"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in Him."
Did you get it? God's love is made complete in us, when we obey His commands. Jesus', the Righteous One's, atoning sacrifice is made complete when we choose to follow Him. Wow! God is saying to us, "You Complete Me!" I know it sounds corny, but it is true!
What commands do we have to follow? Jesus tells us what the two greatest commands are, all other commands stem from these two. In Matthew 22:37-38, Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is your first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." That's it! If you follow these two commandments all others fall into place. Repentance, Baptism, Individual Bible Study, Devotion and Worship all fall under the 1st Commandment. Forgiveness, Charity, Not Killing, Not stealing, Avoiding Adultery, Not Gossiping, Evangelism, etc...all fall under the 2nd Commandment.
By Loving God first, and Obeying His commandments to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," We complete the circle of love that connects us to our LORD God. First we were created to be with God, we then separated ourselves from God when we sinned, Jesus offered Himself as a blood sacrifice to offer us Grace so that we may return to God, and then, by choosing to follow His commandments, we complete God's circle of love for us. Cool huh? To bad many of us cannot say to Jesus, "You had me at Hello!"...But that's another story.
1 comment:
We had a guest preacher in our church today. His sermon was based on Ephesians 3:7-12. He made a point that salvation was a secret that God kept in His heart until He brought it about. Not even the angels or the demons knew what He had in store. And it's through the church that God has choosen to convey His plan to the world. He reminded us that the gospel is indeed Good News - God so loved us that He set us free throught Jesus Christ.
It was a good reminder to me that I am free and that I have a responsibility to share the Good News with those who don't know it.
Your blog seemed to dove-tail right in with that - God's manifest love to us and our part of the relationship. Thanks.
Post a Comment