The Love You've Only Heard About

How do we truly experience the love of Jesus?

Recently while studying the Gospels, I spent some time meditating on the baptism of Jesus, to see how he remained in his Father's love. Jesus' baptism is one of the most insightful moments in the Gospels. It's like overhearing a conversation between the Trinity: "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'"

I had never before noticed the timing of this verse in Jesus' life. Jesus was yet to cast out demons, raise the dead, confront the Pharisees, train his disciples, die for our sins, or be resurrected from the grave; yet, the Father tells him that he is pleased with him. Jesus, until this point, had been laboring in obscurity as a humble carpenter; so what was the Father pleased with? It couldn't have been his ministry or his teaching or his leadership, as these were yet to happen. What had Jesus done that made the Father proud? He had spent thirty years cultivating an abiding passion and love for God. The only glimpse we have of Jesus in his early years is in the temple, seeking to be about his Father's business.

Could it be that God is most pleased not with what we do for him but with the life of love we cultivate with him? Maybe this is why Jesus seemed so free from needing the approval of men. He had all the approval he needed; the voice of his Father drowned out the voice of the crowd. I began to see that if I were going to live a life that was truly pleasing to God, my primary task would have to shift from doing things for God to living life with him. What I had forgotten about the early years of my faith was the thing that had captured my life-not getting to serve God in ministry-but serving God himself. I began to see that the primary task of my life was to prioritize time with God and learn to hear his blessing and love spoken over me. Only then would I be free from the crowd and the addiction to accomplishments.

We need to learn how to receive God's love. This proves difficult for many of us. It's important we realize that anything we do out of love for God is a response to his great love for us. So these days, I set the alarm, get up early, and seek God's face. But I don't do it out of shame and guilt. I do it out of passion. I open his Word to the wonder of his truth and promises and slowly let them flood my soul. I drink in his unconditional love. I meditate slowly and intentionally through the passages of Scripture that talk about who God is and how he feels about me-his grace and beauty and peace and love.

When I was studying Ephesians, I saw that Jesus desires a glorious church, one without spot or blemish or any such thing. He wants the truth of his Word and the flow of his Spirit to wash over my life and remove the sin and stain so I am ready for him. I love beginning each day knowing that I am a child of God, dearly loved.
After I have drunk deeply from the fountain of God's love, I listen to what God is asking from me. I want to respond in obedience to exactly what it is that he wants me to do. It's so easy to fill our lives with good programs and people. The needs of our day are often overwhelming. If I'm not careful, I get into the trap of responding to everything in front of me, instead of listening to what the Father is asking of me. We are responsible to respond to what God puts in our hearts and serve him faithfully in that first.

I recently attended the wedding of one of my closest friends. It was an incredible day. The highlight of the event was the moment the doors opened and the bride appeared. The bride and the groom spontaneously started weeping (as did the whole room). It was such a powerful reflection of Christ as the Bridegroom and his bride the church.

But it got me thinking. What would have happened if the doors opened and the groom began weeping while the bride remained indifferent? What if she whispered to her father walking her down the aisle, "We might as well get on with it so we can have kids and a family and a nice little house." Everyone would stop and shout, "Don't do it! Marriage is designed for a couple who is insatiably in love."
Are we the indifferent bride? What is your attitude as part of the bride of Christ to the Groom?

May God give us all the grace to receive and respond, to position ourselves to see his immeasurable love spill into our lives in unimaginable ways. May we all experience not just the rumors of God's love, but its overflowing reality as we remain in Him.

 

3 Comments »

1. This has bean on my heart for a while now. The Holy Spirit has been frequentley reminding me of how much God loves me. I have come to believe in my heart now that we as humans cannot been begin to know how much God loves us. It has become enough for me now,at this time to be satisfied with the fact God really loves me,me,Me! a lot .This is enough for me.

   Comment by Tom C. - Sep 16, 2011 @ 02:33 PM

2. Nice post I would add to this that the YHWH was pleased with the Messiah the Before he came to the earth, the YHWH had already picked him ahead of the other angels to be the sacrificial lamb for man kind Hebrews Chapter 1. The Messiah knew this at a young age when he told his parent when they were looking for him that he was about his Fathers Business.

   Luke 2:49

   And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

   So the Messiah was found to worthy to carry the burden of our sins before he was sent through Mary.

   Comment by all about the bible - Oct 08, 2011 @ 03:40 AM

3. A powerful reminder that we are not our performance, and that God’s delight is first and foremost in who are are.  Thanks for this.

   Comment by Andy Wood - Oct 14, 2011 @ 10:26 PM

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