The Core of the Kingdom
(related to these thought about the Kingdom of God: http://www.RanLives.com)
Jesus and the Father are not tricky, really. Still, we have to realize that it is best to take a very good look at what God really, really says. If you will remember, Jesus once said that He put things in parables so that people WOULDN'T understand (Matthew 13:11-16). Why? I would think it would be so that only the sincere who really wanted to know what He was saying would know it. We could discuss the Matthew 13 passage for a long time, but the gist of it, I believe, is that understanding Jesus' words is a matter of the heart. Rather than having a sincere heart, theirs was calloused. But if we sincerely seek, we will find.
Let's look at our passage from John (15:9-13) with sincere open minds and see what it actually clearly says.
9: As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Continue in My love.
10: If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
11: These things have I spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.
12: This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.
13: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:9-13)
First Jesus says that He loves us as the Father loves Him. That could take a while to absorb. Jesus loves us, the Father's children, that much? Yes. Elsewhere in the book we find that the Father loves us just as He loves Jesusâ€â€John 17:20-23. A very weighty truth. It is not easy to take in such things. I believe it takes time, meditation on the truth.
After Jesus says that He loves us as He loves the Father, He goes on to say that we can remain in his love (abiding in the vine) if we keep the Father's commandments as He kept them. When we read this, we may at first think that this does not look like a system of free grace, that God loves us unconditionally. Well, He does love us unconditionally, but because we have something to say about it (to choose about it), He is explaining to us how to remain in the Father's love, how to remain attached to the vine, how to have joy in life far above all earthly joy and happiness. And this is done by keeping the Father's commandments. Now, as I have noted before, these are not overbearing, do it or else sort of commandments. Not in the New Testament. They are commandments which are principles of the Kingdom. Just the way the Kingdom works. Following them helps us walk with God in the Kingdom of God. Where else would children of God want to be.
Yet, in this passage, we see the essence of these commandments. We see the core of them revealed, if we are willing to look with a sincere heart at what Jesus actually says. In the New Testament we see what the commandments of God are really about. And here in John, a major pillar of the New Testament, Jesus deals with that very subject, telling us what the commandments are, that is, what THE COMMANDMENT isâ€â€Kingdom principle of all principles.
Here Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.†The way to the highest Kingdom life is living out your life in the Father's love, giving the Father's love to those around you. What is this love like? It is like Jesus' love. This love moved Him to die for another, for others. That love in us will move us to help others, to bring God's love to them. It is God's love for us, put into us, that we simply share with others. THE COMMANDMENT is to do this. But we cannot conjure up this love on our own. We are simply using the love we already have, the love God gave us. If we live in this love, we will easily keep the other commandments of the New Testament which we see there. We will be living out a live in the awesome power of God in us, the power of God's love. There is no greater love. There is no greater life.
This is one of the majors truths of the novel Ran Lives (http://www.RanLives.com ; http://www.AllNations.Podomatic.com)
(related to these thought about the Kingdom of God: http://www.RanLives.com)
Jesus and the Father are not tricky, really. Still, we have to realize that it is best to take a very good look at what God really, really says. If you will remember, Jesus once said that He put things in parables so that people WOULDN'T understand (Matthew 13:11-16). Why? I would think it would be so that only the sincere who really wanted to know what He was saying would know it. We could discuss the Matthew 13 passage for a long time, but the gist of it, I believe, is that understanding Jesus' words is a matter of the heart. Rather than having a sincere heart, theirs was calloused. But if we sincerely seek, we will find.
Let's look at our passage from John (15:9-13) with sincere open minds and see what it actually clearly says.
9: As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Continue in My love.
10: If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
11: These things have I spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.
12: This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.
13: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:9-13)
First Jesus says that He loves us as the Father loves Him. That could take a while to absorb. Jesus loves us, the Father's children, that much? Yes. Elsewhere in the book we find that the Father loves us just as He loves Jesusâ€â€John 17:20-23. A very weighty truth. It is not easy to take in such things. I believe it takes time, meditation on the truth.
After Jesus says that He loves us as He loves the Father, He goes on to say that we can remain in his love (abiding in the vine) if we keep the Father's commandments as He kept them. When we read this, we may at first think that this does not look like a system of free grace, that God loves us unconditionally. Well, He does love us unconditionally, but because we have something to say about it (to choose about it), He is explaining to us how to remain in the Father's love, how to remain attached to the vine, how to have joy in life far above all earthly joy and happiness. And this is done by keeping the Father's commandments. Now, as I have noted before, these are not overbearing, do it or else sort of commandments. Not in the New Testament. They are commandments which are principles of the Kingdom. Just the way the Kingdom works. Following them helps us walk with God in the Kingdom of God. Where else would children of God want to be.
Yet, in this passage, we see the essence of these commandments. We see the core of them revealed, if we are willing to look with a sincere heart at what Jesus actually says. In the New Testament we see what the commandments of God are really about. And here in John, a major pillar of the New Testament, Jesus deals with that very subject, telling us what the commandments are, that is, what THE COMMANDMENT isâ€â€Kingdom principle of all principles.
Here Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.†The way to the highest Kingdom life is living out your life in the Father's love, giving the Father's love to those around you. What is this love like? It is like Jesus' love. This love moved Him to die for another, for others. That love in us will move us to help others, to bring God's love to them. It is God's love for us, put into us, that we simply share with others. THE COMMANDMENT is to do this. But we cannot conjure up this love on our own. We are simply using the love we already have, the love God gave us. If we live in this love, we will easily keep the other commandments of the New Testament which we see there. We will be living out a live in the awesome power of God in us, the power of God's love. There is no greater love. There is no greater life.
This is one of the majors truths of the novel Ran Lives (http://www.RanLives.com ; http://www.AllNations.Podomatic.com)