Love Abounds
Love is in the air! Can you feel it? Even in
bitter cold and knee-deep snow, our hearts warm with love for our spouse,
children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all the people who make our
lives complete.
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If we think about it, during our lifetimes,
we’ve experienced a gamut of love: fresh, new love, passionate love,
comfortable love, anticipated love, and lost love. But no love as inclusive,
all-encompassing, or as perfect as God’s love for us.
I know you know these things and can probably
quote John 3:16, alongside the best Bible Quizzers. “For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
This glorious, eternal
truth escapes many. And these are left wondering whether physical life is all
there is.
In 1969, artist Peggy Lee sang the ballad, “Is
That All There Is?” The song’s words and melody were so melancholy and forlorn
some felt hopeless as they listened. Peggy’s answer didn’t help. She sang, “If
that’s all there is, my friends, then let’s keep dancing. Let’s bring out the
booze and have a ball.”
Solomon sort of asked that question. “What
profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” His
answer came in the same pitiful tone. “I have seen all the works that are
done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.”[1]
Time after time, the Lord GOD of hosts called Jerusalem
to repentance. But in Isaiah’s day, all He received in return were carousing
people spouting, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”[2]
Sure, live it up while
you still have breath, because once you’re dead, it’s all over, right?
Paul brought those words into the New Testament.
Some in the Corinthian church felt the resurrection of the dead was nonsense.
In refuting this belief, Paul said, “If, in the manner of men, I have fought
with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”[3]
Paul countered this futility and hopelessness. “But
now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came
the resurrection of the dead.”[4]
What glorious hope! Because Jesus conquered
death for us, there IS life after physical death. Scripture confirms the moment
believers pass, our soul and spirit are present with the Lord, and entrance
will be supplied into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.[5]
Because of God’s great LOVE, true believers live each day with this
expectation. Yet that’s not all there is to God’s love.
Salvation, the day we were born again and
filled with His Spirit, was the beginning, and at the end of our earthly life, we
will live with Christ. But what about the in-between time? Aww, that’s when
sanctification happens.
What do I mean? Have you heard the phrase,
“God’s still working on me?” It’s true, and simply put, it’s the definition of
sanctification. The Christian life is a growing process, like molding clay. Isaiah
explained, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay,
and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand.”[6]
By surrendering to Jesus, we opened the door of
our heart. His Holy Spirit entered and began His work[7] of
rooting out the old: past hurts, painful memories, bad habits, frustrating
relationships, and uncontrollable events. You know, all the things that caused
us to search for God in the first place, and drove us to our knees.
Knowing Jesus, we read His Word, interact with
believers or unbelievers, and go about our lives while God’s Holy Spirit works
within. He uses many different pressure points in our molding: joys, sorrows,
strengths, weaknesses, corrections, and even trials. Why? His Love! He’s preparing us for our heavenly home
– that city whose Builder and Maker is God.[8]
In our sanctification, God’s
LOVE abounds, AND nothing can
separate us from His LOVE.[9]
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Anita
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