He Taught Love

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love (1 John 4:7, 8)

The whole of creation groans and suffers under the weight of sin. In Isaiah 59:2 God has said “your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. As Christ walked the dusty roads from village to village in His day, He could see the burden, the heavy load that was born by His children as the chains of sin and suffering bound them tightly in Satan's grip. He longed to release them from their bondage and touch their hearts with the divine love that would bring freedom. He came to show them that He was the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). That Christ and Him crucified was the only way that mankind could be restored to their rightful place as sons of God. All throughout the history of mankind this has been the plan of God...to teach us Love. As we study the life of Christ we can see that His ministry was one of compassion, of reconciliation, of healing and restoration. His greatest desire was to lead His creation back to their relationship with the Father through the power of divine love and mercy. With just the touch of His hand, with just the sound of His voice and with a heart that felt the need of the suffering, He reached out to bring abundant life to those who came to Him in Faith. What greater love could the Father have given His creation than the life of His only begotten Son on a cruel cross that we may have the benefit of eternal life through His death? If only mankind could see, if only mankind could understand the depth of God’s infinite mercy to a sin-laden world, we could then feel His pain, feel His tears, understand the love that would not let us go. The love that He desires to see in those that follow Him.

When the love of God fills the heart, out of its abundance will flow love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against this there is no law (Galatians 5:22,23) If our life is daily filled with this fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, we will more readily crucify the flesh and walk earnestly in the similitude of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This love will change our character, refine our passions, guide our impulses and subdue the affections that may rage out of control when the flesh is in control. It will sweeten the entire atmosphere with a fragrance that will permeate all that touches our life, and radiate a genuine love for God and our fellowman that Satan cannot shake. This love is the essence of our Christianity, the foundation of God’s kingdom within us. As we come under the power of the indwelling Spirit, we can then die to the fleshly attitudes and lusts that war for the mastery. As we look at the basis for our Christian ethics, Titus 3:3-8 tells us that all of us at times were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving our own lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But, and this is the key, after the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, not by works of righteousness that (we) have done, but according to (His) mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Therefore it is only by the power of the indwelling Christ that we can conquer the old nature of sin, of hate, of lust, of disobedience and become a new creature. A walking epistle that will testify to the world that we have been with Christ. In this shall all men know that we are His disciples.... that we walk in love, love for God and love for one another (John 13:35). And this love will produce works that flow from a heart that is filled with praise and adoration for what Christ has done for us. These works will be the fruit of our faith, not the foundation of it, showing the depth of our self sacrificing love to God and man. For James 2:26 states that our faith without works is dead.

As we reach out to suffering humanity, all heaven waits to bestow upon us the blessings that we need to minister to those that are in need of the touch of the master’s hand. Through us God can reach out to a lost and dying world and bring the same ministry of reconciliation that was the work of His Son as He walked among us. Will we rob the world of the sweet influence of a Christ-like character by our unwillingness to surrender to His work upon our heart. Or will our attitudes that have been bathed in the sweet perfume of the Spirit, bring a savor of life unto life that floods the world around us with the glory of Almighty God?

Christ knew when He walked from town to town healing and restoring the ills of mankind, that unless he touched their heart first, their immediate needs, the door would not be open to the truths they so sorely needed. He drew them into Him through His self-sacrificing love, His compassion, His forgiveness and acceptance. Their confidence gained opened the pathway to truth and thus He reached them where they were so that He might draw them to where they needed to be...His kingdom. Today their are many souls bound by pain, suffering, sin and selfishness. They are battered, bruised, deceived and destroyed by Satan's destructive power. They long for that touch of caring, compassion, forgiveness and mercy. Lord help us to reach out to those in need with a ministry of caring and compassion and set these captives free. May our Spirit of love flow from a heart that will show the world that we have been with the Master. AMEN