We have to start off with the simple fact that God is Love. The Apostle John wrote this in his first letter in Chapter 4, verses 7 and 8;
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."
We have already learned that love is one of the fruits of the Spirit. That makes sense, since the fruits of the Spirit are the characteristics of God that we allow to flow through us as we yield to the Spirit of the Living God within us. With God being Love, as we yield to His Spirit within us, His love flows through us.
Let's look at characteristics of Love. This is best described in a very popular passage that I am sure many of you have heard at weddings in reference to the love a Husband and Wife should show towards one another. That is all good, but it is more than that. The passage describes how we, as believers (Saints), should love one another and all people. We can also look at the characteristics of Love as how God loves us. After teaching on the gifts of the Spirit, Paul wrote this in his 1st letter to the Corinthians in Chapter 12, verses 1-13;
(1)"If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.(2)And if I have the gift of prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.(3)And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."
After going over the gifts of the Spirit, Paul is very mindful to emphasize what is more important than possessing gifts. Gifts of the Spirit are gifts that Jesus administers for His Divine will and purpose. People using these gifts do not show whether or not the person using these gifts are genuine believers. We have already learned that there are those who show these gifts using Jesus name where the gifts are effective only because Jesus is protecting the integrity and power of His name. Jesus didn't know them for they did not bear any fruit. All the fruits of the Spirit are within the Light of Love. Saints are able to let this love flow through them as they yield to the Spirit of Jesus within them. People who are yet to become Saints are not able to shine forth this type of love. Paul continues in describing what love is;
(4)"Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous, love does not brag, and is not arrogant, (5)does not act unbecomingly, it does not seek it's own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,(6)does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; (7)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
Seems like a goal that is unattainable. How can we have this attitude of love and be able to express this type of love? This body we live in is contrary to all of these traits. Our bodies are sin, the opposite of love. Our bodies are selfish, while love seems to be selfless. Are we, within our own power, even able to express love? The answer of course is no. So how are we able to show love? And of course the answer is ---to yield to the Spirit of love within us.
The new creation within a believer has come into existence because now their souls, that were once dark, are made alive through the implanting of the light of the Living God. Our souls are like an egg that when fertilized now have life. Without fertilization there is no life. When we receive the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, shedding His blood to forgive our sin, He comes and lives in our souls and we become, "Born of above", a New Creation. Our bodies are not a New Creation, so what is? It is the Life now in our souls, a New Being.
A believer must realize that Jesus is indwelling them with the presence of His Spirit, Light. Paul wrote this in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians in his 13th Chapter, verse 5;
"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith: examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?"
Paul very seldom used an explanation point, but he did in this verse, because it was that important to him that the saints realize this. God is Light. Through the Light of God, Jesus was conceived. Mary, whose egg was fertilized by the Light, is how Jesus came into the world as the Lights body. This is how one of the things that this child would be called is Eternal Father, as written by the prophet Isaiah in his 9th Chapter, verse 6. This is also why Jesus said, " he who has seen Me has seen the Father", as recorded by the apostle John in the 14th Chapter of his gospel, in verse 9.
If God is in you, then this same Light dwells in your soul developing you into the life that you were always intended to be. John wrote this in his 1st letter, chapter 1, verse 5;
"And this is the message we have heard from Him (Jesus) and announce to you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness."
John also wrote in the 1st Chapter of his gospel in verses 1-13;
(1)"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the word was God. (2)He was in the begging with God.(3)All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing has came into being that has come into being.(4)In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.(5)And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.(6)There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John (the baptist). (7) He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him.(8) He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. (9) There was the true light which coming into the world, enlightens all men.(10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. (11)He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.(12)But as many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to them who believe in His name,(13)who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
And God is Light. When we are born again of the Light, we have a duel citizenship. The New Creation within a believer is existing in the spiritual realm, in the heavens, while our bodies are still in the physical realm, the earth. The New Creation is with us on the earth, within our bodies. In this fleshly body, we can only shine forth love as we yield to that new life of light and love within us. Our life here is always in the process of growing and maturing in a way that should result in turning ourselves inside out, until we go home.
Lets look at the new life within us as to why it is able to love and why we can draw from that love source if we realize that it is available.
Love is patient....The creation within us is not effected by people around us.
Love is kind.....The creation within us has no reason to not care for people.
Love is not jealous.....The creation within us is not insecure.
Love does not brag..... The creation within us knows who he is.
Love is not arrogant.....The creation within us doesn't need to be better than the other guy.
Love does not act unbecomingly.....The creation within us is a child of the Righteous One.
Love does not seek it's own.....The creation within us is a joint heir of all the wealth of heaven.
Love is not provoked.....The creation within us cannot be irritated.
Love does not take account of a wrong suffered.....The creation within us cannot be offended by anything done in the physical realm.
Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness.....The creation within us desires righteousness and salvation for the souls of men.
Love rejoices in the truth.....The creation within us knows that the Truth leads to Salvation.
Love bears all things.....The creation within us is pressured by nothing.
Love believes all things.....The creation within has no doubt.
Love hopes all things.....The creation within us has tasted the power of the glory to come.
Love endures all things....The creation within us has overcome the world.
Of all the gifts, the gift of love that is given to us by the Living God when He comes to dwell in us, is what creates in us this New Life where love becomes our power. Love is our power over our bodies. Love is our power to shine the kindness of God to others that leads to repentance resulting in the salvation of their souls.
There is a characteristic of love that you might not associate as love, but it may be. There is a righteous anger and righteous indignation that should not be confused with the anger of the flesh. You may hear or see things that make you disturbed in your spirit, because they are probably the same things that disturb Jesus who dwells in you.
We find this in Proverbs, Chapter 6, verses 16-19;
(16)"There are six things that the Lord hates. Yes, seven that are an abomination to Him. (17)Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood.(18)A heart that devises wicked plans. Feet than run rapidly to evil.(19)A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
You will be disturbed in your spirit by these things also, but only for the purpose of arousing you to prayer. On these things we take our little mustard seeds and command those mountains to be exposed and cast into the sea.
Jesus showed righteous anger and indignation when he turned over the money changers tables in the temple, because they were turning the Temple of God into a "den of thieves". You might feel the same about some of the churches we see today. Pray.
Jesus also didn't seem very loving when He called the Scribes and Pharisees;
Matthew 23;27 "white washed tombs full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness",
Matthew 23:33 "brood of vipers",
Matthew 23:26 "ye blind guides",
Matthew 23:17 "you fools",
Matthew 23:33 "you serpents",
Luke 11:44 Woe to you hypocrites
This may not sound loving, but Jesus said this to them in this way to get their attention. He would later die for them also and wanted salvation for them, but Jesus was more concerned for those who they were deceiving. Jesus explained this when He said this statement as recorded by the apostle Matthew in his gospel in Chapter 23, verse 13;
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."
Jesus had an issue with them because they were deceiving the people. They were rejecting and hiding the truth from people. They were putting burdensome requirements on the people that no one can conform to while existing in this flesh. We have the same issue today in religions and churches where the truth is not being taught and the requirements they put on people to earn salvation are not of Jesus. Jesus has no part with religions. The Truth is simple and needs no religion. There is no religion in the spiritual realm of heaven. You must read the word of God so that you can discern between the truth and the doctrines of demons that are intended to close up the way to salvation and the kingdom of God to souls that need to know. Pray.
Paul finishes this off in Chapter 13, verses 8-13;
"(8)Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; If there is knowledge, it will be done away.(9)For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;(10)but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. (11)When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child, when I became a man, I did away with childish things.(12)For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall be known fully just as I have been fully known.(13)But now abide faith,hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is Love."
The Apostle John gives us this insight in his 1st letter, in Chapter 3, verses 7-16;
"(7)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.(8)The one who does not love does not know God , for God is love.(9)By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.(10)In this is love, not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (That means, Jesus paid the price, dying in our place so that we could have eternal life.) (11) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.(12)No one has beheld God at any time, if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. (13)By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. (14)And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."
As you allow your love to shine forth always remember the goal, it is all about the salvation of souls. This is why Jesus, meaning the Lord our Salvation, came. Jesus, the Light, came to be our Savior, bring into being a visible Glorified Body for Himself, and to bring into existence a New Creation made in the likeness of His Glorified Body to dwell with Him for all eternity.
Philippians 4:20 and 21;
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we earnestly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself."
May the love of Jesus fill your hearts and overflow for His glory.
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