Beloved brother in Christ, dear sister in our Lord — encourage one another. This is the message of the Apostle Paul to the Church. And recall Jesus’ new Commandment to ‘Love one another as I have loved you.
Agape love must be both active and personal in the believer who obeys our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you picture Jesus’ Disciples as a blueprint of His church you will observe God’s love for the Church by Christ’s love of them. The Messiah Jesus had been with the Twelve for over two years when the Lord asked them about the crowds of disciples who followed them.
Jesus: “Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan,” Yeshua said to him, “how blessed you are! For no human being revealed this to you, no, it was my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…
Jesus builds the church and defeats her enemy
It is a powerful prediction prior to Jesus’ crucifixion!
He will build HIS Church. Hell will not claim its dead sinners redeemed in His sacrificial Blood of God’s grace.
God’s enemy loves sin.
Man’s enemy tempts us away from our loving Lord God. Satan has prevailed in our death ever since man’s expulsion from the presence of the LORD in Eden.
Here prior to His Sacrifice, Jesus, who began the work of the church in His Personal love of the Apostles, tells His Disciples He will soon secure our salvation by His own human death on a Cross for our sins.
Peter and the Apostles will become the rock-solid foundation for a Church – an eternal Temple purified in Christ to be built after the Son of the living God leaves this world in victory over sin.
“Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.
Quite simply, because God is love Personally, embodied in the Person of the Messiah Jesus.
Jesus loves His friends much!
We witnessed this most godly love in our introduction at the tomb of Lazarus and later Jesus shows this unrelenting Personal love to Simon Peter after His resurrection.
AND
Our Lord (if we really love Jesus as our Lord) commands His followers to love one another as He has loved us.
also love one another-John 13
God is a RELATIONAL GOD! And in Christ Jesus we know the Lord’s LOVE is PERSONAL.
Roger@talkofJESUS.com
We are connected in Love to our Lord Jesus and to each other.
Love, love and other loves.
So as not to immerse ourselves into a baptism of love feasts, I must define this love of which we speak, actually more than one love of which Christians speak in the context of Christ Jesus.
ἀγάπη – agapē
If you are a ‘christian’ raised in the church you probably have heard plenty of our first one: agapē or agapaō (Here’s a quick look.)
the Love noun of the church
Jesus said: “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love G26 will become cold.”
Are you feeling that?
Even non-christians have noted this lack of love.
And you are probably familiar with this one *although the context is not romantic as it is often used emotionally in marriage ‘vows’.
Love G26 is patient, love G26 is kind, it is not jealous; love G26 does not brag, it is not arrogant.
1 Corinthians 13:4 NASB20 – Strings G26 – agape love
How are we doing with this ‘love’ of others?
your neighbors,
your boss and coworkers,
parents of your child’s ‘friend’
or even someone at ‘church’?
ἀγαπάω – agapaō
the Love verb of the church
If ‘love’ as a nown is our expected godly response to others, then ‘love’ as a verb must become the actionble response of every ‘Christian,’ every saint of Christ’s church who claims Jesus as Lord.
Jesus answered and said to him,
“If anyone loves G25 Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love G25 him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.
The one who does not love G25 Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
With ‘love’ as defined in English we have some confusion, not to mention misapplication of Scripture. There is, however, some overlap as you will see in this next quote returning to the context of Jesus and Lazarus from our introduction to God’s Personal Love.
(Now Jesus loved G25 Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.)
And yes, phileō is the same verb the mourners used of Jesus when they remarked, “See how He loved G5368him!”
The Lord Jesus loved his friend Lazarus, yet listen to what Jesus says just a week before He is to be crucified and die on a Cross for the sins of His ‘friends.’
“The one who loves G5368 his life loses it,
and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.
John 12:25 NASB20 – The Messiah Jesus on phileō love, approving of our own life!
Jesus goes on counsel His followers (true Christians, faithful saints of the Church not approved by the world) concerning our opposition by many who refuse to love the Lord their God:
“If you were of the world, the world would love G5368 you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
John 15:19 NASB20 – Jesus Christ on why the world hates or does not approve of Christians who love the Lord and witness His love for the world.
The ‘door’ on the wall of worship
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
We’ve heard it preached — Christians and those evangelized to come, if you will, to our gentle and compassionate Lord — we have heard this Scripture from the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John.
We like it. And we love this same compassionate Son of Man the Jews observe at the tomb of Lazarus when they say, “See how He loved him.”
Yet hear me, dear friend, and hear out the context of this compassionate grace offered to those who will obey Christ’s commands.
And just in case the Lord is speaking to you — in case the Lord refers to your church and ‘christian‘ friends of your church, please see the Scripture of Christ’s letter to a church through the Apostle John:
( I shared this on talkofJesus.com in our first year of witness in 2013.)
https://talkofjesus.com/time-is-near-laodicea/embed/#?secret=SsPa0SB2lZ“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
If in the year of our Lord 2013, “the Time was near for our Church,” certainly time has sprinted strides further in these last days of A.D. 2021 nearer the finish line of God’s glory.
Next time, we will talk of Jesus’ connection to the Church even after the deaths of all but one of His beloved Disciples. Here’s a preview from Scripture. We will begin with the Lord’s brother Jude then God-willing speak to the church directly. (Preview below)
We hold many different understandings of love and views of those who receive God’s love. Perhaps no Image of God’s personal love imprints the minds of man more than that of the Son of Man, Christ Jesus.
Jesus embodies the Father’s love of others and God’s love of the world in so many ways.
During this brief season of Easter and until the occasion of Pentecost we will glance at God’s relational love for the Church.
Yes, EASTER is a season for the Church and not just one Resurrection Day –– a season of significance recognizing the risen Messiah and Lord who walked the earth as Jesus had prior to His Crucifixion for our sins. Jesus instructed disciples for fifty days after the Resurrection and He was witnessed by many saints soon to be built into His foundation of the Church.
We begin by returning to a scene just prior to Jesus’ Crucifixion at the tomb of Lazarus, who no doubt walked among those five-hundred witnesses until the day of Pentecost.
How God loved His friends personally
So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”
It’s one of the tenderest lines in Scripture.
Roger@talkofJESUS.com – on witnesses of Jesus at Lazarus’ funeral John 11:36
When YOU die will you have even one friend observing a mourner saying, ‘See how he loved him?’ (or ‘see how she loved her?’)
Do you have any friend — any mortal soul who loves you that much?
I don’t think that I do.
But then again, I’m far from the man of compassion our Lord Jesus is as once again He shows here the extent of his personal love of Lazarus, Mary and Martha.
Throughout the Gospels — the Good News of Jesus Christ — the Lord’s Disciples and many others continually witnessed Jesus’ love for others both publicly and personally.
But Jesus IS God we rationalize, so you and I can’t possibly love real people that much. Yet aren’t Christians supposed to be built into His Image?
the Challenge of a personal conversation about Christ
Our public witness of Jesus (at funerals and other life events) may characterize Christ at times, yet away from these occasions we frequently fail to love others as we see Jesus do here at the funeral of Lazarus.
Some family, certain ‘friends’ and even a few from our ‘church’ convict me without mercy of the sins of all‘christians.’
Roger@talkofJesus.com
Dare I call Jesus Christ my Lord?
YES. (And I certainly plea for grace from you and any who willingly confess your own shortcomings in relational love of others.)
So many will compartmentalize ‘christians’ as those who hate certain things too much and love certain people too little.
Jesus Christ IS the Very Image of our loving heavenly Father modeling God’s Personal Love of us and for us. My desire in Christ is to love JESUS first and secondly to love those whose desire is to seek and remain in Jesus’ unfailing love.
Are you one of these so called, ‘Christians?’
When we want to talk of Jesus, we remain ‘Christians’ (capital ‘C’) in Him, even though many ‘christians’ (small ‘c’) conveniently claim ‘Christ’ on their terms and not His.
Relating to God personally provides the fruit of the Holy Spirit which connects Christ to His Church (as well as our heavenly Father).
THEN I ask you to respond personally to my opinion as a ‘CHRISTIAN,’ identifying yourself as part of one of two groups:
‘christians’ or
one who does not like ‘christians.’
Why not accept my challenge to your own hypocrisy (my fellow sinner)?
I too prefer not to associate with some ‘christians.’ For I also receive accusations or snubs by some ‘christians‘ impersonally distancing me in most unchristlike manners.
For those of you who do NOT like to relate personally to ‘christians’:
Just email me and make it personal, rather than judging me as ‘one of those closed-minded ‘christians’ shouting hatred and waving ‘Jesus’ signs in front of the cameras.’
For those ‘christians‘ who do NOT like to relate to other ‘christians’ from your ‘church,’ because they (I) won’t get involved in YOUR issue:
Maybe you’re one of them and really would like to talk to another Christian about your ‘ISSUE.’
Let’s talk. Email me. I’ll respond to you and that ISSUE so important to you personally.
As for our Christian community here on talkofJESUS.com, we will carry on conversations concerning our personal Lord witnessed in Scripture, Christ Jesus. We are Christians under construction by Christ.
So how did God love His friends?
I’m NOT going to give you the stock JOHN 3:16 answer, but it would apply.
Last year in A.D. 2020, we witnessed our Lord’s personal love of those He loves in the Gospel of John.
We begin this series on God’s Personal love with the example of the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. Observation of the Lord by their fellow Jews present for Lazarus’ memorial service was: ‘Jesus wept.’
Do you have compassion like this for most of your ‘christian’ friends?
Perhaps more importantly I ask you,
‘Do they know how much you love them?’
Again, as friendless as my own life would seem at times, perhaps they do not know.
My friends do not know how much I love them.(And that may include YOU, beloved friend.) So as you read the Good News of Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave, consider His human love for a friend you may not have ever seen in our Savior.
Lazarus – God’s personal friend
Below you will find a link to most of the story of Lazarus, but before we continue in this series just a highlight:
So the sisters [Martha and Mary] sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he [Lazarus] whom You love G5368 is sick.”
And yes, phileō is the same verb the mourners used of Jesus when they remarked, “See how He loved G5368 him!”
With ‘love’ as we use in English we have some confusion, not to mention misuse of application of Scripture. There is, however, some overlap as you will see in this next quote related to the context of Jesus and Lazarus.
(Now Jesus loved G25 Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.)
Quite simply, because Jesus loved His friends so much AND our Lord (if we really love Jesus as our Lord) commands His followers to love one another as He has loved us.
God is a RELATIONAL GOD! And in Jesus we know the Lord’s LOVE PERSONALLY. We are connected in Love to Him and to each other.
To be continued...
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
