in 1 John 4: 19 also suggests that God gives Christ-followers an inner compulsion to love—i.e. “we love because we cannot help but love.”  When we come to the Cross of Calvary, realize Christ’s sacrifice for us, and obey God’s command to “love one another as I have loved you,” God’s Spirit creates an inner compulsion to love as He loves us.  The Apostle Paul wrote that Christ’s love compels us because we are convinced… he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Corinthians 5: 14-15).

Philippians 2: 12-13 combines all three “motivations” for loving—realization, obligation, and compulsion (emphasis mine):

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

According to verse 12, if we obey God’s command (“work out your salvation”) in the daily situations of life, He “wills and works” His good pleasure within us.  Oswald Chambers wrote,* “God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly.”  As we take up His cross (or “yoke”) and bear it daily and lovingly, we are not alone.  We bear it in partnership with Jesus Christ (Matthew 11: 28-30).  The Holy Spirit in turn enables us to experience our Father’s love and good pleasure, and to share His love with others.  Therefore, Christ’s claim is true: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (11: 30).

Because of our willing submission to God, His love and power can work within us, producing fruit of the Spirit (i.e. love, joy, etc. according to Galatians 5: 22-23) that is pleasing to Him and attractive to our neighbor.  Again, by our analogy of sunlight, when the Sun’s rays warm the soil in the Spring, seeds sprout and seedlings emerge into the light through what botanists call a positive phototropic response.  That is, each seedling takes in the light energy and grows “in obedience” toward the light.  As tiny leaves enlarge in response to light, they intercept more light.  By the time the seedling has grown into a mature plant, it has accumulated enough energy and nutrient resources so that it can bear fruit.  We might say, obedient pursuit of the light (input of God’s love) leads to abundant fruit-bearing (supernatural output of love).

We can see that humble submission is a key to receiving and sharing God’s love.  Jesus used a “seed analogy” to teach how we must die to self in order to receive new spiritual life and growth.  We must be like a seed that falls to the ground and dies to itself (i.e. gives up its food reserves for the embryo) in order to enable the seedling to emerge from the soil (John 12: 24).  In John 15: 7-14 Jesus uses another plant analogy: “the vine and the branches.”  Speaking to Christ-followers, Jesus says in essence, You are like branches and if you obediently remain grafted into Me (Jesus) and receive my love, you will be filled and compelled to express My love to God and to your neighbor—even to the extent of giving up your life if necessary. 

In summary, we have considered how it is that God’s love transforms us and enables us to lavish His love on the people and things He loves.  The Apostle John’s point is this-- We love because He first loved us (1 John 4: 19).  If we respond in obedience to God’s love as He commands us, we are in fact showing evidence of our love for Him.  We will also realize that love does not ultimately come from us; it is from God as a fruit of His Spirit abiding and working in us.

While He commanded that we love Him, Jesus also knew what was in men’s hearts (John 2: 24).  Jesus knows that my heart is very prone to forget or deny His truth and great love.  I am prone to deny my Savior in thought, word, and deed.  Also, perhaps like you, I frequently face people and situations that challenge my ability to love unselfishly and witness unashamedly.  Therefore, I have been studying other passages of Scripture that teach what God expects of me in regard to his love.  In “LOVE Part 4: Dying to Be Loved,” we will consider how focusing on the Cross of Christ and His great sacrifice for us magnifies the holiness and judgment of God, and even more, the great love of God.

How About You?
Is there a point in your life where you surrendered to the claims of Christ and asked Him to forgive you and be your Savior?  If not, I refer you to Steps to Peace with God which will explain how you can become a Christ-follower.  Without Christ, you are dead in sin, cut off from the vine which provides spiritual nourishment needed to yield the fruit of the Spirit in your life.  In your unsaved condition, you are facing judgment for your sin and the “wages” of eternal separation from God (Romans 6: 23).  Romans 8: 6-7 states that those who are not at peace with God remain hostile toward Him because their minds are not "tuned" to the Spirit of God].  In fact, according to Romans 8: 7-8, they are not even able to do so... 

Maybe you have received Christ but your spirit (your "receiver" or "antenna") needs to be tuned again to the voice of God's Spirit speaking to you through His Word, or friends, or circumstances.  Ask God to help you turn again to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1: 9).  Then, as a Christ-follower, when you open your Bible and read, God’s Spirit will go to work to make your spirit and mind receptive to the Scriptures, and to give you understanding of the truth you are reading.  When you are receptive to that truth, God’s Spirit will empower you to respond to the Scripture for reproof, for correction, [and] for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3: 16).  When God’s Spirit can freely guide your mind and will, He will produce in you the fruit of His love so that you can love God and your neighbor as He intends.  If you have questions, please contact me at silviusj@cedarville.edu
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*Oswald Chambers. 1935.  My Utmost for His Highest, September 20 (Dodd, Mead, & Co., New York, NY.)

Our Stewardship Is about God, Not Us

Stewardship is an increasingly common word that pops up in a variety of contexts. In church settings, of course, “stewardship” is often associated with a sermon to challenge the local body to fulfill its responsibility to give generously in support of the ministries of the church. Meanwhile, conservationists are now using expressions such as “land stewardship,” “water stewardship, and “Earth stewardship.” It seems that “stewardship” is one of those topics like “mother and apple pie.” Who can be opposed to it?

Yet, many who are familiar with the word "stewardship" may have only a vague understanding of its deeper meaning and significance. The Judeo-Christian Scriptures provide the only true basis for stewardship because they are based on objective revelation of God Who is Creator and Owner of creation and has appointed mankind to be stewards of creation (Genesis 1: 26-28; 2:15). The Bible also is rich with examples of godly stewards whose role it was to oversee the possessions and affairs of an owner. Joseph’s life in Egypt is recounted in Genesis 37-50, and Daniel’s life in Babylon and Persia is recorded in the book of Daniel.

The Apostle Paul states that “it is required of stewards (Greek: oikonomos) that one be found trustworthy.” The good steward is bound by duty to manage that which doesn’t belong to him or her, and does so out of a virtuous disposition characterized by trustworthiness, faithfulness, industriousness, and so on. The Apostle Paul, in Colossians 3, expands the concept of stewardship much beyond simply the act of placing money into the offering plate. He states in verse 3, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men...”

How then does a person become a faithful steward? From a biblical perspective, what are the elements of good stewardship in each sphere of our lives—at home, at church, at work, and in the local and global community (See Oikonomia, September 30, 2011)? Each of these spheres operates as a definable “system” of inter-working parts, like a household, or (in Greek) oikos. Along this line of thinking, it is necessary that we learn from spiritual instruction to understand our place and role as submissive stewards toward Almighty God as we serve within the household of His creation. Our stewardship of the physical world around us, is further informed through study of the natural science of ecology (oikos + logos: “the study of the workings of the oikos, house). In addition, the social science of economics (Greek, oikos + nomos) emphasizes the management and distribution of goods and services that are developed out of the rich stores of energy and matter of creation?

Recently, while pondering the elements of good stewardship, I was enlightened by a radio message by Chuck Bentley of Crown Financial Services. In his October 17, 2011 podcast of My MoneyLife, Mr Bentley, states that “stewardship is about God, not you. And specifically, it’s about fulfilling God’s purposes for your life.” In other words, the good steward has a God-centered perspective, not a self-centered one. Back in the 1970's, this God-centered concept was nicely illustrated by Bill Bright, now with the Lord, in his widely used “Four Spiritual Laws” tracts as part of the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

To me, the Scriptural teaching that lays a good foundation for faithful stewardship is found in Romans 1. In verse 16, the Apostle Paul holds up the Gospel, the good news that Christ died for sinners (rebellious, self-centered stewards) and has the power to bring all who will acknowledge their sin and alienation back to God. Verse 17 states that the Gospel reveals the righteousness which is from God, and explains that we are made righteous not by works but by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Verse 18-19 lament the denial and refusal of many to respond to the truth of the Gospel, being without excuse because of God’s clear revelation in creation. Finally, verse 20 points at the very element necessary for anyone to please God--i.e. be reconciled to Him and exercise faithful, God-centered stewardship. This verse states that,

Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks... – Romans 1:20a

As Bill Bright and Chuck Bentley emphasized, stewardship is not based on a self-centered perspective, but upon a God-centered perspective. The God-centered perspective begins as verse 20 states, with giving “honor to Him as God” out of a thankful heart. Honor begins in a daily prayer and walking relationship with God that is guided by our study and meditation in the Word of God under the teaching of the Spirit of God Who intercedes for us (Romans 8: 26). God’s Spirit helps us to apply the truths of Scripture [which] is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (II Timothy 3: 16).”

So, we can see that godly stewardship requires that we honor Him as God; or, as Proverbs 1:7 states, The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge (Amplified Bible). God will help us to develop a God-centered relationship which provides for further knowledge, wisdom, and obedience to His Word. To this foundation for stewardship there must be added additional elements necessary for the steward to live in obedience within the spheres of life noted above. One of these is the need to understand the context within which our stewardship must be exercised. This context includes both the authority structure ordained by God and God’s created order which we are called to study and understand (i.e. oikos + logos, or ecology) and to manage with honesty and integrity (oikos + nomos, or economics). We will discuss these aspects further in future blog entries.