Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....July 13, 2020
NOTE...The views stated here are my own and are not necessarily those of C4 Church.
This week i thought I would add my two cents on the turmoil we are seeing in our country today. People yelling and screaming at each other with the most vile language, burning churches, tearing down statues, beating and killing each other....I went back in my history books and it seems this type of behavior has been going on for thousands of years but apparently no one noticed enough in order to try to do something to stop it. Talk, talk, talk....
I am not an expert on racism or bigotry or anything like that. However, my background has always been as a member of a team. On a team, the members, especially in professional sports, respect each other. It may be for different reasons but that word, respect, is prominent throughout the locker room and on the field. I do know some who, off the field, lose some of the respect for people due to many reasons. It might be status, gender, race, origin of country or something obscure like, the color of your hair or what school you went to. Those reasons are few and far between but they do exist so I wanted to mention that they are there.
During my growing up years, i was respected for my ability to play baseball, but some of my actions, stupid as some of them were, caused some to not like me very much. I had people "love" me for my ability but not "love" me for my antics. It took many years of failing at things for me to realize my lack of diplomacy in my private life.
I found my respect for people was really "what can you do for me?" And that is precisely what, I feel, motivates people these days to "love" others...."what can you do for me?" Instead of that agape love God tells us we must have for EVERYONE, not just a few. It took me years to learn agape love but I feel now, at this point in my life, I have maybe, finally, figured it out. That is why these past several weeks of the turmoil we witness in the country really bothers me. Not just on the outside but throughout my whole mind and body.
That is why, it took me a while to finish this but I think it is ready to share with you all. I had to figure out why people do not think the way I do. Why can't we all just love despite our differences. Family, it is because we are a proud, stubborn and sinful breed. Loving one another with agape love is not in our makeup. It must be learned and practiced every minute of every day and we cannot waiver from that. However, by no means am I saying I "always" practice God's Agape love. I am just as guilty as many others. However, I try...and that is what this article is about.
I have entitled this teaching....Loving One Another. In some small way, I pray this helps you in your walk. It is going to review the reasons why God commanded us to love and one another, how love is a litmus of our salvation and how to perfect God’s love within our lives.
I am using 1 John 4:7-21, as the foundation verses for this teaching.
Remember when you confessed your sins and invited Jesus Christ into your heart to rule your life? On that day you experienced a radical transformation in which you were born again not of flesh and blood but of the Spirit of God! One of the most important marks and expectations of your transformation is the new found ability to experience and show agape love.
While “love” as a religious term is often perceived as being “essentially the love of man for God – that is to say, the insatiable craving of the limited, conditional, and temporal beings for the Infinite, the Absolute, the Eternal,” in 1 John 4:7-12 the standard of love we as Christians are to strive towards is agape or “supernatural love” which only comes from God! Agape love is radically different than romantic, familial or friendship love because it is grounded in God’s nature who loved us so much that even though we would reject Him and become His enemies, even before we were born He chose to send His Son Jesus to die and pay the price for our sins!
This is the kind of love that always forgives upon confession and keeps no records of wrongs! This is the kind of love that chooses to see the image of God in one’s brothers and sisters in Christ rather than their deficiencies and in turn love them with the same love one has received from one’s Creator! The following sermon is going to review the reasons why God commanded us to love and one another, how love is a litmus of one’s salvation and how to perfect God’s love within our lives.
Love one Another (7-12)
When asked what the greatest commandment in the Law is, Jesus answered to love God and to love one another (Matthew 22:34-40). In today’s passage John outlines three reasons why we are to love one another. First, we are to love one another because love is part of God’s nature (verse 7). God is spirit (John 4:24), light (1 John 1;15), faithful and just (1 John 1:9) and good; but above all God is love itself.
From all eternity God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by nature are perfect love. When a person is born of God their knowledge, faith and conviction of God’s love is not only established but through the regular feeding of His word and subsequent faithful obedience their love in time will grow and thrive. Since God’s love is poured into the hearts of believers (Romans 5:5), John warned that if you are not a loving person both towards God and one another then this is evidence that you are not born again and do not know God.
Since “love to God is a mark which is always set upon Christ’s sheep, and never set upon any others,” it is not possible for an unbeliever to love others with God’s love. Those who are born again however not only have the capacity but the command to share the love they have received from God with one another!
The second reason that we are to love one another is because of God’s gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. He who was in the beginning and the Word (John 1:1), eternally begotten by the Father, chose to atone for humanity’s sins and in doing so paved our way to be reconciled with a holy God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). Reconciliation is not only granted the moment a person believes in Jesus and makes Him the Lord of their life (Romans 10:9), but an intimate fellowship the Father, Son and Spirit is established (John 3:16-17).
This indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15) however comes with the obligation to love one another as Christ first loved us. Those who share in the fellowship of the Trinity do not see the command to love their brothers and sisters in Christ as a burden (1 John 5:3-5), but something owed as a debt (Romans 13:8). It truly is an honor to the best of one’s abilities to share the love one has received from God with other believers! Even though it is tempting to “demonize” believers who have wronged us, this will not lead to our vindication but merely suggest the possibility that we lack appreciation that God saved a nobody like me who deserved hell and that we ourselves may not have been “ravished by the beauty of the Son” and therefore remain lost in our sins.
The third reason we are to love one another is that God continues to show His love towards us! Agape love is not just “to be seen as that which constitutes God’s eternal nature or even that which is revealed definitively in the past history at the cross,” but is to be celebrated as an ongoing, gracious gift from our Creator! God’s love is not present one day and gone the next but is profoundly impacting this world today! Is not faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ still the only way to be a child and know God the Father in heaven (John 14:6)? Are not the prayers of those born of God still powerful and effective (James 5:16)? Do not God’s own still “abide under a shadow of love” and is not His very words still active and sharper than any two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12)?
Above all when we cry out Abba Father, do we not still receive answers to prayer and comfort from the Father of all compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)? The answer to all these questions is a provocative YES for God has and will always take care of us, His children! Those who have received every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus their Lord (Ephesians 1:3) though they have not seen God by loving each another they not only experience the presence of God but also leave a profound, unshakeable testimony to this world: hungry sinners can still buy the bread of life without money or cost!
Love’s Assurance: Living in God and Living in Love (13-16)
Before one can fully understand these three verses one must first understand the historical context which John was trying to address. A group of “super spiritual” elitists, who had severed ties from their fellowship (2:19), were claiming: to have received Spirit-inspired teaching that went beyond what they had originally received, “visions” of God that they alone saw, and the ability to live as they pleased and yet be sinless. These falsehoods led to the Johannine community questioning the authenticity of their own relationship with God!
In response to these false claims elsewhere John stated that their visions were false for no one has ever seen God, their lack of love for other brothers and sisters in Christ was ample proof God’s love was not in their hearts and their lack of desire to obey God’s commands was proof that they were liars and still walked in darkness rather than light. Verses 13 to 16 were not written to refute the secessionists claims but to answer the question: how does one know if one is saved?
Ever since the master deceiver has been allowed to seek whom he may devour the seeds of doubt have made many a believer question their position before a holy God (John 8:44; 1 Peter 5:8)! Even though no one has ever physically seen God one can see Him through the eyes of faith in the atoning sacrifice of His Son. The way to assurance is through confession that Jesus is the Son of God, the evidence of which is to be found in one’s ability to love with the Father’s love. “Love to God is a mark which is always set upon Christ’s sheep, and never upon any others!”
Though speaking in tongues, prophesying, and doing miracles in Jesus’ name appears to be evidence of the fruits of the Spirit, without love they are nothing (Matthew 7:22-23)! Evidence one has God’s love in one’s heart can be externally found in one’s ability to obey His commands to love Him and one another (1 John 5:2-5; John 13:35)! The most profound evidence of one’s salvation however can be found internally. While everyone is to have confidence that they are eternally loved by God, it is only through the commune of the Holy Spirit with our spirit (1 Corinthians 2:11-16) that we are ultimately and irrevocably reassured that we are His children.
Love’s Perfection (17-21)
John finishes this passage by giving two areas that the love of God is to be perfected in our lives. First, “love must co-operate with faith and cast out fear, so that the soul may have boldness before God.” Love and fear cannot coexist in a believers heart for those who taste the soul changing, deep penetrating love of the Father will no longer fear judgment because through His Son they have assurance of their destination (Romans 8:15). The fear that John is talking about in this passage is not to be confused with reverence of God which is the foundation of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), but the fear that upon Christ’s return one will be punished and condemned (John 3:18; Romans 8:1).
Since we live in Christ and He in us the Spirit is our seal of acceptance before a holy God. Being justified by faith (Ephesians 2:8) we are to confidently approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) with the assurance that though our hearts be vile and sinful through the atoning sacrifice of Christ they will be seen as a sweet fragrance before our Creator! For John evidence that perfect love has been attained is found in the absence of fear!
In conclusion lets finish with John’s final point: our love for God is to be perfected in our love for one another! While it is in our “human” nature to merely love those who love us, the mark of a true believer is their ability to unconditionally love one another. To those believers who feel justified in their “demonizing” another or having an attitude of indifference towards them John questions their salvation! “Love for God and neighbor are inseparable” for if one cannot love one who can be seen and visually demonstrated then how could one ever love God who is unseen? “A person cannot practice agape-love unless he can first practice philia-love for without the love of men, the love of God is impossible.”
For John hatred or indifference towards another is evidence that God’s unconditional love has not entered into one’s own heart and therefore one is not a Christian. This passage is not saying that disagreements with others means one is not saved but merely that choosing to “demonize” another is a warning that God’s love may have never entered one’s own heart. So, let us pray that God will teach us how to rightly love Him and each other!
I pray each of you will practice this agape love daily. I know it is part of your life but it cannot be that. It has to be ALL THROUGHOUT YOU LIFE:) I love you all:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
A child's love is like a whisper,
given in little ways we do not hear
but if you listen closely it will be very clear.
They often do not say it loud but in how they come to you...
Daddy, will you play with me?
Mommy, tie my shoe?
...the many ways they tell you changes as they grow
Dad, I made the team today!
Mom, I've Got to go!
Pop, I need some money
You see there's...this girl at school...
Mama, I met a boy today and wow he is so cool...!
Dad, I've got something to tell you... I think she is the one.
Mom, He asked me to marry him. Would you love him as your son?
Dad, I've got some news for you...
It's gonna be a boy!
Mom, I'm kind of scared of this, yet I'm filled with joy!
A child's love is like a whisper,
given in little ways we do not hear
but if you listen closely it will be very clear.
They often do not say it loud but in how they come to you...
Grandpa, will you play with me?
Grandma, tie my shoe...
It is never ending
A blessing from above
Listen to the whispers of a child's love.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This is the second in a series of teachings on the different Religions of the world...
Why Learn About Other Religions?
In many parts of the world, people once lived their entire lives without even meeting a follower of another religion. Today, globalization, fueled by migration, politics, economics, and the Internet, has brought awareness of other faiths to most of earth’s population. Understanding the “global village” is impossible without some grasp of the religious beliefs that shape people’s behaviors, attitudes, and actions.
Religion is called a cultural universal because it is found in all human societies.
Even secular anthropologists acknowledge that no culture has yet been found that does not have some form of religion. This universality suggests that knowing something about this topic is crucial to comprehending humanity. Even though the nonreligious today number in the hundreds of millions, the vast majority professes belonging to some form of religious system. To fathom the why of what people do and say, again, one must understand the religious beliefs that shape their worldviews.
The variety of belief and practice on the globe now is astounding. The frequently heard statement “All religions are basically the same” is based on the superficial observation that religion seems to be about guiding and motivating people to “behave well.” However, no one who has learned what adherents to the various religions actually believe and practice would make such a comment. There isn’t even common ground in another common misconception: “All religions are just different paths to God.” Religious belief is as much about the nature of God (or gods, goddesses, spirits, or other powers) as it is about how to reach or interact with this deity. In fact, many religions aren’t trying to reach any deity at all.
Again, there is significant variety within each of the world’s religions. Christianity has many denominations (with new ones springing up every year), and it is by no means unique in having multiple groups, often with significant disparities in belief and practice. For example, just knowing that a person is a Buddhist tells you relatively little about what he believes, as Buddhism has three major divisions, each with multiple and significantly different subgroups.
Further, international politics today is impossible to understand without some knowledge of religion. Friction between countries develops because governments make decisions without considering the religious beliefs of other nations. News media and foreign policy experts try to explain terrorism without knowing or grasping the religious beliefs of those involved (and founding or supporting terroristic groups is not limited to one religion). We may support one side or the other in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because of assumptions about religion. To be sure, religion is not the only factor impacting global political events, but it is a big one. In most of the world, people don’t dichotomize the sacred and the secular as we commonly do in the West, so elsewhere religious considerations are much more at the forefront of people’s minds in assessing political issues.
Also, religion has been the motivation for, and provider of, content for much of the world’s art and music. Imagine, for example, trying to understand Handel’s Messiah with no knowledge of Christianity, or Indian art without a grasp of Hinduism. Ancient dramas and countless more-recent plays and films draw upon themes that require some knowledge of religion to comprehend. Literature of all ages makes reference to religious themes and practices.
Some people’s belief includes a form of “If it’s God’s [or the gods’] will for life to be better, it will get better without our efforts; if it’s not, things won’t improve no matter what we do.” If a society’s religious basis includes a fatalistic worldview, then motivating its people to implement policies and adopt behaviors that would tangibly benefit them can be challenging. In animistic societies, people may fear making changes lest they anger the spirits who can bring disease, crop failures, or other calamities upon the community. We need to understand religious convictions in order to be effective in matters of economics and development.
Migration has brought refugees and new immigrants to communities far from their homelands, affecting not only major cities but smaller rural areas as well. In many cases, these arrivals espouse religions different from those of the communities where they settle. (Two examples are the many animistic Hmong making their home in Minnesota and in central California and the Somali Muslims who have settled in Minnesota and Toronto.) Knowing something about their religions is essential to interacting and communicating with them meaningfully.
It isn’t unusual in today’s world to compare the best of one’s own faith to the worst of another. This is neither honest nor respectful. Comparisons must be accurate and must consider the whole of a religion’s teaching and practice. This book endeavors to present each religion in a straightforward way, so that a reader who is a follower while perhaps disagreeing with certain assessments, would say the description is truthful and fair.
Followers of different faiths sometimes use the same words but intend very different meanings, which can lead to confusion. For Christians, being “born again” is a positive statement about spiritual life, taken from Jesus’ words in John 3. To Hindus, it implies reincarnation, which they are trying to escape. So when a Christian asks a Hindu about being reborn, the likely response is, “I’ve already been born again and again and again. That’s what I want to get away from.” We need to (1) find out what people actually believe and (2) not assume words mean the same thing in every context.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou