1 John 4:10-17 “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.”
Pastor Herk continues that this is an amazing passage of Scripture and we understand its truth, depth, and application, yet we never truly grasp the depth of what God has done for us. We know that God loves us and that agapē love is an attribute of God, but do we really comprehend and understand how much God loves us? God Word is truth and we can trust God. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. We may never fully comprehend how high, wide and deep God’s love is for us, but we know that He loves us. John 3:16a “For this is how God loved the world: He gave.” Because God loves us, He wants us to communicate with Him through prayer. He wants to hear from us about what’s going on in our lives. Knows He our prayers before we offer them up, but He desires us to bring our prayers before Him to share.
As Christians we trust that Jesus came, lived and died, then rose again to conquer sin forever. That is the Gospel joy of our salvation in God’s love and grace through the finished work of Jesus Christ. We can be grateful and thankful for our Savior’s atoning sacrifice in our place on the Cross for the forgiveness of sin. It is the most wonderful thing imaginable! How exciting it is when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord! When we repent and believe, Jesus comes into our life, it is transformed from the inside out as our spirit is regenerated within us, we receive a new heart and we are reconciled to God. We do not deserve God’s grace or salvation, it is the free gift of God offered that must be received by faith, Jesus Christ – Savior and Lord of my life.
We have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.But, we may say: I don’t know if I like all that the Bible says to do. It would take a lot of work. This “Great Commission” of going out and making disciples of all nations, that’s just not me … I can’t do that. It’s too hard and difficult. That is selfish pride talking. It’s easy to say “God loves you.” That is what God wants. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. We need to love each other with God and His holy Word in us and express through us. There is a lot of hate in the godless world being expressed today. Loving each other includes praying for each other; not just when they ask for it, but spontaneously for their health and wellbeing. Tell them that you are going to pray for them, in love pray then and there, plus continually then on because God hears them and loving prayer is powerful.
God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. When human words escape us pray for the words, the indwelling Holy Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:23, 26), if the Helper don’t give you the words to say. People can get a glimpse of Christ through us by seeing the presence of God working in your life. If you were arrested for being a Christian and a child of God, would there be enough evidence to convict you or is the Jury still out? Is there proof that the Holy Spirit lives within you and continues to move in your life as you walk in the Spirit or is the sin nature of the fallen flesh lustful passions and desires in control.
Galatians 5:16-17, 24-25 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish ... And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Are you growing and maturing in Christ in the sanctification process of walking in the Spirit for all to see or so you have a sign on your shirt that says “Party on, Rebel”?
Let's continue Pastor Herk's message on living like Jesus in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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