True Love
Jesus, please seek me and stop my words if any glorification of the flesh is upon me. I pray that you and you alone are glorified through my writing. Thank you Father. You are the Living God and your Word is the Living Word. To you be all the Glory, thank you Jesus, our Heart of Hearts and our Mind of Minds. I love you too.
I had a dream last night and again, I see “reveal Christ to the world”. I – w/ the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s Grace, Mercy, Help, Growth and Perseverance – am doing what I can (under the circumstances of having this flesh tethered to me) to reveal Christ. I try to do so via my actions when amongst the world and as well on this blog. Jesus, please give me the words to write so that God is glorified.
True Love. Agape Love. This is a Love that we, as humans, cannot fully comprehend. Only through knowing ‘of’ God can we begin to comprehend. As my Pastor was saying yesterday, we can know about people, i.e. our favorite sport-star, but do we truly know of him or her, personally? The same with the Lord, we can know about Him, believe in Him, but do we truly know of Him personally. When we do, we begin to understand and comprehend this Love, but no matter how much I learn of Him, I’m continually amazed by every bit and piece that I learn of Him. It’s difficult for a carnal Christian or natural man’s mind to wrap around it.
In my opinion, God is True Love. Anyone who has been in love can say that they believe in love… but it cannot be seen. I’ve noticed that there are fleshly desires that can mask themselves as love and they are not love, they are mere deceptive tools from the evil one, i.e. passion, excitement, sexual urges, fears, ego/self, etc. True Love is indescribable with words. It’s a deep down feeling. The best analogy I can come up with is Soul-Mates, but in a Spiritual sense, it means to be of One Accord. One Body. The same heart, the same mind, the same goals and purposes – In Him.
Thus, Jesus Christ, in God… God is Spirit and not as man’s fleshly body. Ever hear of the Spirit of Love? We can’t see nor touch it, but we believe it’s there because we feel it. IMHO, that is the Spirit of God. It’s my belief that God sent Jesus, in His Image of Love. Jesus loved, always. The flesh did not have dominion over Him… Love did. What is grander in the universe than the Love of God? I’m not sure if anything can be grander, but there are things that are equal and that is His other qualities such as: Mercy, Grace, Righteousness, Just, Forever persevering, Caring, Forgiving, Kind, Protector, and so on. But maybe these other qualities derive from the root of True Love? This, I’m not sure of and am not even in a position to debate. Nonetheless, God sent Jesus, His Son, in His Image…and in my opinion, the image of True Love. What is grander??? What is more majestic??
Since the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve first sinned, there has been blood shed as a result of sin. Of course, the Bible does not say that the first animal killing in the bible is a “sacrifice” or an “atonement” for sin, but I do find it interesting enough:
Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (NKJV)
…after the fall, there were consequences for sin laid out in the previous verses, but then God made tunics of skin and clothed them. An animal died, there was a shedding of blood.. We find later in the Old Testament God’s sacrificial plan for atonement, which in summary, is the sacrifice of your most glorious animals, your first fruits of the fields, the best of the best – Through the shedding of blood, He is righteous to forgive so that we may commune with Him Spirit to Spirit again. When sin happens, we lose that Spirit to Spirit walk with God. Only through a sacrifice of one of your most cherrished, through that blood, God sees us as white as snow again – A return to the Spirit to Spirit communion as we were before the fall of Adam and Eve. Imagine being in Adam and Eve’s place… being Spirit to Spirit with God. Walking in His wonderful Creation with all of the wonderful animals. They are all glorious creatures. They sinned and then hid from God – No longer Spirit to Spirit. Did God sacrifice one of His glorious Creations for the first sin of Adam and Eve? That’s not for me to decide, but it is an interesting thought nonetheless – An animal died for the first time in the bible immediately after the consequences of sin came upon them, and then God walked with them again because He so loved them. True Love. He could have just let them be and die with the evil one as a natural or carnal man. But no, not the God of Love. He returned us back to Him, Spirit to Spirit.
Hundreds of years prior to Christ, the prophets spoke of Jesus. He then came, in His Image.. Of True Love. The best of the best. The ultimate sacrifical Lamb. For you, for me… sinners as in Adam and Eve, so that through the Blood of Christ, we are brought back into a Spirit to Spirit walk with God… brought to Him as white as snow. He sent Himself, into a man, to be mamed, for the sake of my sins. He was pierced for my transgressions. My sins are in the Blood, on the Cross. God did this for me, for you… amazing. But not only that, the True Love continues. Christ. 100% surrender to the Will of the Father. Knowing He was going to be mamed, killed, tortured, etc. For what? For the very people that were crucifying Him. “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do” as they are pinning Him up on the Cross. True Love? Complete surrendering of your life for another? For those that He didn’t even know? For the murderers, adulterers, and wicked man? For all? Imagine all those movies where someone wants to take the place of a loved one who is dying. “Father, take me instead”. True Love? Wow… This is the greatest Love story that has ever been written.
But see, here is where it is very interesting to me. There are consequences to sin and that is God’s wrath. We are punished because we sin. Jesus came, in His image. So, it is easy to say that the Father comes and, out of Love, steps into the path of His own punishment. (John 3:16) Amazing Love isn’t it? He does not wish for us to be punished, He loves us. He takes upon the sins of the world. The ultimate sacrifice – God’s Love. Or, God Himself. Is there a better Lamb? Is there an animal that is more unblemished, more perfect? The First Fruits – God. The Creator slaughtered Himself on the alter, to receive His own wrath, for us.. out of Love. Completely amazing. God is Love. In my humble opinion, Love was slaughtered on the cross. The ultimate sacrifice. God Himself. Jesus Jesus Precious Jesus!
joseph
