Greater Love and Even Greater Love
September 18, 2005
Dear Friends,
Jesus said “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.†(John 15:13) This was the new commandment of which he spoke in John 13:34 which reads “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you.†This was new compared to the Law of Moses. Under the Law, God commanded the people that “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.†In other words, the Law commanded me to put your interests EQUAL to my own. Jesus, as was his custom to do, elevated the principle in the Law even higher. He asked us to love one another as he had loved us; that is, for me to put your interests ABOVE my own. His ultimate example of this principle was to die for us on the cross.
I would like to think that I would lay down my life for everyone that receives this email. It is hard to say for sure what any of us would do in a life-or-death situation, but again, I would like to think I would willingly lay down my life for you. On the other hand, at the risk of being brutally honest, I can also say without any hesitation that there is not anyone that receives this Thought for the Week that I would be willing to lay down the life of my children for. It is one thing to lay down my life for someone and an entirely different thing to lay down the life of my child. I hope you are not offended in my being so frank.
The point is that God DID love us so. The Scriptures say “greater love hath no MAN,†yet God’s love is greater. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.†(John 3:16) The love of God is almost beyond human comprehension in that He was willing to sacrifice His own son for us.
The love that God has shown us is, I believe, supposed to have a dramatic effect upon us to the extent that we are absolutely compelled to change our lives in His service. It is supposed to have such an effect that it compels us to a lesser, but similarly profound, love. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.†(1 John 3:16) You see, God only asks us to lay down our own lives, not those of our children. God has not asked of us more than what He has given of Himself. He has asked less.
A key and definitive litmus test of discipleship is the love test. If we do not possess this love, we are only play-acting our discipleship. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.†Similarly, the Apostle John also teaches, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?†(1 John 3:16-17) There is no faking this love, but it is demonstrated each and every day in the life of the believer. We are either disciples displaying God’s love or we are not disciples at all. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.†(1 John 3:14)
May the love of God compel us to love one another as Jesus loved us. “The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.†(2 Thess. 3:5)
Have a great week!
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