2015.09.20_Recieve God’s Love

God revealed Himself through love

God is love. Though no one has ever seen God, we received His love, through which we came to know God. God is greater than the universe, even greater than Heaven (the spiritual world). Yet by sending us His Son, who is the image of His being, God revealed His will and nature to us.

God sent His Son to die and shed His blood on the cross. That blood was God’s blood. Godatoned for our sins by His blood, which was His life poured out for us in love. We have never seen God, yet we can say that God is love because we’ve received His love.

If God, who is greater than Heaven, can shed blood and did shed His blood, then Heaven and the universe would’ve eventually disappeared. However, God sent His Son who was in His bosom to the world to shed His blood. In doing so, God Himself paid the price of our sins, when we were doomed to eternal ruin on account of sin (Lev 17:11).

The redeemed can always be forgiven

Specifically, when God saved mankind from eternal ruin, He didn’t forgive them, but rather, paid the price of sins for mankind. This, in other words, is called redemption. The redemption of man took place just once. God said to Adam, “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”. However, Adam disobeyed this word of God which He had sworn upon Himself, and as a result, man was doomed to perish forever. For God to save man from this state, did not simply involve His forgiveness; He paid the full price of man’s sin.

By acknowledging our redemption that came through Jesus Christ and being baptism in His name, we became united with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we no longer have any relations with our former status as sinners. Indeed, even Christians too have flaws. It is inevitable as long as we are in the flesh. For that, we need to rely on God’s forgiveness, not redemption. God wants us to forgive others their faults even seventy-times-seven times. In the same way, God will not reject but always forgive us whenever we seek forgiveness.

Some people say, “If I am to ask for forgiveness like that repeatedly, am I not better off to live my whole life as I please and accept Jesus the moment before I die? Because I came to receive Jesus Christ at a young age, it pangs me that I have sinned many times even after becoming a child of God”. However, it definitely is not a loss for anyone to have faith in Jesus from early in life. Indeed, one will have many trespasses whilst living in the world; nevertheless, there will be a great reward for his lifetime of preaching the Gospel, his service to the church, and dedication for the Kingdom of God. If anyone does not have hope of a reward, his faith cannot be one that is pleasing to God (Heb 11:6).

There are two kinds to the reward God gives, of which the first is that which He gives us on the earth. Concerning this, Psalms 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. For example, there was an officer who was unfairly persecuted by the king’s ministers. One day, the king prepared a feast and invited his ministers. But there was a special guest invited to this feast, who was to recline with the king at his table. To everyone’s surprise, it was the officer who was the hate figure of all the ministers. Throughout the feast, all the ministers were trembling with fear, because they had been persecuting that officer. In the same way, we can experience God preparing a table before us in the presence of our enemies whilst we are on the earth.

The second kind of reward God gives us is the crown which we will receive in Heaven, after we have departed from our flesh. Those who have not worked whilst they were in the body, will not be commended by the Lord in Heaven, though they might have received salvation and even the Holy Spirit when they were on earth. The Lord will say to such people, “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt 25:30). Thisdoesn’t mean they will go to hell. It means that though they enter Heaven, they will not be permitted to go into the glorious city.

Suppose a person accepted Jesus today but passed away soon after, without even a moment to ever sin again. Now, indeed, there might be some who envy such people that never sinned after being redeemed. On the contrary, a person who worked for the Kingdom of God while he is on earth, though he may have many trespasses, will receive a reward in Heaven for his works.

It is impossible for a person to live on the earth without transgressions. As long as one’s body is intact, that is, living, he cannot be freed from his carnal desires. This, however, does not mean that one can overlook his trespasses. Christians must seek and receive God’s forgiveness for their transgressions. It is written in 1 John 2:1, “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Whilst we must accept God’s work of redemption for good once in our lifetime, God’s forgiveness we need to receive continuously throughout our life.

He who received the Holy Spirit can be forgiven at any time

Formerly, we were sinners by status, doomed to hell. However by faith in Jesus Christ, we’ve been completely set free from our former identity as sinners. We know this for certain by the fact that the Holy Spirit has come inside us, for the Holy Spirit does not come to sinners (Ac 2:38). There are people who attend church but haven’t received the Holy Spirit. Such people would never have had the experience of receiving the forgiveness of sins, and hence, they would not have the awareness of their status as sinners.

Whoever has received the Holy Spirit surely know that the Holy Spirit has come upon them. One of the signs that testify to this is the gift of speaking in tongues. The hardest to tame of all the members of the human body is the tongue. While animals, birds, insects, even sea animals can be tamed by humans, there is no one who can tame the tongue (Jas 3:7-8). However, the Holy Spirit controls such wicked tongue to speak in tongues. Though many church ministers and theologians deny that there is such a gift of speaking in tongues, this only demonstrates that they have not received the Holy Spirit. When a person speaks in tongues, he himself does not understand what is being said. Even so, we must not make light of it. Whoever speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God he utters mysteries in the spirit (1 Co 14:2)

The fact that demons flee before us is another proof that confirms how the Holy Spirit has come in us. It is not us that the demons are afraid of but the Holy Spirit who abides in us(Jas 2:19). When the sons of Sceva tried to cast out demons by using Jesus’ name, the demons did not fear them but instead, answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” and overpowered them and wounded them. This also was because they had not received the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit who abides within us manifests Himself in various ways. He grants various kinds of gifts such as the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, the gift of healing and distinguishing between spirits (1 Co 12:7-11). Through these we can be certain that we have received the Holy Spirit. Conversely, this also proves that we were sinners in the past. If we were still sinners, the Holy Spirit would not have come to us. However, having received the Holy Spirit means we have been sealed as ones who abide in Jesus Christ (2 Co 1:22).

We’ve cast off our identity as sinners and became children of God in Jesus Christ, and this has been confirmed by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, whatever trespass we might have, we can be clean by receiving God’s forgiveness. Never again should we despair on account of our transgression, but rather, seek forgiveness from God, and God will surely forgive us even seventy-times-seven times.

By the Holy Spirit, show that you are loved

Suppose a little boy was playing with a ball inside the living room while his father was away, ignoring his father’s instructions, and accidently broke the window. When the father finds this out upon returning home, he sternly scolds his son and the boy cries sadly as he listens to his father.When the son admits his wrongdoing, the father soon calls his son, seats him on his lap and says, “You were scared, weren’t you? Dad was worried that you might get hurt. Don’t do it again, okay? Dad loves you.” Then he gives his son a big warm hug. The love which God displayed towards mankind is exactly the same. The Law is like the father’s stern scolding, while the Gospel is like his warm hug.

A person that receives God’s forgiveness must realize that he is receiving the love of God. And whoever is confident of this will give thanks and draw nearer to God with gladness in his heart. Even though the young boy was in tears when his father scolded him, he quickly forgets about it once he is forgiven and happily tags behind his father. There is not a shadow in this child’s heart because he has no doubt that his father loves him.

When God forgives us, He is not letting us free and saying that it is okay for us to sin. Rather, He is encouraging us not to sin again and live a life that overcomes sin. Therefore, the one who isforgiven ought to rejoice at the fact that he is receiving God’s love, and display that love through the Holy Spirit. It says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

If you are in absence of joy still after being forgiven, it is because you do not acknowledge how you are in receipt of God’s love. We shouldn’t be tied to our former status as sinners when we have already been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Though we might have many transgressions, we ought to be thankful that we are still being forgiven. We must rejoice for the love of God and in turn, show this love by the Holy Spirit.