THE FOUNDATION FOR VICTORIOUS LIVING

We have been learning about the different revelations of God’s love. Last week, we learnt about the dimensions of God’s love. Today, let’s study the Word to understand yet another aspect of this love of God.

Right from the first page of the Bible we see this love etched deep. The first clue is at the Creation story. God created a special garden stocked with every imaginable and beautiful thing that man would ever need! Interestingly, this love didn’t run out when man disobeyed and sinned against God. It has patiently and graciously been flowing ever since that fateful day!

We need to only look around us to see proof of that unfailing love. The shining sun, the changing seasons and rhythmic patterns of sowing and reaping – they all point to a God who continues to love us.

In the midst of all this, God chose a man named Abraham from a community of people who knew nothing about Him. God blessed him and his descendants abundantly. Then, many centuries later, we see the ultimate proof of God’s love for mankind – Jesus Christ! He lived, died and rose again displaying the love of the Father God!

THE ULTIMATE PROOF

Let’s try to refresh our understanding of this love once again.

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Romans 3:21-26

If we notice carefully, we will find the word righteousness appears constantly.

What is righteousness?

It means standing before God without any guilt or condemnation. Well, by that simple definition alone, all of mankind will be eliminated at one blow. We are all fallen sinners.

Yes!

Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

Now, if we think that the Law of Moses gives us any standing, we are mistaken. Because by giving the law, God proved that we could not keep or obey it!

So, the only way we have any semblance of standing is through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, through the living sacrifice of the Beloved Son of God.

DARKNESS TO LIGHT

That raises another interesting point. How does God actually take an ungodly sinner and justify him? Or how is this righteousness reconciled to God’s standards? Essentially, there are three probable scenarios. Let’s examine them one by one.

1. JUSTICE BUT NO MERCY

We know that God is not only a God of love, but also of justice and righteousness. Therefore, if only His standard of justice was employed with no touch of mercy then we would all die!

2. MERCY BUT NO JUSTICE

If there was no justice then there would be no laws at all. Everybody would do whatever they wanted to. Despite having all kinds of laws even today we have so many problems. So imagine having no laws at all!

3. JUSTICE AND MERCY

God is both righteous (just) and loving (merciful). He cannot be simply merciful and forgive us without punishing us for our sins. At the same time He cannot be just and punish us without killing us. Even though it does look like a Catch 22 situation, it is the best solution ever!

Here’s how.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Psalm 85:10

By letting Jesus Christ becoming our substitute on the Cross.

This meant the following:-

1. PHYSICAL SUFFERING

 

Jesus was beaten from head to toe. The harsh whips tore apart His body. He was nailed and pierced! Excruciating pain!

 

2. EMOTIONAL SUFFERING

 

Sin entails guilt, shame, disappointment, hurt, discouragement, regret and conviction. Jesus had to bear all of this for all of mankind! What’s worse? He was abandoned by His closest friends on earth. Above all, His Father turned His face away.

 

3. WRATH OF GOD

 

Waves of hatred and fury of God was poured out like a dam. All of His dislike for man’s sin was unfurled on Jesus.

If I were to wrap it in a nutshell, here’s how I would put it.

God delivered justice by heaping the punishment for our sins on the sinless Son of God. Righteousness and Peace kissed each other.

God extended mercy toward us by pouring out His wrath and curse for our sins on the sinless Son of God. Mercy and Truth met together.

BUT WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?

Now, we may wonder, ‘Why did Jesus die?’

Here’s the answer.

1. KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH

 

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:4

 

Jesus death and resurrection enabled all of mankind to come to the knowledge of God.

 

2. GOD’S GLORY

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Ephesians 1:5-6

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;

Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10

God let Jesus live, die and rise again so that the whole world would look at this wonderful and loving Father and praise Him.

 

3. SEATED WITH JESUS

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus

Ephesians 2:5-6

 

Not only did Jesus’ death and resurrection bless us with salvation but it also gave us a place of authority and glory in Christ Jesus. When Jesus became our substitute on the Cross, He displayed the kindness of God towards us. Through us, God wants to display His love for this lost world. It’s like displaying our trophies. The trophies are testimonies of our achievements and credentials. The marked difference in our lives is the trophy of our credentials through the love of Jesus.

WHY THE CROSS?

Often the question crosses many a mind. Why the Cross? Why not some other form of death, say like a sickness?

In order to answer that question we need to look to the past. The Old Testament demanded that a blemishless and pure animal must be sacrificed for the sins of man. Jesus Christ was the purest among men! Therefore, He had to be sacrificed.

Also by Jesus’ death on the Cross, God was publicly declaring that He abhorred sin. In fact in Deuteronomy 21:22, 23 God instructed the Israelites as to what must be done with a sinner. He said, ‘if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance’. Therefore, when Jesus was crucified on the Cross He carried our curse. Hence, Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body on the same day and buried Him. Paul refers to this in Galatians 3:13 when he says, ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree’.

CONCLUSION

So, you see, God was not just trying to display the horror of sin at the Cross but was also displaying His grace, mercy and love. It is this love that gives meaning to our lives. Not just for now. But for all ages!

THE FOUNDATION OF VICTORIOUS LIVING

THE FOUNDATION OF VICTORIOUS LIVING

 

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height –  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19

Paul writes some powerful prayers throughout the book of Ephesians. I like to call them the New Testament prayers. It means that we stand under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ and pray with confidence to our Savior.

The prayer that we read in the above passage is one of those. Paul writes about the dimensions of God’s love. Last week, we learned about the inseparable love of God. Today, let’s analyze another aspect.

DIMENSIONS OF GOD’S LOVE

Paul’s description of God’s love in the above passage indicates its vastness and inscrutability. It’s like an ocean that cannot be contained in our minds that are like tiny pots.

Nevertheless let’s attempt to decipher it.

1. BREADTH

And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation

And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands

Revelations 5:9-11

 

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

Revelations 7:9-10

 

1. L. Osborne once preached about how to give an altar call. He said that the preacher or pastor must stretch out his arms and invite everybody who is willing to follow to Jesus to the front.

Jesus’ love is an arms-stretched-wide-open and all-inclusive one.

In the above passage, John saw in his vision people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. That’s the breadth and width of God’s love. It is so inclusive that it reaches out to gather people from every corner of the world.

Many tribes have their own gods. But the Christian faith uniquely testifies that there is one God for every tribe, language, nation and people in this world. It means that we must stop our clannish and exclusive attitude in the Church. Or else we will risk becoming like the Jews and Gentiles of the early Church. The Jews particularly found worshipping the same God in the same place pretty difficult. Somehow the Jews assumed that Yahweh was their prerogative and they alone were His beloved children. They couldn’t fathom that God would extend His love to the Gentiles. But God wanted His love for Israel to be a witness to the world around. We see in Isaiah 60:1 God telling the Jews, ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you’. Somehow they lost sight of that great commission!

Similarly, many of us Christians also have a selfish tendency. We live in a religious box assuming that we are the only bride of Christ. But the reality is that God is preparing a large community of people to be His bride. If we faithfully preach the Gospel, God will make the harvest grow in plenty. In fact we will be so surprised to see hosts of believers in Heaven from every far-flung place of this world.

So let’s rid ourselves of our Christian elitist supremacies. Let us remember that there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Like Paul reminds us, Christ has broken down the middle wall of partition between the Jews and the Gentiles. Let us reflect on that profound truth and let our churches be places of children of God different in color, creed and size but united by the love of Jesus. Let us live out a multi racial, multi cultural, multi linguistic and multi ethnic community of Jesus followers on earth. After all, the song of our hearts is the same – of the love of our Redeemer!

2. LENGTH

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.

Jeremiah 31:3

Length implies the endless character of God’s love.

ETERNITY PAST

God’s love originated way back before anything was created in this world. The Trinity made the Covenant of Redemption amongst themselves. God the Father planned it. He knew that man would sin and need a Savior. So He prepared His Son Jesus Christ to come to this world as the Savior. The Son would die on the Cross and redeem mankind. The Holy Spirit was to win people to Christ when the Gospel was preached.

This assures us that God’s love for us will never change. Nothing we do or do not do can change God’s love for us. The story of the Prodigal Son testifies this love. The wayward younger son of a Father took his share and left the house. But when he was completely spent and ruined, he crept back to his father hoping to be taken back at least as a servant. But the Father was awaiting his return. He not only welcomed him back as his son but also held a feast in his son’s honor. The Father loved him before he left home, while he was away and even after he returned home. His love hadn’t changed at all. Our Heavenly Father loves us in the same way. Jesus came not because God suddenly decided to shower love on us, but because He always loved us.

ETERNITY FUTURE

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:25

In the olden times, the High Priest went into the Temple to offer sacrifices once a year. But today Jesus is our High Priest. He is interceding for us constantly. He will continue to shower us with that love until the end of ages.

3. DEPTH

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Philippians 2:5-8

Despite being equal with God, Jesus came down to the earth as a tiny and helpless baby. He lived as an ordinary person, was arrested by human authorities, condemned to death, stripped, beaten and nailed on the Cross like a common criminal. That’s the depth that Jesus went to, to demonstrate His love for us.

And who were we that He went to such extents?

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;  “The poison of asps is under their lips”;  “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.”

 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 3:10-18

 

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

 

We were the scum of the earth. Totally, unlovable, sinful people who didn’t deserve His love. It is for people like us that Jesus went to such depths of pain and suffering!

4. HEIGHT

Jesus’ death and resurrection did not just guarantee forgiveness of our sins. But it lifted us to Heavenly heights. Today we are meant to be above and not beneath. We are now co-heirs with Jesus having the Holy Spirit in us. We are made one with Jesus, are seated with Him in Heavenly places and are members of His body.

CONCLUSION

that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish

Ephesians 5:26, 27

This loving God is constantly working on us even after our Salvation. He is preparing us to be a spotless and blemishless Church for God’s glory. As we continue to lead our lives in obedience to this awesome God, let us join with the songwriter and sing a beautiful melody of our God’s love for us.

Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heaven above; Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior’s love. I, though so unworthy, still am a child of His care; For His Word teaches me that His love reaches me everywhere.

LOVE: THE FOUNDATION FOR VICTORIOUS LIVING

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Romans 8:35-39

 

I recently read a real-life account of a blind man who climbed the Mount Everest! People with all their faculties intact would find this trek daunting. But here was a man who has absolutely no clue what lay before him accomplish a herculean feat! If you aren’t impressed yet, here’s another fact. It was his seventh climbing of such sorts!

Talk of grit and determination!

Incidentally, one of the most important equipment in mountain climbing is the rope. It is tied around the waist of all the braveheart climbers to keep them secure and connected to each other.

God’s love is like that rope; connecting and securing us to Him.

We had been learning about the love of God for many weeks. The last time we studied this topic, we explored a beautiful revelation of His love. Today, let’s look at the love of God that is unbreakable and inseparable.

LOVE LIKE A ROPE

In many ways, aren’t we all like the blind man? We don’t know where our next step is going to lead us to or what’s coming our way in the future. Yet, we have a journey to make and a destiny to arrive at. We trudge on ahead braving all the odds of life with the love of God fastened around us neatly. It holds firm and together, tight and snug. We can be certain that we won’t trip and fall because it’s not us holding on to God’s love, but God’s love that is holding on to us.

Paul, in the book of Romans, states that nothing can ever separate us from this love of Christ. As lovely as it sounds, it seems like a hard thing to understand. Let’s take a quick look at understanding why that is so.

1. DISENCHANTMENT WITH WORLDLY EXPERIENCE OF LOVE

Look around us. We see all kinds and forms of love – love between spouses, parents and children, friends. Many a time, these love relationships disappoint and disenchant us. That’s why when Jesus came and demonstrated Godly love, people couldn’t grasp it. The Greeks who boasted of different words to express different kinds of love scrambled to find a new word to express Godly love.

2. DISENCHANTMENT WITH OUR SINFULNESS

No one better than us knows how sinful we are! In fact, even we wouldn’t love the sinfulness in us, let alone somebody else. Armed with that certainty we find it difficult to believe that the Holy and Perfect God of this universe could love us!

3. WORLDLY SUFFERING

Many people wonder if God really loved them, then why they are suffering so many problems. The first century church to whom Paul wrote the letter of Romans was no stranger to suffering. They were facing intense persecution. Tribulation, distress, famine, nakedness and sword were not just metaphors in their lives. Those were their everyday realities. Now, we must understand that God did not create evil. He wanted us to have a wonderful life. The problems and suffering that we are facing today has been brought on by man’s rebellion! Paul reminds the early Church that despite all their sufferings they could be assured that God loved them and that nothing could ever separate them from that love!

WHAT COULD SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD?

Paul doesn’t just say that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He goes on to detail the things that could possibly arise in our minds as being able to separate us from God’s love. After that, he proclaims ‘Not these or anything else at all can ever come between us and God’s love for us’.

Let’s quickly run through the list Paul addresses. These could be some of our fears today.

1. DEATH AND LIFE

Death is an unwelcome guest. It separates people from their loved ones. The thought that we cannot see our beloved person anymore on earth brings grief and sorrow. So Paul says in other words that death may separate us from our family and possessions but it cannot keep us away from God’s love. The Bible says that when we are absent from this body we are present with God. It does not separate us from God at all. In fact, it takes us right into His presence. So we don’t have to fear death. Jesus promises that He will raise us back to life. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, ‘But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope’. We have reason for hope – hope of an eternal, forever life with Jesus.

Now, if death is painful then life is not too far either. Many of our lives are not immune to difficulties and calamities. ‘Where is God when life hurts’ often seems to be a fitting cry of the heart? But the life of a follower of Jesus experiences tender love even in the midst of life’s pains.

Let me tell you the story of John Chrysostom. He was a celebrated preacher and known as the ‘man with the golden mouth’. Some of his sermons were so convicting that his audience would squirm in their seats uncomfortably. Well, it so happened that one day the Emperor of the nation felt that Chrysostom was talking about his sinful life. Fuming, the Emperor had him arrested and brought before him for trial.

He glared at Chrysostom and told him that he would be banished if he didn’t stop preaching. Chrysostom simply replied, ‘Banishing means sending me to a place where there is nothing. But that won’t be true in my case. Because wherever I go, my Heavenly Father will be there. I am not afraid of being banished’.

The Emperor retorted, ‘Then I will kill you’. Chrysostom calmly said, ‘My life is hidden with Christ and is safe in his hands. I am not afraid of death’.

The Emperor countered, ‘I will take away all your material possessions’. Chrysostom replied, ‘The Bible says that where your heart is there our possessions will be. I have given my heart to Jesus. I am not afraid of possessing nothing’.

Finally, the Emperor said, ‘Fine, then I will drive you away from all men to a place where you will have no friends’. Chrysostom said, ‘Sure, you might be able to separate me from all my friends, except for one friend – Jesus Christ. He will be with me no matter where I go’.

Isn’t that incredible? No threat could separate him from God’s love. And therefore, nothing could stop him from doing his God-ordained duty.

Another similarly exciting story is Paul’s. 2 Corinthians 11:23-26 says, ‘Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren’.

Wow!

Clearly, Paul knew what TROUBLE meant – in life and in his imminent death. Having gone through and knowing that he would probably die soon for his faith in Jesus, He says, ‘NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD’.

2. ANGELS AND PRINCIPALITIES

There are good and bad angels. The bad angels or the devil’s army are referred to as the principalities in Romans 5. But the good news is that Jesus won against the devil on the Cross of Calvary. So we can engage in warfare against the demonic hosts. The devil may attempt to make us feel guilty. But Paul says that nobody can condemn us because Jesus died for us, rose again for us, sits at the right hand of God for us and intercedes for us. If God is for us the nothing, not even the devil, can be against us!

3. THINGS PRESENT AND THINGS TO COME

Neither the cares of today nor the concerns of tomorrow can separate us from the love of Christ. We don’t have to worry about a single thing in life as ever being able to make God stop loving us.

4. HEIGHT AND DEPTH

Climb up to heaven or dig a hole deep in to the earth, but even then nothing will be able to keep us from God’s love.

5. POWERS AND AUTHORITIES

Powers mean mighty deeds or people in authority. So when a man with authority misuses his power or becomes totalitarian, he can wreck havoc in the lives of the citizens. Paul says that even the darkest powers of this world cannot separate us from God’s love. We can rejoice in that truth.

6. ANY CREATED THING

Finally, Paul says that even if there is anything that he missed out in listing or that we haven’t thought of so far, we can be certain that even that thing cannot separate us from God’s love.

 

 

CONCLUSION

Paul signs off by reassuring us that God’s love is not only unbreakable, but is also triumphant. He says we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loved us. Don’t quit or give up yet. If we are getting beaten up, remember it is only a phase. Keep standing and stay put. The victory will definitely be ours. God’s love guarantees it!