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

God's Not Fixin', He's Transformin'

In the 1960’s, rapid societal transformations, assassinations, race riots, and other factors caused many people to ask, “Is God Dead?”  Some answered, “Yes.”  Others reacted defensively in ways that showed little Christian gentleness toward their neighbor and little reverence for God.  Still others did nothing to defend their faith, nor did they encourage those who were seeking meaning and purpose in life.  Meanwhile, on April 15, 1965, the song by Jackie DeShannon, "What the World Needs Now Is Love," was released with music composed by Burt Bacharach.  The lyrics by Hal David resembled the message of many in the 1960’s who perhaps could not voice their need as well:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of…

As time passed, what some called the "moral majority" was replaced by a "secular majority."  Today, America appears to be moving toward an "immoral" or "agnostic/atheistic majority." More and more Americans support the removal of prayer and all vestiges of God and Jesus Christ from our schools, colleges, and communities.  After all, why pray to a God Who either doesn’t care or doesn’t even exist?  Or why turn to a God that would allow so many to experience personal and environmental tragedies?

This morning, following the tragic attack on the social services center in San Bernardino, CA, the NY Daily News used its front cover to mock presidential candidates who encouraged Americans to pray for loved ones of those killed or injured by the attackers.  The headline, “God Isn’t Fixing This,” allows that God may still be alive, but implies He should be blamed for “not fixing the problem.”  I suggest that another headline might be more appropriate—“Americans Are Not Listening to God.”

Many Christians have been quick to point fingers at those we deem responsible for the moral decline in America.   Our standard lines have been much like the ones I used above-- lines like: “Well what do you expect? They’ve taken God and prayer out of our schools.”  Christians also point to the courts of our land which have disregarded the sanctity of human life and the institution of marriage as defined in the Bible.  Throw in our access to social media, and some, including this writer at times, can be anything but “gentle and reverent” when we enter into “discussions” about political and social issues.  Pointing our fingers or trying to win arguments may give our conscience a sense of relief, but it does little to solve the problems.  Nor does it encourage those who wonder if God exists, and if so, what their responsibility is toward Him.

Lately, I have been thinking much about my own spiritual life, my values and priorities, and my responsibilities toward my wife, family, neighbor, church, and community.   Some of this thinking has been reflected in Oikonimia and is included in the following blog articles:

Individual Accountability and Spiritual Awakening
Local Churches and Spiritual Awakening
Christianity Shines in Dark Places
Do You Reckon God Is Real?
Learning How to Respect and Exercise Authority
How Do You P-R-A-Y This Thanksgiving?

Besides thinking and writing, I have been “listening” to what God is saying in His Word.  Rather than be surprised to read a headline like “God Isn’t Fixing This” or condemning those who think it is true, I’ve been learning more about how God has already done His part to “fix it.”  The Apostle John tells us how much God has done, sending His only Son to do more than “fix it.”  Jesus came so that anyone, by faith in His death, burial, and resurrection, could have the gift of new Life—to be “born again” as  a“new creature” so that the old passes away, and all things are new in us (John 3; 2 Corinthians 5: 17). 

As God’s children, we have the privilege of daily communion with our Heavenly Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit to walk along side us as our Helper (John 14: 26).  If we are reborn spiritually and walking in communion with God, His Spirit speaks to our souls,“Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4: 6).  And in response to the Spirit within us, we join Him in exclaiming with warm, endearing affection and worship, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8: 15).  In this loving resonance between the Father God and His child, love, faith, and eternal hope are affirmed.

Having God’s nearness to us; yes, even His presence within our hearts ought to encourage us to praise and thank Him for not only “fixing us,” but transforming us.  We are, or can, by faith (see Romans 10: 8-11), be new creatures in Christ.  We can have a new internal disposition toward our neighbor and the world around us.   Living such transformed lives anytime, especially during this season of Advent and Christmas ought to be such that Peter’s words in 1 Peter 3:14-15 describe what God can do through us:

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness,
you are blessed.
And do not fear their intimidation,
and do not be troubled,
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts,
always being ready to give an answer
to everyone who asks you to give an account
for the hope that is in you,
yet with gentleness and reverence…

God is not dead.  Nor is He hard of hearing.  He has done His part to “fix it” and then some!  Now it’s our turn as God’s children by faith, and as members of God’s Church, the “body of Christ,” to live so that Peter’s command applies to us--being ready to suffer fearlessly when God’s righteousness is offensive; and yet, being ready to answer others who ask why we are hopeful when so many people are hopeless, yet with “gentleness and reverence.”

But how can we give an answer for the hope that is within us in a culture that is increasingly dark, defensive, and even dangerous as many fellow Christians can testify if they haven’t been martyred already?  I like the example provided in Acts 17 by the Apostle Paul when he addressed the Greek philosophers and teachers of his day.  When Paul observed stone statues in Athens erected in honor of many different Greek gods but not to the God of Christianity, He chose not to insult them.  Instead, he acknowledged that they were very religious because they worshipped many gods in hopes of appeasing all the gods that exist.  But Paul then said to them while pointing to the statue erected “'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD:'

The Apostle Paul introduces Greeks to the "Unknown God"

Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;  nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;  for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, “For we also are His children.” Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.  Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17: 23-31).

In response to this oration from Paul, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this (Acts 17: 32)." Later, Paul’s epistles to the churches referenced many among the Greeks who had put their faith in God and had become leaders in the movement that would soon  sweep across the Roman Empire and northern Europe, and lay the foundation for the positive influence of Christianity in the Western Hemisphere.  

If God could “turn the world upside down” through the lives of the few followers of Christ in the first century, can he not bring revival to our whole troubled world?  Maybe it is already beginning.  Jesus has already given the call (Luke 9: 23):  If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

The world may ask, “Is God, ‘fixing this,’ or isn’t He?”  We who know Christ should ask, “Am I a faithful steward where God has placed me, or not?”

Comment if you please:  What do you find most difficult to bear in today’s world?  How have you found help through your faith?   What particular helps or suggestions can you offer to those of us who want to grow in faith and stewardship of time, material resources, and abilities?

Dealing with Dangerous Weapons – Guns, Cell Phones…What Else?

Our Advent Wreath and Candles

During this holiday season, I have been impressed by a series of “Christmas contrasts.”  First, Christmas lights have seemed brighter when they are surrounded by the deepest darkness.   Second, Christmas Joy and Hope have been more assuring to me in the midst of our nation’s troubling economic and political climate.  And third, Christmas songs of peace and the promises of Christ’s return have fortified me when I was made aware of several tragic events in the news and then faced some disappointing happenings like we all face in the holiday season.

But sharp contrasts have been part and parcel of Christmas since the joy of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds at Jesus’ birth was punctuated by the murderous threat of King Herod.  I am reminded of the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the third stanza of the old hymn, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day:”

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Why is it that even in the season of peace on Earth we find so many intrusions by events that remind us that hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth, good will to men?  Perhaps those who favor gun control are right.  When we control or even eliminate guns perhaps that will eliminate murder.  But, let’s see—then we’d also have to eliminate other potentially dangerous tools like clubs, knives, and even matches.  Then what about drugs and poisons, and why not eliminate the big soft drinks and foods with trans-fats.  Finally, we almost forgot the most dangerous weapon of all.  This weapon, our tongue, is according to the apostle James one that is humanly impossible to control (James 3: 5).  Short of surgical removal, how can this dangerous member be controlled?

James 4: 1 provides an answer:

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
Is not the source your desire for pleasures
that wage war in your members?

Spiritual warfare within us erupts in the form of fighting and quarreling (v. 2) and by an uncontrolled tongue (James 3: 1-12).  All of these expressions in one combination or another have been part of human strife since Adam uttered blame toward Eve for his sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3: 12), and Adam’s son Cain killed his brother Abel.  

The weapons for killing have advanced over the years from clubs to semi-automatics and aerial drones.  What we have stated elsewhere in Oikonomia (“No Gun Control without Self Control” should be obvious.  We must address the deeper cause of violence, the human heart.  Jesus set a higher standard than the Old Testament law, “Thou shall not murder.”   He pointed us to the same “war within our members” that we have just read from the pen of His half-brother James.  Jesus said (emphasis mine):

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother
shall be guilty before the court;
and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,'
shall be guilty before the supreme court… -- Matthew 5: 22

Notice that Jesus is pointing out the “early warnings” in a progression beginning with anger and hateful speech that could lead to fighting and even murder;.  These warnings from the Lord Jesus are even more important in our present culture.  Just as the weapons for killing become more advanced and plentiful, so also the vehicles to spread hateful words have advanced from simply word-of-mouth to the printed page to telecommunications and the internet .  Whereas, it once required weeks or months to spread damaging speech from continent to continent, it can now occur within seconds!   

Justine Sacco, while traveling by airplane from London to South Africa, launched a few careless words on Twitter about the AIDS crisis in Africa.   While her plane was still flying toward Cape Town, her words were being retweeted thousands of times and was picked up by media outlets around the world!  The fiery exchanges that resulted from the tiny spark from Sacco’s phone has led to her firing as a communications director, in spite of her apology.   

Just before Christmas,

If James’ warning in the first century about the tongue is to be taken seriously, how much more in the internet age should we heed the starkness of its warning that

the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity;
the tongue is set among our members
as that which defiles the entire body,
and sets on fire the course of our life,
and is set on fire by hell. – James 3: 6

But, knowing and accepting the warnings of Scripture is only the beginning.  We must recognize and confess our own sinful nature as also described in Scripture; then, surrender to the lordship of Christ and profess faith in His atoning death for us.  In marvelous return, God will fill us with His Holy Spirit Who will then help us to gain victory over the “deeds of the flesh” which are listed in Galatians  5: 19-21 including “…impurity [and] outbursts of anger….”  In place of these evil deeds, the Spirit produces fruit of righteousness including “…love, joy, peace, patience…self control…” (Galatians 5: 22-23).

If the above teaching of Scripture sounds simple, it is not.  God knows as does the disciplined Christian that the pursuit of self-control and control of the tongue is a continual progression of climbing and falling, and sinning and confessing (I John 1: 9).  In regard to this difficulty, James adds the following:

For we all stumble in many ways.
If anyone does not stumble in what he says,
he is a perfect man,
able to bridle the whole body as well. – James 3: 2

James issues another stark warning (James 3: 1) out of his recognition that Christian maturity requires time and patience to develop:

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren,
knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

Because the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity…and is set on fire by hell the Spirit emphasizes through James that the pulpit, platform, and microphone are not to be given to those who cannot control their tongue; nor should undisciplined believers undertake such responsibility.   God is not honored by leaders in church or school who do not demonstrate self-control and the other fruit of the Spirit.  The body of Christ in a church setting or in an educational institution is taught and edified when the preacher or teacher is a godly “professor” of his or her faith.   A “professor” is one whose behavior matches his or her words; one who professes by both lips and life.

God’s plan is that the body of Christ on Earth will be the shining example, or what the Puritans called “a shining city on a hill” for the world to see and be drawn to Christ themselves.  But, as we’ve noted above, the victory is only assured by a daily disciplined effort in which we submit to God’s authority, confess or sins, and pursue His peace and joy.  If we offend another person or persons, God makes a provision that we should take seriously:

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar,
and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your offering there before the altar and go;
first be reconciled to your brother,
and then come and present your offering.  – Matthew 5: 22-23

This formula for reconciliation applies to both the offended and the one offending.  However, this formula is also a test of our humility.  The proud person refuses to “leave the altar” or his or her religious activity, but waits for another person to come to them.  However, many of us can testify that obeying this biblical teaching will surely end days or even years of grief and separation from God and from our neighbor.  Forgiveness and reconciliation brings the peace and joy God intends for us.

Peace on Earth at Christmas or at any time of the year will not come by surrendering our guns or knives. Nor can we blame our tongues, cell phones, or social media, each of which can be useful tools to build up one another.  Rather, we must address the source of our quarrels and strife – a prideful heart that ought to submit to the authority and work of God’s Spirit.  May God help us to be peacemakers and builders as we surrender our hearts to Him so that

… out of the good treasure of our heart
we can bring forth what is good…
for our mouth speaks from that which fills our hearts.

 – Luke 6: 45