2Th 3:7-9; Love’s Death and Rebirth.
length: 57:20 - taught on Oct, 18 2023
Class Outline:
Wednesday October 18, 2023
If we asked a hundred Christians, “What does it mean to love God?” we would get a lot of answers. There certainly is not one right answer, but what every answer must have is that to love God all other loves, including self, have to be laid down before His throne.
Theme: The law of love is the death and resurrection of love for other people.
Paul does more than he has to because he has allowed his own love to die before the altar of the love of God.
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.
The same was stated in the first letter:
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness — 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. 7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. 8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
Here is the law of love.
This is the love of heaven, not of earth.
The love of God in a person towards another person.
Before we look at the sacrifice of Paul and his co-workers, we must briefly revisit God’s love.
There is plenty of love in this world. Everyone has it, and so there are roughly 8 billion humans filled with love roaming around, bumping into each other, affecting one another, avoiding one another, and more of many interactions.
The love that they have always has an object, even if it is self. What is enlightening to us, and must be said to us, that all loves in this category must die.
Not to die and be lost forever. They will be resurrected.
All earthly loves are, at their foundation, self-interested and therefore independent of God who is love.
All loves on earth must die and be buried.
The loves that die before God’s love are resurrected to divine purity.
We can see why Christ said that if you love anyone or anything more than Me, you are not worthy of me. You will, in that case, lose your life (MAT 10:37-39).
All earthly loves must be given up to death and burial and replaced with the love of God.
The vapors, when they die and are buried, will be remade solid.
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
What is more solid than “imperishable?”
The great deception has been that the love of mankind is the greatest love. Without the love of God, the love of man will only turn into a diabolical demon, much more a child of hell than the love of lust.
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
If one has God’s love, all other loves die in its presence, and are then reborn to purity.
To die for all and with no guarantee of outcome, that is divine love. When that is had, all other loves die in its presence and are then resurrected to what they always should have been.
There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.
So, we can return to Paul.
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.
There was more than duty in the mind of Paul. There was love of God.
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
The love of God in Paul caused him to sacrifice his time and energy in the service of God’s creation.
He not only wanted to speak about what to be and do as a maturing believer, but to display it; to be an example of it.
Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. 2 If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; 3 but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him [I do His will and let Him know. My earthly love of earthly things does not have the force of knowledge behind it].
4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
The idols are things that people love. All of them have their modern counterparts because the human race never changes - it is always after the same things.
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar.
whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him
The next step from there is to love God who provides seed for the sower. He is the only one who does.
However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. 8 But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. 9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 11 For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 12 And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
When a believer has allowed his love of all earthly things to die at the altar of the love of God, then all of them (and all other loves) will resurrect to become the purity that they should have always been.
When all loves die in the presence of the love of God, you do not lose them, you gain them for the first time.
Connect
Subscribe to our mailing list |
Grace and Truth Ministries 1900 Hines S.E. Salem, Oregon 97302 |
 |
letters@cgtruth.org |
|
© Grace and Truth Ministries All Rights Reserved. |