Month: June 2017

The foundation of our love for others is a revelation of God’s love for us. The most important question in your life is not how much you love others or even how much you love God. It is how much do you think God loves you. Everything flows from this. Once we grasp and fully understand how much God loves us and allow that love to transform our lives, we are in a much better place to reach out in love to those around about us. In contrast, when we are unaware of God’s love for us, we can tend to relate to others from a point of need, seeking to get them to fill the emptiness in our own lives, an approach that often leads to disappointment and even dysfunction in relationships. Deep inside every human heart are all sorts of longings – for acceptance, for approval, for a sense of identity, for a sense of belonging, and for significance. We will do anything to fulfill these longings and desires within us. Ultimately, as St Augustine once said, “O Lord, our hearts our restless until they rest in thee.”

The Father’s Love
We come to God through Jesus – the One who is our Saviour and Lord. He came to earth, lived a perfect life, then died on a cross so that we could be forgiven and become children of God. Jesus described himself as “the way” – the way to the Father. Through Jesus we come to know God as our Father (John 1:11-13). The Holy Spirit then comes to live inside of us and fill us with the Father’s love so that His love is the foundation of our lives (Romans 5:5. Ephesians 3:14-19). It is so important that we fully consider the amazing love that God has for each one of us – not just in our heads (knowledge), but deep in our hearts (experience). This love of the Father for us is even greater than the love he has for us as our Creator (Psalm 139:1-18). John puts it this way: “How great is the 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 Foundation
Because of sin in our world and the disruption of the dance of loving community modeled by the Trinity, we often end up founding our life on anything BUT God’s love. Things such as rejection, fear, shame, inferiority, hurt, pride and jealousy can so easily take root, tainting our own heart and also those we are in relationship with. By God’s grace, we need to see these things removed from our heart and replaced with God’s limitless love. See yourself as the “the beloved” of God. “In Christ” you have identity and significance (to replace inferiority), value and worth (to replace performance-orientation), acceptance (to free you from approval addiction), security (to free you from fear), and purpose (to free you from meaninglessness).

Think of the many people in the Bible who were completely transformed, not by their own goodness or by anything they did, but simply by a revelation of God’s love for them – a depressed and suicidal prophet named Elijah, a Samaritan woman with five broken marriages, a hated tax collector named Zaccheus, a failed disciple named Peter, a prodigal son, a dying criminal next to Jesus on the cross, and even a religious zealot like Paul. Love made the change.

Loving Others
As we experience a greater fullness in our own heart and lives because of the love of God, we will find it easier to love those around about us. It will be an outflow of the love we already have in our hearts. Even Jesus was given an affirmation of the Father’s love for him just as he began his ministry (Mark 1:9-11). He knew he was “the beloved” – loved by God the Father.

As we receive God’s love into our heart we begin to accept ourselves, even in our imperfect and frail state. This enables us to obey the second great commandment, which is to “love your neighbour as yourself.” Many people struggle to love others because in reality they hate themselves and have no love inside to give out freely to others. There is an old song (1985) by Bill and Gloria Gaither with a lyric that says this: “I am loved, I am loved, I can risk loving you, for the One who knows me best loves me most … we are free to love each other, we are loved.” Unless we truly know that WE are loved, we will find it difficult to truly love others.

Receive God’s Love
The cross is the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us: “God so loved the world (you and me) that he gave his only Son … (John 3:16).” Jesus said that there was no greater love than for someone to lay down their life for their friends. He did that … for you. God’s love is not just for everybody in general but for you specifically, as an individual – just as you are, warts and all.

Wayne Jacobsen in his book He Loves Me! says this, “Two thousand years of religious tradition have inculcated in us the mistaken notion that God’s love is something we earn. If we do what pleases him, he loves us; if not, he doesn’t. Giving that up isn’t easy. Moving from a performance-based religious ethic to a relationship deeply rooted in the Father’s affection is no small transition.” He goes on to say, “Nothing in this book has any value if it is just an intellectual argument, or if it only spawns a theology of God’s love. It has meaning only if you can learn how to live loved – to awaken to each new day confident that the Father delights over you like a parent over his newborn child.” Finally, as Brennan Manning says, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.” He goes on to say, “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”

Reflection Questions:

1. Consider your natural father. How has your relationship with him (or lack of it) influenced your understanding of God?
2. Reflect on the concept of ‘self-acceptance’. What does it mean for us as children of God?
3. Read Ephesians 3:14-19. What are indicators that our lives are increasingly founded on God’s love for us? What would be indicators that our lives lack this foundation?
4. How can we balance accepting and being kind to ourselves (through faith and grace) while also seeking to grow and change to be more like Jesus (character development)?
5. Read and discuss the quotes by Wayne Jacobson and Brennan Manning above then pray for a greater revelation of how much you are loved by God.

Next: The Priority of Love (Part 4) – Awkward Love

Relationships in Turmoil
Despite the fact that there are many good things happening in our world today, it doesn’t take a lot of insight to realize that we are a time of turmoil – especially in our relationships. At our very core, human beings are relational creatures. We have this tendency to ‘herd’ – to want to be together with other people. Deep inside, we have longings for belonging, for acceptance, for love, for intimacy and for meaning – all of which are found in a relationship with others. Yet despite our obvious need and our best efforts, there is evidence of fractured, broken and dysfunctional relationships everywhere: between and within nations, in the marketplace, in families, and even in the church.

The apostle John, one of Jesus’ closest followers, faced similar challenges in his lifetime. The Roman Empire of his day was ruthless, harsh and abusive, creating fear in every citizen’s heart. Even in the church, there were tensions, divisions, and conflicts. The threats from the inside were as great as the persecution from the outside. John was a pastor placed over a number of church congregations. What could he say? How would he address these relational problems? Let’s reads some of his words, no doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [1 John 4:7-11. NIV]

For John, the remedy to the problem was to get back to the source of everything: God as love. He doesn’t use fear or guilt as a motivator. He painted a picture of God’s very nature. If they could only catch a fresh glimpse of God, as he really is, it could radically change their own hearts and lives. People grounded powerfully in God’s love are able to experience a transformation that will affect all aspects of community life … and ultimately the world.

The Dance of Divinity
We need a fresh revelation of GOD. It begins by looking at Jesus. In his gospel, Mark wastes no time in boldly declaring Jesus to be the “Son of God (Mark 1:1).” He then moves quickly to the scene of Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:9-11). Here we see the Father, who is the voice; the Son, who is the Word in human form; and the Spirit fluttering like a dove. Mark is deliberately pointing us back to the original creation of the world. Creation and redemption are both the work of a Trinity, one God in three persons.

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is that God is one God, eternally existent in three persons (Matthew 28:19. 2 Corinthians 13:14. Ephesians 2:18). This is a mystery and difficult for the human mind to comprehend. There are not three Gods. Neither is there one God posing in three different forms. Here are three persons, who in some amazing, mysterious way constitute one God.

In the Trinity, none is before or after the other, none is less or greater than another, none is subordinated in being or function to another. The members exist as three equal yet differentiated persons in the most intimate communion. There is a radical, relational, co-equality. C.S. Lewis puts it this way: “In Christianity, God is not a static thing … but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.” Each person of the Trinity moves, flows, and draws life from the other in a community of perfect love. It’s the dance of divinity – sometimes called perichoresis by theologians (peri = around; choresis = to move or dance).

Implications for Human Relationships
The doctrine of the Trinity is not just a nice theological concept. Ultimately, it is a practical doctrine with radical consequences for the Christian life. The community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit becomes a prototype of the human community God dreams of – a society of loving relationships reflecting the image of our Creator God. The Trinity can be seen as a model or pattern for our human relationships. We are called into this life, the Triune God in whom “we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28).”

God invites us into this dance – not as the fourth person of the Godhead, but as part of his loving community. In contrast, evil forces seek to disrupt the dance, pulling us away from a trusting relationship with God. Our choice and our response have far-reaching implications, both now and for eternity.

What does an understanding of the very nature of the Trinity mean for us today? What are some “dance movements” that we need to learn? Here are a few: God calls to move away from isolation and towards community; from selfishness towards self-giving love; from discord towards unity; from suspicion towards trust; from exclusion towards inclusion, enlarging our circle of love. Yes, the Lord of the Dance calls us into the joyful rhythm of his loving community.

The quality of relationship we long for has always been part of who God is.  More importantly, when the church community truly reflects the nature of Trinitarian love, its witness to the world will be the most powerful and effective. Experience the Trinity today. After all, the eternal God lives on the inside of you … because of Jesus …and by the Spirit.

Some Reflection Questions:

1. If God has existed in a loving community within for eternity, why did God create us?
2. Reflect on God as Trinity. What does it mean to you? How can you explain it?
3. Reflect on the picture of a “dance of Divinity.” How is this metaphor helpful?
4. How should our understanding of God as Trinity affect our human relationships: marriage, parenting, workplace relationships, and church community relationships? Discuss some of the “dance movements” above; come up with some more.
5. Francis Schaeffer once said, “Christian community is the final apologetic.” Do you think this is true and, if so, what are the implications for the church today?
6. What is the Father like? What is the Son like? What is the Spirit like? How can we grow in our relationship with each person of the Trinity?

Next: The Priority of Love (Part 3) – I am Loved

The fairly new church in the bustling seaport city of Corinth back in AD 65 was booming. It was a dynamic charismatic and Pentecostal community attracting pagans and religious people alike. The meetings were pumping – inspiring worship times, sensational preaching, insightful teaching, as well as regular healings and miracles. It was the place to encounter God. The Holy Spirit was at work in powerful ways. 

But something was wrong. In the midst of all the growth and hype about this church, a kind of spiritual cancer had subtly set in. Yes, it was good at pretty much everything … except LOVE. The apostle Paul, who founded this church, was annoyed, and rightly so. After all, LOVE was to be the central experience and practice of every follower of Jesus. LOVE was supreme and of primary importance. 

In a letter to this church, Paul addressed various groups within the church who had developed a variety of priorities and pursuits other than LOVE (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

• To those pursuing more spiritual experience, he said, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
• To those pursuing more knowledge, he said, “If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge … but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.”
• To those pursuing more power he said, “If I had such faith that I could move mountains but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.”
• To those pursuing acts of heroism he said, “If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”

As interesting and as noble as these pursuits may be, Paul was concerned that secondary things had become of primary importance. His shock statements were intended to knock them out of their complacency in order to bring everything back into proper perspective. The core of the Christian life is LOVE. This is what matters most. We all need to be reminded of this every once in a while.

So tomorrow begins a series of BLOG posts reminding us of The Priority of LOVE – Original Love.