This article continues the series, Christ’s Compelling Mission for Us, by examining our Call TO CHRIST and asking “How do I better fill my soul with Christ’s love, so I can succeed at loving well those I am supposed to?” Jesus told us that he is the vine, we are the branches and that fruitfulness in our mission from him comes through abiding in him—i.e. through our love-relationship with him. How can we strengthen our love connection with Christ and, therefore, maximize our fruitfulness for Christ? That is the question we want to answer in this episode.
I. In last week’s episode, we saw that heart-ignited discipleship results from remembering that discipleship is answering the personal call of Jesus, our master. He calls us, first to himself then to become like him, and then to impact every sphere of the world with his agenda for righteousness. But there is a logical order to our calling. It starts with the call TO CHRIST to enjoy a love relationship with him. The reason is that knowing his love fuels the rest of our mission. Paul wrote, The love of Christ compels us (2 Cor 5:14). John said, We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:9). Knowing how much God loves us is so foundational that Paul tells the Ephesian believers that this is his prayer for them: that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:16-19). These verses reveal that the spiritual energy that God intends to fuel our mission is knowing how much God loves us. Paul fervently prays that believers won’t forget that. The reason must be because he knows we often do.
Three Reasons We Forget God’s Love for Us.
A. Our basic sinful nature is that of a spoiled child who wants his own way. Like the four-year-old at the check-out counter of the grocery store who fusses at his Mom, “You don’t love me” because she won’t buy the candy he wants, our sinful nature texts us “God doesn’t really love you,” when we are disappointed and something we really wanted him to do, doesn’t happen. Our sinful nature has a subtle definition of what loving me looks like; it is GIVING ME MY OWN WAY. The irony is that constantly giving a child his own way is actually a form of hatred. God tells us, Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him (Prov 13:24). If God were to make my life pleasant and easy, which my sinful nature says he ought to do if he loves me, I would grow up a self-centered spiritual brat, just as surely as parents, who never say “no” to their child produce selfish ego-centered monsters. When God does not choose to make my life pleasant and easy, but difficult and painful, I need to answer my sinful nature’s doubts about God’s love with this irrefutable truth about what real love looks like.
God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Heb 12:7-11).
Failing to always give me my own way is proof that God does love me, not evidence that he does not.
B. In a similar sense, my sinful nature lies about pain, “If God loved you, he wouldn’t let me hurt so much.” Such an expectation of a loving God is that he is soft—one who won’t let me hurt too much, especially since I have chosen to follow him. No doubt, severe pain in this life is a huge obstacle to believing that God really does love us. When it comes into my life, even if I in some way am the cause of it (which in general we all are since our race’s rebellion against God brought all pain into the world)—God could have prevented it and he didn’t. That is true, but the inference that he does not therefor care about our pain is a lie from the pit of hell.
God is not a heartless surgeon, who coldly dismisses our pain because cutting us open is necessary for our health, or a hardnosed coach who almost seems to enjoy tough conditioning drills that make us hurt. To the contrary, our God has sent us a Great High Priest who understands every feeling of pain we have ever experienced so we won’t be alone in it. He has given us his Psalms to help us process through it. And he has taken that pain on himself at the cross, so that one day it will be no more; he will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Meanwhile pain always confronts us with a challenge to follow the example of Job. He knew pain at every human level possible: Emotional pain--all his kids killed, his friends doubting his integrity, his wife recommending suicide. Physical pain—the unrelenting screams from his body, “this hurts.” Spiritual pain—the disintegration of his confidence that God was a good God whose blessing results from righteous living. Yet Job chose to say, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him (Job 13:15). Present pain challenges the strength of our trust in God’s good nature.
C. A third reason we doubt God’s love is that we only see the present painful chapters of the story God is writing. We are only partway through the book! We lose confidence in the author midway through the story when it is not until the later chapters that we will see how all of the story lines of pain and difficulty are woven together for our good in the end. Consider some biblical examples:
In the early chapters of the story, the Israelites in Egypt are told Yahweh is going to rescue them from slavery to Pharaoh. But when Moses confronts Pharaoh, Pharaoh, instead harshly increased the Israelite’s workload to near physical exhaustion. In the rest of the story, this turned out to be a national physical fitness program preparing the Israelites to leave Egypt loaded down with Egyptian goods.
In the early chapters of the story of the exodus, God led the Israelites out of Egypt but right to the edge of the Red Sea where they were trapped when Pharaoh’s army pursued them. In the rest of the story, God’s plan was to supernaturally enable them to cross the Red Sea and completely stop the Egyptian army from ever pursuing them again.
In the early chapters of the story, David, the youngest son of 8 brothers was stuck with the lowly job of caring for a few sheep on the backside of the wilderness. In the rest of the story, through being that shepherd, he developed his skill with his sling shot and confidence in God that led to his defeat of Goliath, exaltation in the eyes of all of Israel, and their love for him when he later became King. Perhaps, also it was while watching over his father’s sheep that David did much of the meditating on the Torah, which led to his authorship of the Psalms.
In the early chapters of the story Mary, Lazarus’ sister fell at Jesus’ feet weeping, and said, “if you had been here my brother would not have died.” In the rest of the story, Lazarus walked out of his grave.
In the early chapters of the story, the disciples thought Jesus’ crucifixion was the end of their hope of the messianic kingdom. In the rest of the story, Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplished the full redemption of Adam’s kingdom from its slavery to Satan, sin, and death. Adam’s kingdom is now ruled by the risen Christ who says, “All authority in heaven and on earth is mine. Go therefore and make disciples of every nation.”
In the early chapters of Acts, after the stoning of Stephen, there arose great opposition and persecution against the church in Jerusalem. In the rest of the story, the church was all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. So, the lay men and women took it upon themselves to share the gospel instead of depending on the apostles to do so. And the gospel began to spread around the world.
Jesus taught, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 12:24-25). In the early chapters of our lives, Christians experience the death of our hopes, our dreams, our expectations of what abundant life should look like. There seems to be no evidence that God loves us. Dying to ourselves hurts. But the rest of the story is that such death brings life—the fruitfulness that we long for our lives to have. When life is discouraging, we need to remember, we can’t see the chapters God will write in the future that make total sense of our present sufferings, difficulties, and hardships. Our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
II. Since the spiritual energy needed to fuel our mission is knowing how much God loves us, and this confidence is often assaulted by doubts, it is essential in our walk with Christ to “lean into” i.e. intentionally reflect often upon God’s love for us. Here are a few truths about God’s love that are worth reminding ourselves of.
Truth #1. In John 17 Jesus reveals that the Father’s love for us is the same love that he has for Jesus. This is a truth worth reflecting upon. One author writes,
Do you remember the voice that sounded from heaven the day Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist? “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). God the Father has always loved and delighted in God the Son—and vice versa. Jesus has never been anything other than the Father’s pleasure and deepest delight….The same love, delight, and pleasure that God the Father has for God the Son, he has for all of those who are in Christ—no exceptions (Objects of His Affection, Scotty Smith).
Think of it—there has never been a moment when God the Father did not delight in God the Son—and since we are totally clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and loved with THAT SAME love, there has never been a moment when you have been anything other than the Father’s pleasure and deep delight.
Truth #2. The Father’s love for us makes it certain he will never deny us his rich blessings. Paul’s logic in Romans 8 it is incontestable, indisputable, irrefutable. If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (vs 31-32) Men, we need to step up, fight, and take every thought captive to Christ when doubts about God’s goodness towards us simmer in the recesses of our hearts, weakening us. These treacherous lies foment discontent and undermine our confident allegiance to the one who has bought us with his own precious blood.
Truth #3. The Father’s delight in us empowers us to love others well. When I know that I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me (Song of Songs 7:10) I am then free to focus on others, to love them as God loves them. Scotty Smith says it well,
As we rest in the love of Jesus, we are freed to love others as he loves us—including our spouses, children, friends, and strangers—and yes, even our enemies. To be delighted in by God enables us to greatly delight in him. We delight in him because he first delighted in us. And as the objects of God’s great delight, we are freed to need people less but empowered to love them more. We are conduits…vessels of mercy and grace poured out for others (Objects of His Affection pa 80).
III. The more we grasp the immensity of God’s personal love for us the more our allegiance to Christ and his mission for us intensifies. As we respond to Christ’s love, seeking to love him back with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, it is worth reminding MEN that agape love is not primarily about recovering mushy feelings for Jesus. Agape love is not sentimental, frilly feelings. It is supreme allegiance to his command. It is unsurpassed loyalty to serve him as our king. It is wanting nothing as much as we want to honor his name. It is pleasing my Commander in Chief because I stay focused on my mission. He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Agape love is unwavering, relentless allegiance to Jesus and his cause spreading the kingdom of righteousness over planet earth.
Over the years I have read the words of Nazi, Jihadist, Japanese Nationalist and Marxist fanatics. Their devotion to their cause has made me question the depth of my devotion to Christ’s cause, but none more than these words from an Eastern university student who traveled to Mexico and became a Marxist. The following is the letter he wrote to his fiancée breaking off their engagement.
We Marxists have a high casualty rate. We are the ones who get shot, hung, lynched, tarred and feathered, jailed, slandered, ridiculed, fired out of jobs, and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible. We live in virtual poverty. We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive. We Marxists don’t have the time or the money for movies or concerts, or T-bone steaks, or decent homes and new cars.
We’ve been described as fanatics. We are fanatics! Our lives are dominated by one great overshadowing factor—the struggle for world Marxism. We Marxists have a philosophy of life, which no amount of money could buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty personal selves into a great movement of humanity. And if our personal lives seem hard, or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each one of us in his small way is contributing to something new, and true and better for mankind.
There is one thing in which I am dead earnest. It is the Marxist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife and mistress, my bread and meat. I work at it in the day time and dream of it at night. It’s influence on me grows, not lessons, as time goes on.
Therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this thought, which both drives and guides my life. I evaluate people, books, ideas, and actions according to how they will affect the Marxist cause, and by their attitudes toward it. I have already been in jail because of my ideas, and if necessary, I am ready to go before the firing squad.
How can we give to our King and his Kingdom any less allegiance than this misguided college student gave to the Marxist cause?
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- What do you think of the idea that what God always wants to fuel our commitment to his mission for us is our love for him?
- Which truths from Scripture most help you remember how much God loves you?
- Read back over the Marxist’s letter. Which aspect of his devotion to his cause do you wish was more a part of your devotion to Christ? (You can’t answer “all of it!”)
