The Love of God

“God is love” is a saying many use (and misuse). Even more seem to not understand what love truly is. Love is an action word. Many in the world today apparently believe love is a passive feeling. True love requires action. Easter shows us perfect love as we see in John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Christmas gives us the hope that Easter fulfilled because Easter is not possible without Christmas and Christmas has no true meaning without Easter. As with all things of God, the secular world has twisted both times of the year to obscure their meanings.

In Christmas, we see the birth of the King of Kings in fulfillment of prophesy. I will write more of Jesus’s life in future blog entries but, for now, this entry confines itself to Easter. To understand Easter, we must first understand the Passover. (Read Exodus 12:1-14 - this is a bit of reading so prepare yourself). This was the event that caused Pharoah to release the children of Israel from bondage to Egypt. The death angel would only pass over houses which had the blood of a perfect lamb applied to the door post. All others (Egyptian and Hebrew alike) would suffer the death of the first born son in the household. While Israel had its physical freedom, it suffered from spiritual bondage regularly over its history. This is an affliction all men and women suffer from. As can be seen in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The only means by which this spiritual death could be avoided is through another sacrifice. This sacrifice would come through another perfect Lamb named Jesus. Jesus said in John 15: 12-13, "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That is why John 1:29 was significant which says, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." It is through Jesus’s birth, ministry, death, and resurrection that we have hope. It is important to note that Jesus willingly went to be crucified. Read Matthew chapter 26 to see how Judas betrayed Jesus as well as the response at that time by disciples. This contains one of the accounts where one of those who came to take Jesus, whose name is revealed to be Malchus in the John chapter 18 account, has his ear cut off by Peter. It is at this time that Jesus says in Matthew 26: 53-54, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" Isaiah chapter 53 gives a perfect prophecy of Jesus, especially verse 7 which says, "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

Much can (and has been) be said about the crucifixion of Jesus. We could go through all of the events that led up to His death. I would suggest you read all of the events that transpired during that time. The thing to keep in mind through it all is that he went through it willingly. At any time, He could have stopped it. When praying in the garden beforehand, he said in Matthew 26:39, "And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." The view of love to many is that one should always “feel” good because of it. There is a famous line that says, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” This is not true. Love means putting others before yourself. Love means desiring what is best for others. It does NOT mean always agreeing with the object of that love. Parents love their children (in general but, unfortunately, we can see too many examples of this not being true) but will punish them when they do something that could be harmful. If a good parent sees a child about to touch a hot stove, that parent will not allow the child to do so because it is obviously harmful. The same can be said of a parent seeing a child playing in a busy street or getting too close to an animal that may not be friendly. The good parent will inflict some form of pain (whether physical or oral) to try to teach the child about things that can be detrimental to the child’s health or wellbeing. Love can mean telling someone that certain actions he or she may be taking can be dangerous. But, love is always signified by action. Jesus exemplified true love by laying down His life so that we, if we believe in Him (what that means will be discussed in a later blog), can truly have life and have it more abundantly. His act was truly selfless. His desire was to follow the will of the Father and to give us all the chance to truly KNOW Him.

His act of LOVE showed what is required of us all. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." It can be seen the change in the disciples after Jesus’s death and resurrection. Before the crucifixion, the disciples regularly did not fully comprehend Jesus’s mission even though they knew He was a teacher and, after it was revealed to them by the Father, the Son of God (see Matthew 16). After Jesus died and rose again followed by the Day of Pentecost (this will also be discussed later), they changed greatly. When Jesus was going through the events of His crucifixion, they scattered. Afterward, they would boldly proclaim His word throughout the land without concern for their safety. They would face imprisonment, beatings, and threats of death gladly. It is when we truly allow Him to enter our lives that we can have true joy even while enduring what the secular world may call dire circumstance. Jesus was following the plan of His Father which was formed before the foundation of the world. This can be seen from when Jesus was 12 years old. Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and others went to Jerusalem. Everyone started back to their home but Jesus who stayed behind. When His parents saw he was not with them, they went looking for Him. They found Him listening and asking questions in the Synagogue. Mary started questioning him about why he left and He answered her in Luke 2:49, "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He was ALWAYS working to fulfill the Father’s will on Earth. Jesus’s love gave all of mankind the hope of life. It gave us all the means to escape the consequences of our sins, but only if we truly LOVE Him. So, the question becomes, who do you love?