Title: Being loved
Speaker: Pastor Jason
In Malaysia, our education system tells us that you need to enter primary school at the age of seven, after that you move on to secondary school and then continue to pursue your studies at tertiary level. Unfortunately, many have drop out of school after PMR, SPM or college. If you grow up in a Christian family, usually you attend Sunday school at a young age. As you grow up, you see many of your friends leave this faith or back slide. Why do people renounce their faith since we have such a wonderful God? Because they don’t know that God is real and He loves us? Many of us focus on the secondary and tertiary aspects like being kind, compassion and merciful. But we must not miss the primary aspect of Christianity – that is to know God’s love for us. What makes Christianity special is our relationship with God is base on His unconditioned love for us. Being concern about others, compassion and kind do not make us special. Any non-Christian organization can also be kind and compassion, you just need to be a good and caring person.
Agape (God’s love) is unselfish, unfailing, unmerited and ONLY God alone can give us this love. As humans, no matter how we will be a little bit bias to people around us. We will care for this person and care for another less, we will be kinder to this person that another. However, God’s perfect love is the same for every believer. We all are His children. He doesn’t save you more and save me less. We are equally important in God’s heart and in His plan. Remember that only you can offer your worship to God, no one can do it on your behalf. Only you can bring it. Those worships, prayers, thanks giving and etc are important to Him. (The incident that the leper thanked and praised God after he was healed by Jesus was recorded in the Bible, God was pleased and happy as he was the only one to come back and give thanks to God. It matters. David’s prayers are recorded in the Psalms). If you think that you missed the chance to worship Him, to pray to Him and to give thanks, remember that our God is the mighty Redeemer. He can redeem the lost time. (Joel 2:25 - I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.)
Before human sinned, God was at the top of the spiritual hierarchy, followed by men, angels and Satan/demons. God made us lower than Himself but higher than angels (angels bring our prayers to the throne of God and minister us). After God created Adam, the first thing God gave Him was authority. But after Satan deceived and usurped Adam’s birthright (the authority). The spiritual hierarchy was changed. God was still at the top of the hierarchy, followed by Satan/demons, angels and men. Actually, the main reason why Jesus came and died for our sins is not for us to go to heaven, but to give us back the authority and restore the spiritual hierarchy. (Jesus went to Hell to get back the key).
So as children of God, when we pray to God, we don’t need to beg but come in faith that He is good and He will provide. Usually God is absolutely please to give us or even give us more than what we ask and imagine. We ask in the restored authority. Add the good stuffs are ours because of the restored position.
God keeps all of His words. He doesn’t take back His words. Humans could not fulfill the first covenant which contains both blessings of keeping it and curses of not keeping it. So God made another covenant with His Son, Jesus. He sent Jesus to earth to fulfill the covenant. So there is a perfect man who fulfilled the covenant. God doesn’t cheat. Whatever you fail to do with your own strength, Jesus has done it all for you on the cross. He has won the battle. He has the victory over all those things. He didn’t do the miracles (healed the leper, casted out demons, the blind gained sight) as God but as man. He used the authority given by God to Adam. You may say wow, that’s Jesus, I cannot do it. But Jesus said greater things than these you’ll do. We as partakers, as inheritors don’t work for it. (If you are the inheritor of your father’s wealth, you don’t work for the inheritance and you don’t deserve the inheritance too. But in the end you possess it). We don’t work for miracles but we inherit them. It doesn’t come by performance, but by identity. He loves us and doesn’t want us to suffer on earth without out inheritance.
So brothers and sisters, don’t be fear-oriented Christians. We don’t need to be afraid of temptations when they come as we can overcome them through the Word of God. (Jesus overcame Satan’s temptation as He used the Word of God to reply Satan.) If we fear them we will become powerless. Let us be powerful faith-oriented Christians for we have the perfect love of God and perfect love casts out fear.
You truly know how to love when you can receive and give love freely. So let us make God the first in everything and not just only give a part of our life to Him (eg. You only give Sunday to God. Actually how you live your life on Monday until Friday often will reflect who you really are) Luke 12:31 - Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Surrender your academic life, family life and everything to God if you want Him to call you friend. John 15:14-15 - You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. Don’t worry if you think you have so many weaknesses, all the friends of God in Bible had weaknesses. Peter was impulsive, David was an adulterer, Jonah ran away from God, Elijah was pessimist and etc. Thus you stand a good chance to be a friend of God.
Maybe you have tried love before the person disappointed you. You decide to not trust anyone again because of that painful experience. But God’s love is different. You can absolutely trust Jesus who died for you and He will never disappoint you. There’s nothing more liberating than placing your life/heart into someone’s hand that you can fully trust. There is freedom in God. You are not alone when you go through tough times which make you stronger as you have God. When you are dealing with others, their words and actions won’t hurt you, their hate and rejection won’t shake you if God’s perfect love is in your heart. So do God proud and give Him all the glory.
