Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
New Testament Love
The message of God’s love and grace never loses its power.
I am the disciple whom Jesus loves. Period.
One thing that God really put back into my life this term was the knowledge of God’s love. The concept of what new covenant love means. Showing me that love has been given unconditionally for those who call upon His name. It is love that has been granted at the cost of God’s best.
If God gave us His best, would he with hold the rest? It is God’s love that captivates those who have yet to experience a relationship with God.
I’ve been re-learning what Ephesian says about really understanding how wide, how long and how deep the love of God is. And in my brokenness and failure this term; in my self-pity and shame God revealed his love to me again. As I’ve been maturing in my knowledge from God’s word, I’ve acknowledged that God’s Sovereignty and Holiness is way above Love. However, somehow along the way — I lost sight of why God created us. Which is really out of love. It was humbling.
It’s amazing, that John refers to himsefl as “John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Because John gets it. He understands that God’s grace (John means ‘grace’ in root form) is manifested in his unwaivering love for us. John has grasped just the tip of the iceberg of what Love is.
There are two main Characters that the Bible always compares — Peter and John. And Peter is always out to prove how much he Loves Jesus. But John is always out there to claim how much Jesus loves him. The latter, is profound.
I want to point you guys to two verses that has really challenged me.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
- 1 John 3:16
This is love: Not that we loved God. But that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- 1 John 4:10
God taught us how to love, by giving his Son for us. And it’s amazing cause the way we measure how much we love something, is manifested through what we are willing to give up. God gave up His son. His only Son. His beloved Son. He’s reminded me that I’ve made a dedication to give up everything for God, and also my fellow brothers.
It has really healed me in so many ways, and also helped me conquer Satan in powerful powerful ways. Knowing that we are all God’s beloved.