Joel
Kindiak Expositions (4)
Date: 23
February 2014
Topic: It’s
About God’s Love for You, Not Your Love for God!
About a week ago, the world celebrates
Valentine’s Day, primarily focused on romantic love. In other seasons, churches
all over the world expound on the cruciality of loving God, that it is the most
important commandment ever. Yet, do we see true love prosper? Or how about in
the church, where we preach the need to love God: do we see increased love
for God? I beg to differ. On the contrary, it is the realization of the
love of God that produces love for God.
Jesus summed up the law with these two
commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength [Mark 12:30] and thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself [Mark 12:31] Wait a minute; doesn’t God know
that man is unable to love Him with all his heart, and with all his soul, and
with all his mind, and with all his strength? Why then did God give this
commandment? It’s precisely because God wants man to reach the end of himself,
so that God can, in essence, say, “See, I knew you couldn’t do it. Now watch
me: I’m going to love you with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all
my mind, and with all my strength” and give Himself up at the cross, arms
stretched wide open. Jesus, at the cross, cried out for the first time ever,
“My God”, (Matthew 27:46) signifying how he took our place and became sin. He
became sin despite having committed no sin. Likewise at the cross, we became
righteous despite having committed no righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21) And
in that divine exchange, Jesus cried “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me”, so that you and I can cry, “Father, Father, (Romans 8:15) why have you so
blessed me!”
There is 2 types of Christians typified by 2
disciples on the night Jesus was betrayed: Peter and John. What did they do?
Peter declared, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall
away,” [Matthew 26:33] essentially boasting of his love for the Lord. John, on
the other hand, had leaned back against him (Jesus) during the supper, [John
21:20] essentially boasting of the Lord’s love for Him. The outcome? The one
who boasted of his love for the Lord denied knowing Him 3 times, (Matthew
26:69–75) while the one who boasted of the Lord’s love for him was ministering
unto the Lord in his final moments. (John 19:26–27) Trying to source out the
love of God produces limited results, but we love because He first loved us. [1
John 4:19] Let’s stop focusing on our
love for God but instead pin our hopes on God’s
love for us. Our love for God is an overflow
of God’s love for us.
You will never know how much God loves you
until you know how much God loves Jesus, because He gave Jesus up for you. For
God so loved you that He gave His One and only Son, that you shall not perish
but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) How then, do we gain greater insight
into God’s love? While he who is forgiven little, loves little, [Luke 7:47]
conversely, those who are forgiven much, love much. Now we’re all forgiven
much, and as far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our
transgressions from us. [Psalm 103:12] The difference therefore is our
revelation of how much God has forgiven us. On what basis can we be forgiven?
On the basis that Jesus was condemned, that we might be accepted.
My friend, the love God has for you is
constantly infinite. Yet, such boundless love that compelled God to send His
Son, His one and only Son, the Son whom He loves will take us all eternity and
beyond to fathom. It is not about your limited love
for God, but it is about God’s abundant love for you!
If you would like to be
saved, you may pray this simple prayer:
Lord
Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner. Thank You for loving me and dying for me
on the cross. Your precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my Lord
and my Savior, now and forever. I believe that You rose from the dead and that
You are alive today. Because of Your finished work, I am now a beloved child of
God and heaven is my home. Thank You for giving me eternal life, and filling my
heart with Your peace and joy. Amen.
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