2014.01.19_God’s Love and True Offering

How to Depart From Hades

God is Love (I John 4:8). The will and works of God toward us is love. Parents desire for their children to succeed because they love them, not because of any selfish interests. God’s love is greater than parents’ love for their children. God not only gave the sun and rain to mankind, but He also gave His Son to shed His blood, the Holy Spirit through the Son, the Gospel and blessings. True blessing is not a concept but a tangible reality that can be possessed. We all need to acknowledge that we have been loved by God.

Who is the Devil? Though he was one of the angels, he abandoned God’s love and was eternally judged. What kind of beings are demons? They have endlessly rejected God’s love and thus have been caged in an inescapable curse. In this way, people that cannot receive God’s love can only be cursed.

Man died eternally because he also rejected God’s love. God told Adam, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). This was a crossroad of life and death. If man possesses life, he could live though he dies. Life is God’s love bestowed on man. Yet, Adam rejected God’s life and thus became estranged from His love. Living again became impossible for him.

God spoke concerning His Son, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Jesus is the beloved of God. In Jesus was the command to die and even to live (John 10:17-18). In another words, He alone possesses the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:22). Though He died on the cross, He was able to leave Hades because in Him was life. Without life, Hades is an inescapable place. When Jesus said that He has received the command to die and live, it means that He has accomplished the command of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in Eden. He died according to the command to die and He resurrected according to the command to live.

Christians believe that Jesus defeated the authority of Hades. Jesus resurrected and ascended into Heaven; this has become the faith and hope for all Christians. The fallen angels do not possess life and definitely cannot escape Hades. On the other hand, Christ was crucified in Hades but was able to escape Hades because He possessed life. This is the hope that He has given to us. The Lord has said that Hades would not be able to bolt us down and imprison us if we possess life (Matt. 16:18). Even those in the graves would hear the voice of the Son and come forth (John 5:28-29). Therefore, we must definitely possess the commands of God.

The Unique Way to Receive God’s Love

Too many Christians approach God with the same mentality they used to have when they were led by idols. They think like the world and say, “piety moves heaven.” However, this is not the way of faith. The way that saves our spirit is only one. Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6). Jesus is the Love of God bestowed upon us. Man must receive this Love in order to

escape the authority of Hades. No matter how much you cultivate the flesh, it still goes back to dust. But at that moment, only God’s love can save our spirit.

God gave His only begotten Son. He loves those who believe in His Son. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). We received baptism not to follow a religious ceremony but to obey the commands of the Lord and receive the love of God in Jesus Christ. Being God’s children means receiving God’s love. Sad to say, people who call themselves as God’s children do not acknowledge that they are receiving God’s love.

The Israelites experienced prosperity in all that they touched when they obeyed the Law. But this was actually a shadow of the reality in Jesus Christ, meaning the soul would prosper as well. Israelites circumcised their son on the eighth day of his birth and vowed to raise him according to the Law before God. Among those trained under the Law, Pharisees were considered perfect. But Jesus kept saying, “Woe to you! Pharisees!” God does not judge by appearance. The important thing for man is whether he is receiving God’s love. Though Jesus Christ, the Love of God, came to the world, the Pharisees ostracized him. The Pharisees were excellent in personal piety, but because they rejected God’s love, they did not possess the strength to escape Hades.

God desires that we all come into His beloved, Jesus Christ, and receive His love. All of God’s commands are His love that revives us. Man must live though he dies, but by violating the command concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he forfeited the power to live again. When God gave His commands to this man, He was giving the power to live. Therefore, we should not mistake our religious conscience that causes us to rely on our convictions to offer piety as faith but obey and receive God’s love.

What We Must Do As God’s Field

God’s will, command and blessings are the same. Though man desires blessings, he cannot receive blessings if he rejects God’s commands. “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9). We are God’s follow workers that participate in His work, the field to receive God’s seeds and the building where God dwells. God created the heavens and earth in six days; He blessed the seventh day and rested on that day (Gen. 2:1-3). The blessed day became God’s dwelling place. But blessings are in God’s command. Therefore, in order to become God’s dwelling place, one must obey His commands and possess His blessings.

Possessing God’s blessings means sowing it into our spirit just as seeds are sown in the fertile ground. The birds of the air eat up seeds sown on the wayside. Seeds that are sown on stony ground might quickly sprout but because of the lack of depth, they dry up when trials and persecutions come (Matt. 13:18-23). We must sow into our spirit God’s commanded words, faith and blessings. And if the blessings that God has commanded are properly sown into our spirit, then we must preserve them until the harvest.

Jesus petitions God for blessings for He does not directly give us the blessings. “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them” (Luke 24:50). Jesus makes petitions because above Him is the Father. On the other hand, God the Father does not make petitions for blessings but directly gives us the blessings. Then, we must receive the blessings that God has commanded. But many people attend church and know how to offer personal devotions, but they do not know how to sow blessings into their spirit.

We must receive the blessings that God has commanded. “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Sam. 15:22-23). If we truly are God’s field, then we must allow His blessings to be sown in us. Through this, we must become God’s building where He could dwell. Then, though our flesh goes back to dust, our spirit will hear the voice of the Lord and participate in the first resurrection.

Caution After Sowing God’s Love

Jesus loved His disciples to the end (John 13:1). This does not mean that He gave them pats on their back and expressed endearment to them. He taught them to the end. But the Devil put into the heart of Judas Iscariot to sell Jesus (John 13:2). Concerning him, Jesus said, “It would have been good for that man if he had never been born” (Mark 14:21). The Lord knew that once anyone receives the Devil’s thoughts, there is no way to bring him back.

Jesus once said the following: 27So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn”’” (Matt. 13:27-30). Tares grow by intertwining their roots with the root of the wheat. Thus, since uprooting the tares can endanger the wheat, the farmer allows them to grow together until the harvest.

Judas Iscariot also received the love of the Lord along with the disciples. However, when the Devil sowed in Judas the thoughts of selling Jesus, there was no way to reverse the process. So Jesus told Judas, “What you do, do quickly” (John 13:27). Judas went out immediately, sold and handed Jesus over and eventually took his own life. In this way, though the Lord loves a person to the end, if he does not receive that love, then he would definitely perish at the end.

Jesus said, “5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5-6). If a branch withers because it fails to receive the sustenance and moisture, then, it is impossible to revive it again. In the same way, a person who separates from God’s love

cannot go back to the way he used to be in the beginning. It is impossible to bring Jesus Christ back into the world and crucify Him again. A dead branch can be cut off, but any that is still alive can still be blessed by receiving the water from the constant provision of rain. Or else, it would be cursed and good for nothing but the fire (Heb. 6:1-8).

Our spirit can only be preserved by the commands of God. Even a healthy person will one day leave this earth, but the opportunity to receive God’s love will not be available then. Anyone who desires to save his spirit must sow God’s love into his spirit while the flesh is still alive. We cannot only be involved with offering our piety when God sent His only Son to save us. God knows the abundance of our sins and flaws, but He overlooks them and desires for us to receive His love. Therefore, we must all receive God’s blessings as commands. Also, if we have received God’s love, then we must manage our spiritual life well.

How to Confirm Your Love for Your Spirit

Each person can know for sure whether he or she is receiving God’s love. God loves his Son, Jesus Christ. Also, the church is the body of Christ. If we were members of the body of Christ, then we would receive God’s love. If we were not members of the body of Christ, we would not receive God’s love. Even if a person were to be good and faithful, without being a part of the body of Christ, he still would not receive God’s love and thus perish.

He who receives God’s love can see his own spirit by looking at his church. By loving the church, he proves that he loves his own spirit. By not loving the church, he proves that he is ignoring his own spirit. Philippians 3:3 says, “Who worship God in the Spirit.” This means that people should be serving God by the Holy Spirit in the church. God purchased the church with His blood and appointed an overseer by the Holy Spirit to lead the church. He who receives God’s love must love the church by the Holy Spirit.

What to Overcome in Our Church Life

“Abraham” means, “father of all nations.” Abraham is not an ancestor of Israel through a physical lineage, but the father of all nations by faith. We have all buried the old self, the descendant of Adam, and become descendants of Abraham by faith. Abraham used to live in Ur of Chaldea. To him, God said, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). As Abraham obeyed and crossed the Euphrates River, God made him a source of blessings to all nations. Why did God require Abraham to leave his country, family and father’s house? Departing from personal attachments, affections and feelings is a basic fundamental of faith.

Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matt. 12:50). Also, He said, “29So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time— houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in

the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). Even Jesus stressed to His disciples that they all depart from personal attachments, affections and feelings.

Many people carelessly disregard that tithe belongs to God and freely use it according to their personal attachments, affections and feelings. For example, some people send their tithe to acquaintances that start a church or an orphanage, explaining their desires to help the poor. Just as it says in Malachi 3:10, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house,” tithe cannot be freely and personally used.

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matt. 23:23). No one should ignore God’s law and love while giving his tithe. Using tithe according to one’s personal attachments, affections and feelings is no different from extorting what belongs to God, the thing that worried Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8).

In the church, some people might be agreeable or disagreeable. The church does not continue just with agreeable people. Some people encourage regional camaraderie (or good- fellowship) and others go far to develop and participate in different trends. From a spiritual perspective, this is very dangerous. If Abraham had such an isolated heart, then the nations of the world could not have been blessed through him.

Any church member is a part of the Lord’s body. Therefore, meeting another person should be as meeting one’s own self. Hating another church member is the same as cutting off a part of one’s own spirit. If we truly receive God’s love, we must not be entangled with school kinship or locational kinship. Jesus was born among the Jews, but he is not a Jew. If we have surely taken the blood and flesh of the Lord Jesus, we must go beyond all personal attachments, affections and feelings.

How to Love Your Own Soul

Mistreating the church is mistreating one’s own spirit. Resenting the church is maltreating one’s own spirit. Nothing is crueler than hurting another life. Yet, hurting one’s own life is worse. God has clearly shown this to us. Then, how cruel is hurting oneself especially before God? We must continue to conduct ourselves properly since we have not yet attained to the first resurrection. Even though we have repented, been baptized, received the Holy Spirit, and tasted the heavenly gifts, if our progress is halted, then all efforts could go to waste.

We must love the church, going beyond all personal attachments, affections and feelings. Though people have different thoughts and hearts, their affiliation in the body of the church should not be denied. A person who loves his own spirit must love the church that was bought with God’s blood. Even giving should be done out of love for the church as the body of the Lord. The church’s pain should become the pain of one’s spirit and the grief of the church become the grief of one’s spirit. One should pray for the church with a sincere, genuine heart knowing that praying for the church is even praying for his own spirit.

Evangelism is definitely one way to love one’s own spirit. The Lord’s Supper signifies that one has realized the love of God through Christ and that now he is preaching His death until His return (1 Cor. 11:23-26). Jesus instructed His disciples who have received God’s love to also preach the Gospel throughout the entire world and to teach them to observe all that He has commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). As much as a person takes herbal tonic medicine to strengthen his weak body, whoever loves his own spirit must evangelize wholeheartedly. Evangelism is not just for pastors. Even though a person has a grudge against the pastor, he must love his church and refrain from doing things emotionally.

A duty in the church should never be despised. When Esau despised his birthright, his father removed his lampstand; even God took his lampstand and gave it Jacob. Despising a church duty is the same as despising the blood of the Lord.

Though a person is not favorable to another, he should not be treated with prejudice or even ignored. Though it might be a loss to himself, one should love the body of Christ as he loves his own spirit. Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (Matt. 18:21). Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:22). Though it seems emotionally impossible to forgive a person, obedience to the Lord’s command must go beyond all emotions.

God testified of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). If we have become God’s children through His love, then we must sever all personal attachments, affections and feelings and love the church, His body, in obedience to the Lord’s command. This is also the way to love one’s own spirit.