The whole world is in need of a spiritual revolution. The world is in sin and spiritual death.

What is sin? It is the rebellion against the will of God. Since God is love, His will is goodness for everyone. The opposite of love is sin, which is selfishness, hatred, and enmity. Sin is not only lack of love, but also a destructive force. St.Paul speaks of this force in the following passage: 

I do not do what I want; but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. So it no longer I that do it, but the sin which dwells in me ….wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom.7:15-24) On another occasion St.Paul says "Let not sin there fore reign in your mortal bodies.(Rom. 6:12).

It is true that through creation, God has given us His image and likeness (Gen. 1:27) hence we have an inborn loving nature. But through the sin of the first parents, Adam and Eve, the whole mankind is in sin. "For as in Adam all die …" (1 Cor.15:22) says St.Paul. Not only those who commit great crimes like robbery, massacre etc, are under the dominion of sin, but also almost every one of us, to some extent at least. As a result of better upbringing and civilization, many of us seem to be good. But when some one , a servant or a neighbor or a co-worker causes friction, all kinds of bad things come out of us. Some of us may suppress our emotions. But internally most of us are filled with evil. There are those who cherish never-ending enmity and rivalry, and those who are not so hard-heartened, that they care only for their own comforts and persecute others mercilessly. There are those who deceive people and shift their blame to other people, as Adam and Eve did. There are those who are so jealous, and they never allow others to rise up in life. There are those who blow their own trumpets and try to ridicule and criticize every one . Also there are those who are slaves to sexual perversions and those who are addicted to liquor and drugs committing crimes. As the palmist says. "They have all fallen away, they are all alike, depraved, there is none that is good, no ,not even one (Ps. 53:3).Sin is universal. Should we not be redeemed from this destructive force and spiritual death?

I. ETERNAL DEATH

Eternal life means the life of the eternal one. God, it is a life of power, joy and peace. It is a godly life, and life of love. Those who have overcome sin, and are filled with godly love, will and serve God and His children, freely, gladly, spontaneously and whole-heartedly, without any ulterior motive. Is this not the kind of love, that we all long to get from others. There for should we not try to cultivate this love in us, first of all? Can there be anything more fascinating than the love, that is ever seeking to help others in full enthusiasm, even sacrificing one self? The love that forgives whole-heartedly, as our Lord did on the cross? And the love that respect last and the least, counting him / her as better than themselves irrespective if how they believe. We find the fullness of love, in the fruit of the spirit. "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness (generosity ,faithfulness ,gentleness( meekness ) self -control. (Gal. 5:22-23) This is transference from death to life, , hell to heaven. "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love, abides in death." (1 Jn : 3:14 ) Those who love one another make the world a heaven on earth.

II.WHAT GOD HAS DONE AND IS NOW DOING TO TRANSFER US FROM DEATH TO LIFE ?

Our Lord started the work of salvation through His sacrifice on the cross. "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt. 26:28) Now our Lord is continuing His work of salvation in every individual. "God having raised up His servant, sent Him first to bless you, and turning everyone of you from your wickedness." (Acts 3:26). The resurrected Lord or the blood that passed through death and resurrection, continues to redeem us and perfect us .This is what is meant by the saying of St.John "The blood of Jesus, His son, cleanses us from all sin." (Jn. 1:7) His work is being continued through the Holy Spirit, who perfects us in the image of our Lord. "We….are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18), as the Holy Spirit fills us with love (Rom. 5:5)

III.OUR ROLE IN THE WORK OF SALVATION:

We must believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, repent of our sins and dedicate ourselves to a godly life. This is to be followed by Holy Baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts. 2:38) and rebirth. (Jn. 3:5)We are anointed with Holy Mooron (Acts 8:17), in order that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit, who fills us with godly love (Rom. 5:5) The child who is given Holy Baptism, Holy Mooron and Holy Qurbana is brought up in faith, repentance and dedication. In the Holy confession, the grown up child dedicate himself sacramentally . St.Peter says that infants can receive Holy Spirit (Acts. 2:39).The word used in this passage for children in the Greek original, is "tekna", which means infants. We receive Holy Qurbana in order to receive our Lord into our hearts (Jn. 6:56) Besides all these, we have to crucify our sins daily. Our Lord said, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Lk. 9:23) The Lord who was crucified for us about two thousand years ago must abide in us and help us to crucify our sins. St.Paul said, "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry." (Col. 3:5) When we realize the magnitude of the pain God has, on account of our sins and when we are filled with love for God, we can crucify our sins.

Imagine how painful we are when a beloved one suffers. If so, even the smallest of our sins, will cause unbearable pain to God. Through the help of the Holy Spirit, we must realize the magnitude of God's pain and repent whole-heartedly.

IV.HOW THEN, TO BE FILLED WITH LOVE FOR GOD?:

We must realize the blessing we receive every moment, that sustains us. The air that we breathe, the water that we drink and the food that we eat, are all blessings from God. Without these, we cannot even survive. The autonomous nervous system, is also the product of God's infinite wisdom. It is in God that we live, move and have our being (Acts. 17:28). Our body is given the ability to fight against many diseases. God has also given us medicines and wisdom to treat diseases. The human brain that produces scientific inventions and technologies, making life so comfortable and enjoyable, is a creation of our God. In short we have to thank God for everything, as nothing good has come into existence with-out God. God is also protecting us from so many possible sufferings and dangers. Some times He allows sufferings, as He can bring good out of sufferings when we co-operate with Him. It is through sufferings that we are filled with sympathy and humility. Sympathy helps us to love sincerely those in suffering, and humility helps us to respect whole-heartedly even the last and the least. Hence , we should be thankful to God for sufferings also. More over we should remember that it is in our unworthiness and sinfulness, that God does all these for us. Over and above all these, God has redeemed us from eternal damnation through the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross and the sending down of the Holy Spirit. Let us thank God for all these and love Him whole-heartedly.

Our Lord working in us through the Holy Spirit, every moment, repentance (Jn.16:8), faith (1 Cor. 12:3), love (Rom. 5:5), help in prayer (Rom 8:26), guidance in all truth (Jn. 16:13) and perfection in the image of God (2 Cor. 3:18), all these are the result of the working of the Holy Spirit.

Visualizing the love of the Holy Trinity, we must love God whole-heartedly." You shall love the Lord, our God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind (Mtt. 22:37).

We know that according to the depth of our love for others that we are grieved by their sufferings. Utmost love means utmost pain. Then just think how deeply God is grieved by our physical, mental and spiritual sufferings.

V.HOW TO BE FILLED WITH LOVE FOR OTHERS?:

1.Our love for God should prompt us to love His children also. There is a saying "Love me, love my child." Our Lord asked St.Peter to feed His lambs and sheep after asking him whether he loved Him (Jn. 21: 15-17). This implies that if we love the Lord, we have to love His children also. More over on the day of the last judgment, our Lord will say that whatever we have done to our brethren, will be counted as having done to Him (Mtt. 25:31-45), just think, how much God and people love us, when we love people as God's.

2.In order to cultivate love for mankind, we have to think of the amount of good that we receive from others daily, especially from our near and dear ones. We generally ignore their services considering as their duties. But thankfulness makes us all the more noble and lovable. See the gratitude of the Samaritan leper, who expressed his thanks to our Lord in all humility. The other nine lepers who were healed, went away without a word ( Lk. 17: 11-19). Just think, how pained people will be when we are not thankful and how pleased they will be, when we are thankful.

3.Yet another way to cultivate love for others, is to identify with them. Then their needs and sufferings will become our own. Then spontaneously we will help them, forgive them and respect them, as much as we desire the same from them. On the other hand, when there is selfishness, hatred and enmity, we cannot identify with people. Hence we have to pray for the help of the Holy Spirit, to give us the spirit of sympathy and forgiveness through identification.

See how the good Samaritan identified with the injured man on the road and helped him to the utmost, even risking his own safety. Also see how our Lord identified with people where ever He went and served everyone never seeking their services. He identified with the disciples and washed their feet, giving them the highest honor and respect ( Jn.13: 12-15). Also He laid down His life a ransom for the whole mankind (Mk. 10:45). Our Lord identified with those who crucified Him, praying to the heavenly father, to forgive them (Lk.23:34). Our Lord identified with St.Peter, who denied Him thrice and gave him the commission to feed His sheep (Jn. 21:15-17).

We should try to follow the example of the good Samaritan and our Lord through the help of the Holy Spirit. Just think, how much people will love us, when we treat them as we wish to be treated.

VI.GOD WANTS TO SERVE EVERYONE:

This salvation or eternal life, is for us, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life (Jn.3:16) Unless and until the last sheep is found and saved , the good shepherd, the Holy Trinity, will not find rest. "He will not fail or be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth.(Is. 42:4) This work of the servant of the Lord is the expression of the preserving love of God. He says, "I will not fail you or forsake you." (Josh. 1:5) Our Lord says, Him that comes to me ,I will in no-wise cast out." (Jn. 6:37) "Heaven and earth will pass away, But my words will not pass away." (Mtt.24:35) Hence we need not fear anything. "Sleep quietly, God is awake."

The transference from death to life is also transference from darkness to life and transference from falsehood to truth. This can be had through Jesus Christ, who said " I am the way, the truth and life. No one can come to the Father but by me." (Jn. 14:6)

WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE PASSED FROM DEATH INTO LIFE, BECAUSE, WE LOVE THE BRETHREN .HE WHO DOES NOT LOVE, ABIDES IN DEATH" (1 Jn. 3:14)