These are words from my heart recorded in my journal three years ago: Does not my adoration of You, Lord, rise from believing I am adored by You? Is not my desire to seek You a response to believing I am affectionately received by You? Does not my Christ-like love for others flow from Christ’s love for me? Yes. Yes. Yes.
We love because He first loved us. He loves because He is love.
• His love is the cause; our love is the effect.
• 1 John 4:10 Not that we loved God but that He loved us.
• Romans 5:8nWhile were yet sinners Christ died for us.
• We are who we are because of His love for us.
Delightful Disclaimer
All words about the Lord – regardless of the skill of the author or the speaker – are but sketches of His Glory!
• “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” (John 7:46).
• Judges 13:18, “Why do you ask My name since it is wonderful (i.e. beyond understanding and description).”
• He is the One who is beyond our description but eager to be increasingly real in our experience.
I. Who is this Jesus?
Have you met the real Jesus? I’m not talking about the commercial knockoffs or the one-dimensional caricatures. Not the one on the old movies and spoke in “thee’s” and “thou’s” and was always somber and joyless. Not the soft one who’s a pushover. I’m talking about the gritty Jesus who is also gentle – the One who will stand toe-to-toe with your strongest feelings, fears, and doubts without flinching and without dominating. The One who will look you straight in the eyes and say, “I’m worthy of your trust,” and leave you believing it. I’m talking about the Jesus who can’t be played – and can’t be forgotten. The One who commands the thunder and whispers in breezes. The One who will meet you in a tavern after church – or instead of it. The Jesus who can relate to your world and still show you a better one. The Jesus who can make you think things you’ve never thought, see things you’ve never seen, feel things you’ve never felt, and become something you never dreamed. The One who promises – and delivers – eternal life to anyone and everyone who dares to believe He is God’s solution for man’s deepest problem and his greatest hunger. That’s the real Jesus. Have you met Him?• He went to Zacchaeus house. He didn’t invite him to the temple.
• He was accused of eating with outcasts, social pariahs and sinners – And He did so without ever compromising himself.
II. How Did We Get Here? (The place the hymns and worship songs describe..)
It was a Friday, and as far as the world was concerned, it was like any other Friday. People were bustling about their routines – working or sleeping, buying or selling, eating, and drinking. Most of mankind was oblivious to the history-defining event unfolding on a hill on a small dot on the globe. While the world took care of its business, the most important business in the history of the universe was occurring in a tiny place called Golgotha.
Here, beneath a darkened sky and amidst a mob, blind to the cosmic significance of the spectacle before them, God was settling accounts with mankind for all time. The ground trembled as the weight of humanity’s sins was laid upon the shoulders of Christ, who hung, suffering and dying on a cross. Through His sacrificial death, an eternal transaction was initiated: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This transaction would be fully ratified when Christ rose from the dead the following Sunday, forever altering the fabric of history.
The transaction meant the power of God was freely poured out upon mankind, upon all who would believe. The power of God’s forgiveness, the power of God to renew, the power of God to indwell, the power of God to give eternal life. The power of God expressed through His grace! It is a power that continues to transform the lives of men and women around the world each day. It is a power available to bring salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).
The power to ultimately bring all things under the governance of Christ.
III. Walking with Him Through This Mess
Amid the escalating world-wide crisis and chaos, the Lord is busy at work:
He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariots with fire. “Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. — Psalm 46:9-11
• Yes, God is at work, but it is not the work of bringing peace to the earth just for the sake of peace. The heart of the above passage is “I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” That is the Lord’s primary objective. One day He will reign physically upon the earth, but right now it’s a spiritual reign. Therefore, it is completely possible that the fires of global conflict must rage even farther beyond human control in order for the inhabitants of earth to see their need for Him, and when He returns to recognize His divine intervention.
He wants us to know that He is God not only as we experience the mess of the world. But also, when we are a mess.
IV. Walking with Him When We’re A Mess
“Like Jesus’ disciples, we all have our ‘moments.’ Moments of unbelief, of doubt and struggle but we get to have our moments with Him.” That line is from a message given by elder Grace 4 years ago, almost to date.
• I immediately thought of one of my favorite prayer verses: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah” (Psalm 62:8). To pour out our hearts is to empty the contents. ALL the contents. For God is a refuge. God is a sanctuary. God is a safe place. For us. Oh, if only we would take this truth to heart and take our hearts to the Truth. How much more precious He would become to us. And how much more like Him we would find ourselves becoming.
We love because He first loved us.
But in all my effusiveness, let me be clear and unmistakable about one thing: Walking with Him is not all bliss. I’ve had world class adversity! Ironically, that is why I am so passionate about my relationship with the Lord. His love, loyalty and constancy has been the ONLY unchanging thing in my entire life! True to His word He has never left me nor forsaken me.
We love because He first loved us. The more we connect with the Source of Love, the more love flows through us.
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