To Know the Love of Christ – A Sure Cure for Two Dimensional Religion

The real Jesus Christ draws people to Himself and is continually intriguing.

The personage and love of Jesus is unlimited in width and length and depth and height. Jesus is multi – dimensionally infinite.

“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.” (Eph 3:17-19 NKJV)

Why are so many people not drawn to church ?

Have so many of our churches become so shallow and uninteresting?

Perhaps we have adopted the world’s shallow 2 dimensional philosophy of the heart and mind. A mind devoid of a transformed heart is shallow by comparison with the renewed heart and mind.

To truly know Christ is to experience love that transcends that which the mind is even able to comprehend.

If the church can reflect Jesus Christ and God’s love to the world, people will be drawn to worship Christ as they were drawn to Him during His earthly ministry.

The transformed mind and heart will come to know Christ and His unlimited personage, divine personality, and infinite love.

Then we will be able to introduce Jesus to others.

To know Him and experience Him we must be rooted and grounded in love with Him through faith in Him.

“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom 10:10 NKJV)

And then we must continually be, “grounded in love, “”that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” This is the path to transformation and then to ongoing discipleship.

Father God please help us know the width and length and depth and height of Jesus and His love so we can better share Him with everyone.

“Jesus alone founded His empire upon love”- Napoleon Bonaparte

“In a statement about Jesus Christ, Napoleon while he was exiled on the rock of St. Helena he called Count Montholon to his side and asked him,”

“Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?” Upon the Count declining to respond Napoleon countered.”

“Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend?”

“Upon force.”

“Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.”

“I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than a man. I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man’s creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.”

~Napoleon Bonaparte~

“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.”

(John 3:16 NKJV)

Inseparable, Unchangeable, Irrevocable – The Magnificent Love Jesus Christ Has for Us

Do you know Christ has always loved you?

His love is the most powerful force in the universe.

He loved us so much that He came to us to pay for our sins on the cross.

He loved us so much that He defeated death for us by dying and then coming back to life.

Now Christ gives life to all who choose to receive His love.

Simply ask Him.

He is listening now.

The following passage is from the Bible, God’s Holy Word.

“What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can  be against us?

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,

how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

“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.”

(Rom 8:31-32 ) ( Rom 8:35-39 )

Ethos,Pathos,Logos – The Image of God

Bust of Aristotle. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek bronze original by Lysippos from 330 BC; the alabaster mantle is a modern addition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God created man in His image.

Aristotle identified three primary areas of influence and response that comprise the mind, heart, and soul of mankind.

He called them Ethos, Pathos, and logos.

God is sovereign and all Powerful- this is Ethos

God is the author of wisdom and is all knowing- this is Logos

God is Love and so loved the world He gave His Son – this is Pathos

The Psalms puts it this way;

Psalms 139:1-4 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways. For there  is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

God knows us, understands us, comprehends us altogether because He loves us.

His pathos brought His ethos and logos to our rescue.

His pathos / love bridged the gap between us and God through Christ.

God wants our love as well.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6)

The most remarkable thing about what God requires from us is that He gave all of himself for us in Christ first.

He expressed all His ethos, pathos, and logos for our benefit through the cross.

Is God not worthy of all our love in return?

“Counterfeit Gods”- Video Summary of Tim Keller’s Book By The Same Title – Jeff Bethke – 5 min.

Based on Tim Keller’s book ,”Counterfeit Gods”, this may be Jefferson Bethke’s best work yet.

They say ,”Counterfeit God’s”,may be Tim Keller’s best work yet.

And the two combined make for a powerful video with a strong Christian message.

We all worship something. We are hope based creatures, and all place our hope or happiness in something or someone.

But even the best of us will let you down.

But Jesus never will.

If we pin our hopes or happiness on it, that is a clue it is a counterfeit god.

If we can’t give it up, we don’t own it, it owns us, and is a counterfeit god.

Counterfeit Gods take many forms like jobs, money, possessions, duty,style,sex,drugs, pleasure,ease,companionship, power, accomplishment,even religion.

None of these things would die for us.

None of these things give ultimate hope.

But Jesus did die for us.

All other things, if you serve them, will take everything from you.

He is the only God who gave everything for you.
Why not give everything to the only true God who will never betray you?

The Many Facets of Jesus’ Love – The Gospel of Jesus in Verse – 80 Ways To Know Jesus Loves Us

 

Jesus loved us before we knew Him

Jesus loved us when He came down to us.

Jesus loved us by associating with the most humble.

Jesus loved us by doing without.

Jesus loved us by garnering lowly sinners to follow Him.

Jesus loved us by being bold for the truth.

Jesus loved us by fearlessly facing moralism.

Jesus loved us by enduring rejection.

Jesus loved us by standing up to oppression.

Jesus loved us by giving warnings.

Jesus loved us by showing the way.

Jesus loved us by speaking the truth.

Jesus loved us by fasting 40 days and nights.

Jesus loved us by allowing himself to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus loved us by not giving in to the temptation of the devil.

Jesus loved us by living the life we should have lived.

Jesus loved us by telling stories that make us think.

Jesus loved us by being one of us, only He lived a sinless life.

Jesus loved us by praying often.

Jesus loved us by praying for us.

Jesus loved us by being gentle with real seekers of truth.

Jesus loved us by being hard on leaders who thought they knew it all.

Jesus loved us by enduring unjust shame, accusations, and insults.

Jesus loved us by enduring being despised and rejected by men.

Jesus loved us by publicly railing against corruption of God’s house.

Jesus loved us by doing miracles.

Jesus loved us by challenging our lack of faith.

Jesus loved us loved us by becoming the Bread of life.

Jesus loved us by warning us about hell.

Jesus loved us by telling us about heaven.

Jesus loved us by accepting His reason for coming down to us.

Jesus loved us by enduring the rejection and unbelief of family.

Jesus loved us by going to Jerusalem even after being threatened.

Jesus loved us by riding a lowly donkey instead of a horse.

Jesus loved us by washing the disciples feet as a leadership example.

Jesus loved us by loving everyone even though Judas was there.

Jesus loved us by devoting himself to even more prayer.

Jesus loved us by waiting for His capture.
.
Jesus loved us by allowing Himself to be betrayed by Judas.

Jesus loved us by not calling His father to send Angels to his rescue.

Jesus loved us by suffering being forsaken by all His disciples.

Jesus loved us by His silence before His own people and captors.

Jesus loved us by withstanding beatings from His own people.

Jesus loved us by being disrobed and whipped.

Jesus loved us by enduring a crown of thorns.

Jesus loved us by suffering mockery.

Jesus loved us by allowing His beard to be plucked from His face.

Jesus loved us by not defending Himself against lies and false accusations.

Jesus loved us by enduring more whips and beatings from Pilate.

Jesus loved us by facing an angry,merciless crowd.

Jesus loved us by enduring rejection by His own.

Jesus loved us by submitting Himself to angry cries to crucify Him.

Jesus loved us by carrying the cross that He would die on.

Jesus loved us though the heavy load of the cross made Him stumble.

Jesus loved us by letting soldiers nail His hands and feet to the cross.

Jesus loved us as He was crucified between two thieves.

Jesus loved us as He watched them cast lots for His clothing.

Jesus loved us as He endured pain and physical suffering.

Jesus loved us as He continued ongoing mockery and accusation.

Jesus loved us as He watched His mother agonizing for Him.

Jesus loved us as His mouth was to dry to speak.

Jesus loved us as He refused Gal, a drink with a sedative in it.

Jesus loved us they gave Him vinegar instead of water.

Jesus loved us He carried the sins of all mankind.

Jesus loved us as the Father turned away from Him.

Jesus loved us as He agonized over why God had forsaken Him.

Jesus loved us as He cried out,”it is finished!”

Jesus loved us as He passed from life to death for us.

Jesus loved us as His side was pierced and blood and water flowed down.

Jesus loved us as His body was placed in a tomb and a stone was rolled over the doorway.

Jesus loved us as He died our death so He could give us life.

Jesus loved us as He conquered death and rose from the grave.

Jesus loves us as He went back to Heaven to prepare a place for us.

Jesus loves us as He freely gives life to all who believe in Him as Savior.

Jesus loves us as He comes into the believer and changes us.

Jesus loves us as He promises He will make all things new.

Jesus loves us as He promises to never leave or forsake us.

Jesus loves us as He gives us The Comforter, His Spirit in us.

Jesus loves us and He promised to come back for us.

All I really know in life is…

Jesus loves us…

Augustine on “Hope has two beautiful daughters” Christian Anger and Courage

“Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.” Augustine

Augustine is of course talking about getting angry at the problem,…and people are not the problem!

The people have a problem,…they need Jesus.

But not everybody thinks they need to be saved.

“From what?”‘they might say.

And that is when we give them the ,”Bad News,” and say, “You need Jesus, without Him you will spend eternity in Hell. ”

How could the truth always be what we want to hear?
It can’t be.Life isn’t that way.

But still, anyone who speaks the truth when needed is showing more love than a dozen people who say nothing simply because they don’t want to ,”be negative.”

Is it love to not say what someone you love needs to hear?

If a bridge is out on a road, would you even think of taking down the big yellow warning sign that reads,”Bridge is Out”, because your opinion is that people don’t want to hear that negative stuff ?

That is just what living without Jesus is like.

Without Jesus, we are on a road that leads to certain and eternal death!

My HOPE is that we all heed this warning and tell others as well.

Christian, find your voice.

Be angry at the way things are!

State the ugly truth of the way things are, even if everyone else chooses to ignore it!

If they are blind and cannot see, that is God’s job to open their eyes.

All you must do is be faithful in telling others.

Then have the courage to tell others how it should be!
That Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost.
That Jesus loved them enough to die for their wrongdoing.
That Jesus rose in victory over death and now offers life to as many as receive Him a Lord and Savior.

Jesus is the bridge to life.
Make the turn.
Heed the warning.
And then…
Put up the Big Yellow Warning Sign.

You might save an eternal life from eternal death.

The Truth Spoken in Love Leads Us to the Compassion of Christ

“Christians are in themselves no wiser than are other men. What they have, they have by grace. They must be ‘all things to all men.’ But it is not kindness to tell patients that need strong medicine that nothing serious is wrong with them. Christians are bound to tell men the truth about themselves; that is the only way of bringing them to recognize the mercy, the compassion, of Christ. For if men are told the truth about themselves, and if they are warned against the false remedies that establish men in their wickedness, then, by the power of the Spirit of God, they will flee to the Christ through whom alone they must be saved” (The Intellectual Challenge of the Gospel).

“Only Jesus Christ and His death on the cross can wash away all our sins. Jesus died and rose again. No one else has done that for you. Van Til asserts: “If God was to continue communication with His creature, it was either to be by condemnation or by atonement.” God, through His mercy, provided a perfect and effectual atonement through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Believe in Him and you will be saved.”

Corneilus Van Til

St. Francis Of Assisi’s Radical Love For Jesus – The Huffington Post ?

Image via Wikipedia

I am commending The Huffington Post on a great article about the radical reformer St.Francis of Assisi.

(who says miracles never happen?)

St. Francis engaged his culture in a way that we could all learn from.

He reflected the love of God in order to,”overcome evil with good.” ( Romans 12:21)

It worked back then and it still works today.

God’s love is supreme in power and influence to change our hearts.

Click on the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/jamie-arpinricci/st-francis-of-assisi-religious-radical_b_1332912.html

Enjoy!

Infinite Love – Christ’s Sacrifice To Save Us Was The Ultimate Expression Of Love To An Infinite Degree

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. “ (Ephesians 3:14-19)

“to know this love that surpasses knowledge”.

That seems like an impossible  statement because it is.

The love of God is infinite and our minds are finite.

Faith becomes logical when we consider that God is limitless in all virtue and strength and that we, His creation ,are limited in our capacity to grasp ,”this love that surpasses knowledge”.

But we are curious by nature and intrigued by the unknown.

Yet our text says we can by God’s indwelling Spirit grasp this love that passes knowledge.

His love is infinite love.

Love for God – The All Consuming Fire the Burns Away All Other Passions

 “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.

Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!

He is filled with fury,because he knows that his time is short.”(Rev12.11.NIV84 )

Courage.

Can there possibly be a more masculine word? (Ladies, I’m speaking primarily to the guys in our culture who seem to have a problem with the word love. Just to avoid any possible misunderstanding).

How about Love? Could love be more masculine than courage?

Consider what the Bible says about believers who are tested by fiery trials.

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Rev. 12:11

The believers in this text obviously loved Christ more than their own lives.

They loved God with all their heart and all their soul, and all their mind.

This text reveals the root and heart of courage.

Courage is when we love someone or some higher purpose more than we love our own lives or circumstances.

Such was the courageous love of Christ sacrifice for us on the cross.

God’s love through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was not weakness.

When God came down to save us in the personage of Jesus Christ and gave himself as the only perfect and worthy sacrifice that could pay for our sins, He did not display weakness as it may appear.

The All Powerfull Creator and One God of All that is and all that live could have sent ,“ten legions of angels”, yet for His great love for us He suffered and died, the just for the unjust.

He suffered for our benefit and withheld retribution though it was justified because of His limitless divine love.

God showed more than courage, God is love!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

God’s love is the flame that feeds the fire of courageous believers,…

because He first loved us.

I say this because Christianity is suffering from a serious disconnect in a loving delivery of our message.

I think men typically think of love as a liberal, mushy, soft,sentimental feeling without any rational basis or theological application.

God’s love is the strongest force there is.

Related articles

• Legalism,License, and The Love of God (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)

God Loves Us More Than We Love Ourselves-An Anchor For Hope

A Sure Anchor for Hope

We may give up on ourselves.

God loves us more than we love ourselves because He never gives up on us.

Life can be tough and sometimes people give trying.

Hope is the basis for much of this life and also for our eternity.

When people lose hope they stop believing in themselves and those around them.

The outcomes of hopelessness can be devastating to families and relationships, and even end in tragedy.

But if hopelessness leads to disillusionment and disbelief, then hope leads to faith and belief and life.

God, who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all will not forsake us.

“if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” ( 2 Timothy 2:13)

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”(Romans 8:32)

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”(Deuteronomy 31:6)

Place your faith in the anchor of your soul, and nothing in this life can touch your hope for eternity.

“while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,”(Titus 2:13)

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Believe in Christ as your Savior.He will come into your heart and will never leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

And if He will never leave you then you will never loose all hope.

No matter what happens in this life, even death will only hasten your reward of your eternal hope.

Jesus in you will become Jesus with you.You will be in His presence forever.

 

The Mark of the Christian by Francis Schaeffer – 100th Birthday 1/30/2012

Cover of The Mark of the Christian

This is one my favorite books by one of the greatest Christian minds of our time, Francis Schaeffer, (1912-1984)

THE MARK OF A CHRISTIAN – A touchstone reading experience for me.

I hope it will be for you as well.

Free online.

Click on the link below –

http://www.ccel.us/schaeffer.html

Only 38 pages long, this powerful and compelling essay is published as part of Schaeffer’s complete works, but is also available as a separate publication.

Christian love for fellow believers and the world is what Schaeffer called,”The Final Apologetic”.

Enjoy!

Update – Christianity Today Carried an article with Chuck Colson  on Schaeffer and “The Mark Of The Christian”- Click on the link below.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/february/remembering-francis-schaeffer.html

Related articles

• Schaeffer Energized Evangelical Thought and Action (calvinistview.com)

If We Love God With All Our Heart There Is No Room Left To Desire Anything Contrary To Him.

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Biblical Emphasis in Doctrine – God is Love

No theme of the Bible is so constant as this.
God is love. (1 John 4:8 and 4:16 )

In the old testament book of Micah we read,”He delights in mercy,” (7:18), and in Micah 6:8 we are told that God wants us ,“To love mercy, “.

God is love, and the ultimate Biblical Emphasis is to reflect His love shown to this world in the personage of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Tell them about Jesus. Live like Jesus. Serve like Jesus.

“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world He loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)

Any doctrinal theme can be emphasised and taken out of it’s Biblically Intended Emphasis.

If any Christian teacher can talk about any subject from the Bible for long without relating it all to Jesus Christ, the teacher is probably teaching mere morals and rules.

But Christianity as Christ instituted it is a relationship.

“Rules without relationship breed resentment,” someone has said.

The famous Scottish Journalist,Thomas Carlyle said it well,
“What this town needs is someone who knows Christ other than by hearsay.”

What is Grace ? – Forgiveness Offered Only Because of Love

What Grace is can be summed up in one word, FORGIVENESS.

We know That God is love. (1 John 4:8,16)

Grace cannot be more than who and what God is, but Grace can be what God is.

God is love and Grace is unearned forgiveness and love,paid for us by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross, the out working of God’s love to us.

All God does for the benefit of mankind and the reason God does them are the substance of what Grace is.

The best example of what Grace is can be found in these words from John 3:16,

“For God so loved”,…

“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.”

God’s love satisfied God’s righteousness for our sake so we can know Him and have a relationship with Him.

FORGIVENESS is not forced upon us, but rather offered to us. Just ask God with your heart, and He will give eternal life to you.

“For by Grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one can boast. ” Ephesians 2:8-9

How to Love God With Everything Within You

 

 

Jesus said, He who has been forgiven much loves much, and he that has been forgiven little loves little.
(partial paraphrase}. luke 7:41-47

Therefore the realization that Christ paid all our sin debt should result in the true believer loving God with all his heart.

“We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

The only questions that remain for us to ask ourselves are;

To what degree do we perceive we were in need?

and,

To what degree do we believe that Jesus met that need on the cross?

“For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”Romans3:23

Everyone who has ever lived is less than perfect, except Jesus Christ.

We all come short whether by an inch or a mile. Anything less than perfect and Holy is imperfection and unholiness.

So there is no difference, for all come short.
So all of us owes everything to God.

We have all been forgiven much.
We can all love much.

Love Fuels Faith

Love ,”believes all things , hopes all things.” (1 Corinthians 13) 

When faith is present fear is absent.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:18-19 )

Our faith is fueled by confidence that Christ Jesus paid all our debt, took all our torment, and lives in us. Faith that works by love says, “I know God loves me”.

Faith knows that God will do all He has promised to do because He has proven the extent to which He loves us. And this is the extent of His love.

“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.” John 3:16 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

Such love should spur confidence in those who call God Father through belief in Christ as Savior. A confidence that is rooted in a love that gave everything for us on the cross because He loved us.

Confidence is faith when it is rooted in God’s love for us. Such love fuels our faith.

 ^“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6)