Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and perfector (finisher) of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Micah 7:7 “But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation ; my God will hear me.”

The trouble is that quite often we look at the wrong places. When Mary looked in the tomb, the men there said, Why do you seek, look for the living among the dead? (Lk24:5) Many looked at the past – but not at the future – None of them looked at the present. We see the possibilities today. Mary wanted to entomb the past and glorify the past. This reminds me of a story narrated by the late J. Vernon McGee. A lady who lived in the Deep South had a close relationship with her childhood sweetheart. She fell in love with him and ultimately married him. Their life together was not perfect, but it was rewarding. There was faithfulness and there were times of joy. This continued for years, until he was suddenly taken from her side by a heart attack. Not being able to part with him visibly, she decided to have him embalmed, put in a chair, sealed up in a glass case, and placed immediately inside the front door of their large plantation home. Every time she walked through the door, she smiled, ‘Hi, John. How are you?’ Then she walk right on up the stairs. Things rocked along as normally as possible month after month. There he sat day after day as she acknowledged his presence with a smile and friendly wave. A year or later she decided to take a lengthy trip to Europe. It was a delightful change of scenery. In fact, while in Europe she met a fine American gentleman who was also vacationing over there. He swept her off her feet. After a whirl-wind romance, they got married and honeymooned all over Europe. She said nothing of ol’ John back in the farm. Finally they traveled together back to the States. Driving up the winding road to her home, he decided, “This is my moment to lift my bride over the threshold and to carry her back into her home, this wonderful place where we’ll live together for ever.” He picked her up, bumped the door open with his hip, and walked right in. He almost dropped his bride on the floor! ‘Who is this?’, he asked. ‘Well, that is John. He was my old man from –‘ He said: ‘He is history; he is dead!’ The new husband immediately dug a big hole and buried her former old man in it, case and all.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” The full force of the Greek word is, ‘Looking off unto Jesus’. i.e. looking away from other things and unto Jesus. This is the best secret of enduring. Do not look at the circumstances. Our attention must not be on our achievement either. Instead look at God. Looking unto Jesus has a threefold aspect. We are to look to Him, first, because who He is – Author and finisher of our faith. Second, because of what He did – He endured the cross. And finally, because of where he reigns – ‘the right hand of God.’ Look at the marvel of his incarnation. Look forward and marvel at His coming world dominion. Look at everything in the light of His countenance, as He looks.

There is a difference between the way God looks and the way man looks. Paul has these telling words: “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world… For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Cor 1:20, 25)

After Saul’s death, when Samuel wanted to anoint a successor from the house of Jesse, Jesse’s son Eliab was brought. The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7) Then six other sons were brought one by one and rejected until the eighth son David who was anointed of God. It is good to remember Seneca’s words of wisdom. “It is not the richness of the scabbard that matters but the edge and temper of the sword.” The saying goes: Pretty is what pretty does. Some of the best books I have read had some of the worst looking covers. Socrates who was notorious for his ugly look prayed: “Lord, make me beautiful within.”

Even the scientific world provides a paradigm. Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton – the four great giants. Their accomplishment was really the renunciation of appearances. The invention of the telescope by Galileo in 1609 transformed all our outlooks. Likewise the microscope.

Through prayer we get a transformed view of life. We begin to distinguish between the seemingly great and the really great. We get a ‘God’s eye view’ of everything and it is marvelous how that makes many great things look small, and small things great; how all mere worldly ambitions look surprisingly poor, and heavenly ambitions the only ones worth having. Many a false estimate is rectified there. Our ambitions, plans, labors, worries, vexations, sorrows, cares – all these fall into their true proportions. The mountain-top of secret communion with God gives not only a high view, but a far view, a full view, and a clear view.

As you read the Gospels, watch for Jesus’ eyes. There must have been something arresting in His glance. There are three compounds of blepein, the Greek verb meaning, ‘to look’ which Mark uses to describe the look of Jesus. (1) emblepein – to look into, to look a thing straight in the face – the look of insight. (2) periblepein – ‘to look around’ to look at a thing on all sides – the look of comprehension, ‘looking over’. Paul admonishes us to be ‘circumspect’ The actress Mae West’s funny remark comes to mind: “It is better to be looked over than to be overlooked.” The tragedy in our lives is that we overlook things that will save our lives. Several years ago the evening news reported on a sky diving photographer who had jumped from a plane in order to film other skydivers as they fell and opened their parachutes. Suddenly, as the last parachute opened, the picture on the telecast went black. The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death. It wasn’t until he reached for his ripcord that he realized that he had jumped out of the plane without his parachute. So intent was he on his goal of filming the other sky divers, he neglected something crucial for saving his own life. (3) anablepein – ‘to look up’, to lift up one’s eyes – one of the NT verbs meaning to pray. Look out, look, always, up. As someone said, ‘If God had meant you to look down, your eyes would be in your feet’. ‘Look upward for the power usward’. ‘I will look up into the hills from whence cometh my help’, the psalmist stated.

Look forward, and do not look back. “To look forward with acuity, you must first look back with honesty.” (Warren Bennis). But do not look back to tarry in the past. Jesus said to a certain man. “No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:62) Remember Lot’s wife. Look down to see from where God has raised you. Look upward. “They looked unto him and were lightened. But their faces were not ashamed (Ps 34:51) Look at Jesus and not at our faith. Corrie Ten Boom in her book ‘Not I but Christ’ has these words: “Once I stood before a very primitive bridge in New Zealand. We were not sure if we should cross it in our car. One of the men thoroughly inspected the bridge to see whether it was strong enough. And it was. We safely crossed it. This man did not inspect our faith in the bridge; he inspected the bridge. So often we are inclined to look at our faith, and then we think either that is strong or that it is weak. But we must not inspect our faith, we must inspect the bridge. We must not look at ourselves, but at Jesus. And when we look at Him we know that He is strong.” Looking at and looking along. Looking at the beam of light to sun and looking at the beam are very different experiences.

Viewed from a different angle, there are three ways of seeing. (1) Seeing with the eyes- conventional seeing – Seeing the present in the past tense – the physical vision. (2) Seeing with the mind – Insight – if one is understands whether one is seeing – an attempt to think in the present – seeing anew – the so-called ‘third eye’ – seeing the phenomenon from within. Insight is accompanied by a sense of surprise – what has been closed is suddenly disclosed. (3) Seeing with the heart – What I may call ‘the fourth eye’ – the compassionate look – The heart has eyes too. As the wise fox said to the little prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s delightful book ‘The Little Prince’. “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

By today’s standards, Frances Jane Crosby should have been a very unhappy, troubled woman. Her father died when she was quite young, leaving her to be raised by her mother and grandmother. As a result of a doctor’s careless error when she was only six weeks old, she was afflicted with lifelong blindness. The tragic and traumatic experiences of this woman’s childhood years would have given most people more than enough grounds for a life-time of self-pity, bitterness, and psychological disorders. Yet, in her autobiography, she wrote, “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank Him for the dispensation.” The doctor who destroyed her sight never forgave himself and moved from the area, but there was no room in Fanny Crosby’s heart for resentment. “If I could meet him now”, she wrote, “I would say, ‘Thank you, thank you’ – over and over again – for making me blind. The blindness that many would have considered at best as an accident, and at worst a curse, was considered by Fanny to be one of her greatest blessings. She accepted her blindness as a gift from God. “I could not have written thousands of hymns”, she said, “if I had been hindered by the distractions of seeing all the interesting and beautiful objects that would have presented to my notice.” Fanny’s first poem, written when she was eight years old, reflects the perspective that was hers until her death at the age of 95..

O what a happy child I am,
Although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don’t!
So weep or sigh because I’m blind,
I cannot, nor I won’t.

And so, for over a century, the Church has reaped the rich benefits of one woman’s thankful heart, as we sing, ‘To God be the Glory’, ‘Blessed Assurance’, ‘Redeemed’, ‘All the Way My Savior leads me’ and countless of others of the 8,000 songs that Fanny Crosby wrote in her life time.

When a truth has entered into the heart of man, a person sees God through the eyes of the heart. (Mt 5:8; Jn 14:9)

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart.
I have light in my soul for which long I have sought
Since Jesus came into my heart.

When the heart sees Christ, then we see God. To see God is to realize Him, to feel Him, to center the affections of the heart on Him.

We have studied the Quest for the Holy Grail in our school days. The holy grail was the mystic cup used at the Last Supper, in which legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea caught the last drop of blood which fell from our Lord’s side as He died on the cross. Sir Galahad, along with other knights of the Round Table, set out in quest of it. In the story they found it but each saw it through the mirror of his own soul. Sir Lancelot – a sinful heart – saw the Holy Grail covered with holy wrath and fire. To him it was a vision of stern and awful retribution. Sir Galahad also saw the grail. He was the knight with the white soul. His strength was the strength of ten because his heart was pure.

Our mind operates in a dynamic alternation between insight and outlook. That is the way even the embryo develops. That is how the fissures of the cerebral cortex (the brain) are developed.

Jesus said, “Unless ye become like little children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” It seems to me that Jesus was referring mostly to the way of seeing. Sometimes the most real things we can’t see. In his essay on ‘The uses and Disadvantages of History for life’, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche asserted that ‘there are things he does not see which even a child sees’. As infants, closer to nature than to society, we began life with eyes opened by enchantment and wonder. The tragedy is that ‘the culture of blindness’ as someone has characterized our culture, has reproduced and multiplied its blindness. The historical changes, themselves brought about in a certain blindness, have in turn affected our vision and our capacity for vision. It should be noted that the blind become accustomed to their world by their adjustment to it. Every adjustment is a distortion, and calls upon defenses to uphold it against reality. By the same token it should be noted that during the last one hundred years, even the last three or four decades, our range of vision has been extraordinarily enlarged.

Helen Keller often asked this question of people: “If you had three days to see, what would you choose to see in those days?” I think that your choice will teach you about what you truly love in your life. St. Augustine’s famous statement comes to mind that one must love in order to see. I was mystified when I came to it first, my thought being that love was blind. Later I realized that lovers are truly open to the world. If you can remain open, you will accept things when you see them. Carl Jung the great psychologist said, “We cannot change anything unless we accept it.” We are often advised to close our eyes as we pray. Maybe it is a good idea that we keep our eyes open as we pray.

Several years ago I came across a poem by Dale Wimbrow entitled ‘The Man in the Glass’. It reads thus:

“When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what THAT man has to say.

“For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass;
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

“Some people may think you a straight-shootin’ chum
And call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

“He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

“You may fool the whole world down the pathway of life
And get pats on your back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.”

The poem asks us to look straight in our own eyes. See yourself just the way you are.

Jesus said: “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bushel. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lump of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines in you.” (Lk 11:33-36) What is the darkness Jesus is talking about here? How would you assess your spiritual vision? 20/20, 20/80, near-sighted, far-sighted, color-blind? How can you improve your spiritual insight?

Good eyesight is essential for responsible decision-making. I would like to share briefly about some factors that seem to affect every man’s perceptions and some ways faith in God can open our eyes. George Chauncy’s Decisions! Decisions! have been helpful here.

First, where we look from, our standpoint, our point of view affects what we see. It refers to our location in society. My race, socio-economic class, age, nationality, occupation, religious faith and background, family status, political party, section of the country I come from etc. Sociologists say that if only given two basic indices of class such as income and occupation, one can make a long list of predictions.

Second, those whom we look with and what they report seeing. That is, by the pressure of group opinions and need for conformity. All of us have a primeval human urge to be accepted, to belong, to live in a world with others. When everybody else is doing it or saying it or seeing it, we are inclined to go along. Solomon Asch and other social psychologists demonstrated through experiments the way in which group pressure affects perception.

Thirdly, what we see is shaped by what we look through; that is, by the ‘eyes’ or ‘filters’ growing out of our personal history, knowledge, experience, imagination, desires, frustrations and the like. The state of one’s health as well as the state of one’s soul affects his perception and therefore his moral judgment.

Fourthly, what we see is conditioned by what we look at. That is by the shape of our field of vision, by how we define the situation we are looking at, by what we regard as part of the context to be evaluated. The interpretation of what the situation is differs.

Finally, what we see (and fail to see!) is influenced by what we look for, that is by our self-interest or by what affects us most directly in the scene we are viewing. F. C. Sharp speaks of ‘spot lights’ and ‘flood lights’. Often when we look at a situation, which brings certain features of the situation into clear visibility while placing others in a dim background. Psychologists call this ‘selective perception’. Instead we ought to use flood lights.

What is the role of faith in all this? How does, can, or ought faith in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ affect what we see? There are several possibilities. Faith does not remove us from the location in society, but it does add a new place from which to look: the vantage point of a child of God. It does not replace all other perspectives, but it does or can or ought to check and correct them. Faith checks self-interest. Obviously it does not free one completely from that inordinate self-love which is incompatible with the divine will. Faith in Jesus Christ can, ought to, and sometimes does affect how the Christian defines the situation. The Christian knows for example, that God is an interested party in every situation and that in all his dealings he must deal with God. Since all are God’s children the Christian has obligations to all men. The awareness that we are universally responsible to the Universal Lord who loves all that he has made ought to engender a healthy skepticism about all easy answers (our own and those of our companions) and ought furthermore to prompt prophetic protest against unduly narrow definitions of that for which we are accountable. Faith ought to, can and sometimes does, give to the Christian not only a new sense of the scope of the situation but also a new sensitivity to certain features in that situation. The God to whom the Christian is committed is clearly ‘biased’ in favor of the weak, the poor, the outcast, the rejected.

The situation is not ‘once I was blind, but now I see’. Faith in Christ does not guarantee my prejudiced perceptions. We are not completely healed. Our condition is more like that of the blind man who, when touched by Jesus had to report: I see men; but they look like trees, walking (Mk 8:24)

Have you ever thought why Saul was blinded during his encounter with Jesus on his way to Damascus. The scripture records: “Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing…For three days he was blind.” Any vision of God mandates giving up the old ways of looking and adopting new ones instead. Paul addressing King Agrippa at his trial asserted: “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” This is all that is expected of us. As guides and as seekers, we are in need of a new set of eyes, not a new set of glasses, by which to view the world and to be moved in love to respond to what we see.

My message is a simple one. Christian is one in whom Christ lives. Christ looks at and sees things in a different way than we do. So we will look at things as Christ does if He truly lives in us. This is the Christian syllogism: There is a need for retraining our vision or simply for learning to see in a sacred manner.

Elisha prayed for his servant to open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and , “behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17)

Jesus asked “Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? “ (Mk 8:28) Jesus’ mission was to proclaim recovery of sight for the blind (Lk 4:18) “Behold, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 Jn 3:2) “For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Cor 13:12) “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.” (1 Cor 2:9-10) What a promise!

Look at life with spiritual vision, an understanding and insight that radiates from God’s spirit within me. Spiritual vision allows me to see beyond the surface of matters and know what is true and enduring. Spiritual vision penetrates to the heart of every person and situation, calling forth divine possibilities. God’s law of love and equity is working mightily in me, for me, and through me to bring forth blessings. God adjusts and corrects whatever needs a touch of the divine.

I uplift my thoughts with spiritual vision. It enables me to see a more inclusive view of all the blessings that are around me. I gain a greater awareness of myself and my relationship with God. From the higher viewpoint, I see the whole picture, which is the true picture. Problems seem smaller and easier to handle and people appear closer to each other and more harmonious. I behold the glory of God in my surroundings. I envision God’s perfect world a world of beauty – and harmony. I can use my imagination to form mental pictures of God’s perfect world as it was created to be. “One who is blind in one eye does not make the pilgrimage”, said Rabbi Abraham Heschel

Fullness of life in Jesus: Abundant life that Christ gives

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn 10:10)

“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you have life.” (Jn 5:40)

“He has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fits all in all.” (Eph 1:22-3)

“He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” (Col. 1:18-19)

Read Colossians 3:1-17; Ephesians 3:14-19.

Who is a Christian? What is our identity? One who has accepted the gift of free help of Jesus. One who knows how to ‘decrease’ so that Christ may ‘increase’. One who has that mind in him that was in Christ Jesus. We have only one nature. Jesus plus or minus nothing.

Eugenia Price in What Really Matters mentions nine areas and asks whether each one of it is what really matters: Faith, prayer, giving, growth, service, praise, our commitment to Him. All these are characteristics of the Christian Walk, the life hid with Christ. And then in the last chapter she answers what really matters is His commitment to us. Christian life revolves around two foci: one an invitation and the other a commission. Christian life is essentially the living of the beatitudes. Catch Jesus’ attitudes, the beatitude attitudes. The Christian vocation according to Walter Bruggeman is “finding a purpose for living in the world that is related to the purpose of God.” According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer it is “to participate with God in the suffering of the world.” In short it is the dynamic combination of personal faith (creative communion with God) and radical involvement in the needs of others (creative concern for others) George Herbert sang: “Teach me, my God and King/ In all things thee to see;/ And what I do in anything,/ To do it as for Thee.”

Jesus Christ gives me a reason for living. If we are merely existing from day to day, we understand what Shakespeare meant when he wrote that our lives can be like “an idiot’s tale, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Living for Jesus is the best reason for living. In the midst of our frantic activity we occasionally become aware that apart from a life of faith in Christ there is no eternal purpose for what we are doing. Our busyness keeps us from facing the fact that everything we do adds up to zero – unless we believe what the Apostle Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

One of the many exciting aspects of walking with Christ is that we don’t know what is going to happen next. At times we may be uncomfortable with the twists and turns, But God reserves the right to lead us wherever he wants. Paul and his missionary companions were making their way through Asia Minor when God changed their plans. (Acts 16:6-7) Instead of going to Bithynia, they went to Troas. That night Paul saw a vision of a man pleading, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:9) Paul’s plans were changed when God revealed His. You don’t need to see the way if you follow the one who is the Way. After He ascended to His Father, Jesus’ influence continued in the lives of His disciples. The populace ‘realized that they had been with Jesus’ (Acts 4:13) Their deportment and attitude marked them as His true followers.

According to Paul, the opposite of foolishness is understanding God’s will for our lives. To possess the power needed to live righteously, it is essential that the Holy Spirit be in control of our lives. No one can do God’s will in his or her own power. We must operate in God’s power.

Paul continued using the imagery of a soldier to illustrate the need for spiritual defense, and even repeated his call to “take unto you the whole armor of God.” (Eph 6:13-17) He specifically listed six pieces of armor that would enable believers to stand their ground. ‘The belt of truth’. On a Roman soldier, the belt held all the offensive and defensive weapons together. Breastplate of righteousness simply means being right with God. Having one’s “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” means the Christian soldier is capable and prepared to go wherever God sends that soldier. Their shield of faith that extinguishes ‘all the flaming arrows’. The ‘helmet of salvation’ protects the mind of the believer so that he or she remains alert, cheerful, and prepared. Then ‘sword of the Spirit’, which is the Word of God. That is the believer’s sole offensive weapon. Prayer, too, is an essential part of the Christian soldier’s offense.

This war rages on. Paul’s description of the soldier preparing himself for warfare teaches us at least two truths about Christian living. (i) Life itself can be like a battle. Paul wrote to Romans “So I find this law at work. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” (7:21) (ii) It is God who outfits and prepares Christians to encounter the enemy. Evil therefore will succumb to good. The three main characteristics of a life devoted to Christ are goodness, righteousness, and truth (Eph 5:9) We need to learn how to scrutinize what is right and wrong.

If a would-be disciple selfishly loves or clings to life, that person will lose or waste his life. On the other hand, the person who hates or renounces “his life in this world shall keep into life eternal.” (Jn 12:25) To hate or renounce life is to serve and follow Jesus wherever he leads. Jesus declared “Where I am there shall also my servants be.” (Jn 12:26) He knows the cost of following Jesus. But he knows the gain is much greater. In giving his life he experiences ‘life eternal’ and fellowship with the Lord. In serving his Lord, he receives the Father’s honor (Jn 12:26) Just as the death of a grain of wheat is necessary for the bearing of fruit, the death of Jesus was essential for his ministry to bear fruit in the lives of his followers. Had Jesus sought to preserve his life, he would have forfeited his fruitfulness. Only through his death could Jesus give life to others.

As believers, we are empowered by Christ to cultivate the virtues we need to live harmoniously with each other: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and above all love. Jesus is our model for each. Paul explained how we can learn to express these virtues when he commanded, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (Col 3:16) This phrase may signify either the message about Christ or the message from Christ. But in either case, the meaning is the same, because we learn both about and from Christ in His Word. We discover how we should live and we gain the power needed to live for Him by permitting Scripture to control our thinking. This calls us to read, search, investigate, contemplate, and apply the Bible to our day-to-day lives.

Whatever believers say or do should be undertaken ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus’ (Col 3:17) To speak and act in Jesus’ name is to act under His authority, on His behalf, in His place, for His benefit, and in dependence on Him. When we are one with Christ so that His Word dwells in us richly, we have both the wisdom and the power to do what is right. When it comes to the gift of salvation, however, many of us are poor recipients. God offers forgiveness for our sins past, present, and future.

The life which is in Christ and which Christ is, is life in love. The life which our Lord brings to us is exactly the same as his own: it is true life, authentic life, real life, life with purpose, life with strength, life with courage, life in love. It is life in joy, too. Jesus inaugurated a new age that required repentance and loftier spiritual goals. There is a need for a radical and permanent change in interpersonal relationships. Jesus requires more of his followers than a mere transient and vague resolve ‘to do better’. He calls for a new life.-style involving compassion and forgiveness. Living in love. That is the mandate. Just as love is the chief attribute of God, so love becomes the Christian’s badge of devotion. There is no other way to measure a person’s religious experience than by the test of love. The Romans and pagans of the first century did not point out any other particular trait in the Christians. The one thing that stood out above everything else about the early Christians in the eyes of the Romans is found in the words, ‘Behold, how they love one another!’

The greatest problem within the Christian church today is – what it has always been, really – a lack of love. Supposedly we in the church are preparing ourselves to live together in our Father’s house one day. If we cannot learn to live with one another in the church, are we ready to live with our Heavenly Father in the City of God? Our challenge is to express God’s love in our daily interpersonal relationships.

We are never nearer to God than when we love because God is love. When we are loving, we are reflecting an attitude of God, and we are living the very life of God. Love makes us kin to God. God is love and therefore, to be like God, to be what he meant for us to be, we must also love. Love has a double relationship to God. Only through the knowledge of God and only by loving do we learn to know God. When God dwells within our hearts, we learn to love, we come closer and closer to God. Love has its origin in God, and love leads to God.

By love God is known. We cannot see God, because God is a Spirit, but we can experience God at work in our lives. We cannot see the wind, but we know about the power of the wind. We can’t see electricity, but we are dependent on electrical energy. When God touches the life of a person, God enables that person to love God and others. Our relationship to God, therefore, is twofold: vertical and horizontal. The vertical thrust is upward; we love God with our total being. The horizontal relationship is outward toward our fellowman: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Putting the two together, we discover they form a cross. They join at a common point of love and reach out horizontally and vertically. At the center of the Cross is Christ himself, the supreme expression of the love of God and the love of man.

When we see Jesus, we see two things about the love of God. (i) God’s love holds nothing back. God sent His Son to save us. Many of us would be willing to give money, time and talent. But how many of us would be willing to give our son? God gave his dearest one, a sacrifice beyond which no sacrifice can possibly go, in his love for men. (ii) God’s love is undeserved. God loves us in spite of the fact that we are sinners. Before we could love Him, He loved us. Human love is not a product of the human heart; it is not something that man could create for himself; it is the response to the divine love of God.

How is love demonstrated? We toss the word ‘love’ around carelessly. We talk about loving God in the same sense that we love apple pie and ice cream. Love is the greatest of the graces, the supreme virtue. Grace has been seen as ‘God’s love in action’. The New Testament kind of love is the church’s greatest need today. The devil’s distortion of any authentic New Testament concept constitutes an almost insurmountable barrier in the matter of love. We have, for example, assumed that love meant being nice and affable and genial. It is being universally friendly. We have felt that it must not address itself to any controversial issues since that could upset the placidity of the fellowship.

What we have not understood is that the love described in the New Testament demands that we take sides even if somebody does get upset with us. If my neighbor is denied a decent chance because of race, I must demonstrate Christian love by doing something about it. Again, if my neighbor is cold and hungry, I’ll do something about it. If a child or anyone else is molested, injured by one using drugs or alcohol, I’ll do something to correct the problem. Love will also set itself to do something about crime in the streets. Something is wrong with a society when the criminal is out of jail before his victim is out of the hospital.

The kind of love that stands aloof and does not involve itself in meeting human need is foreign to the Spirit of Jesus Christ. He took sin seriously, and the Bible says he did something about it, in that Godly love that possessed him and is available to us. Can we do any less and still dare to call ourselves Christians? When you really love, it isn’t easy to ‘sweep under the carpet’ what sin does to people.

When love comes, fear goes. As long as we regard God as the Judge, King, law-giver, there can be nothing in our hearts but a dominant emotion of fear. But once we know God is love, fear is swallowed up in love. True, in its place there is left a different kind of fear, the fear of grieving the love that so loved us. John bluntly stated that a man who claims to love God and hates his brother is nothing more than a liar. Love and forgiveness go together like faith and works. We need a spirit of forgiveness toward those who hurt us, just as God forgives us. Judgment and chastisement belong only to God.

To treat others with compassion and tenderness is always appropriate. Isn’t this the expression of the golden rule – doing unto others as we would have them do.unto us – to be loving and gracious in our attitude and spirit and treatment of others? No one wants to be treated cruelly, to be exploited, to be wounded with harsh words or brutal deeds. Is this not the heart of the good news of the gospel, that God deals with us not on the basis of merit, but out of his grace? Even God delays his final judgment on us in order that he may redeem us, change us, make us more like himself. He is loving, kind, and forgiving. The basic element of grace is kindness, which is a many splendored thing. When we remember how gracious and forgiving God has been to us, his grace forces us from being hard hearted, indifferent, and judgmental toward others. We often hate in others the very things we recognize in ourselves. We should talk about the sins of others only on our knees in prayer. Who has the right to throw stones? Only God has the right. And yet the Scriptures tell us “a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench.” (Mt 12:30) So loving is our heavenly Father, God has dealt with us according to his loving grace.

The love of God is also expressed in obedience. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:3) When there is no obedience to God, there is no real evidence of love for God. Love does not exist apart from action. In this sense, we might say that love is a verb, not a noun. Love demands doing even though a person may not always have a right ‘feeling’ toward a Christian brother. Keeping God’s commandments dares not place an undue burden on the Christian. In fact, Paul said that obedience is the Christian’s ‘reasonable service’ (Rom 12:1) Jesus said: “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mt 11:30) The call to obedience means a call to discipleship. Our world will not and cannot be reached without faithful obedience of Christians to the will of God. Obedient Christians who live in love have a certain confidence about life and things to come. They live with the quiet assurance that God’s love is being brought to completion in their lives. Only a changed people will be capable of changing the world for Christ. If you want your life to reflect the love of God, then we must be obedient to God. Does love truly possess us? Are we good stewards of God’s blessings? We must act; and our actions must reveal that Christ is indeed in our hearts and that we are truly ‘walking in love’

‘Love’ in relation to one’s enemies does not mean sentimentality. It means sincere and active concern for the welfare of another person, even when that person acts in a hostile way. Love often can win a battle that hostility cannot resolve; but even if it does not, love is still the Christian response. The new life-style of Christianity requires a new standard for determining proper conduct. Actually, however, much of the legalistic spirit of the Old Testament resulted from man’s interpretation of the law, not God’s intent. A new kind of love is called for. One of the hardest things that a Christian is called on to do is to demonstrate active concern for an unlikable person. Nevertheless, that kind of action is inherent in the Christian calling. The new life-style of a Christian calls for a new kind of love that expresses itself in a caring ministry to all kinds of persons, regardless of their background or conduct (Lk 6:32-36) The love-in-return-for love concept does not merit credit. The compassion shown by the heavenly Father to ungrateful and unrighteous people shines as our example of love on its highest level. The life-style required of those who follow Jesus involves a new measure of generosity in both attitude and actions. Some things we can do are: We can refuse to respond to hostility with more hostility. We can leave judgment to God, instead of setting ourselves up as judges. We can release others through forgiveness. We can let love, rather than hope for return, be our motive for helping others. We can minister to others according to their need instead of how likable they are. We can involve ourselves in a radical self-giving love as we relate to other persons.

The standards of Christianity demand our highest efforts. Only you can judge how well you measure up to the life-style that Christ presented. Further more, only you can resolve to make the changes needed to live up to Christ’s standards. Are you willing to do it? With Paul you can say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Phil 4:13) Jesus taught that love is the Christian’s response to hostility. He cited the Heavenly Father as the supreme example of this kind of response. God does not limit his sending of vital sunshine and rain only to righteous people. He shows mercy on the just and the unjust alike! The Christian ethic requires that persons aim toward the kind of mutuality shown by the Father in his exercise of love toward all people. The word ‘perfect’ (Mt 5:48) means mature or complete. This is a high goal and not easy to attain, but one toward which Christians need to work. We have filled the space more for love because it is the most important thing to remember.

What are the areas of our life to which you cling rather than surrender to Jesus? Is there someone’s approval that means more to you than your Lord’s? Is Christ left out of your vocation? Your home? Your recreation? Your use of money? Are you seeing him in these as well as the other areas of life? We must not judge the value of a person’s life on how much he has in the bank or how useful he can be in advancing our selfish interests. We need to decide how we will treat a person on the basis of his worth in God’s sight, not on our own opinion of the person. In the first frame of a cartoon, a masked robber pointed his gun at a well-dressed middle aged man ‘Your money or your life’, the robber demanded. In the second frame, the middle-aged man responded, ‘My money is my life’. The cartoon may not be funny, but it causes us to think. What is your life? What am I living for? Is there more to life than I’ve experienced? Would you call what you are doing really living?

Whatever your occupation, status or life-style, you may feel that your activities and responsibilities completely fill your life. Is it so full that you seldom find or take time to examine what it is full of, to determine the true value and importance of what you are putting into it? In a renewal of his commitment to the Father’s will, Jesus prayed, ‘Father, glorify thy name’. The Father responded, assuming Jesus that he had been glorified in all Jesus had done and would be glorified by his death and resurrection. Are you living and serving for the Father’s glory?

Have you heard from God lately? Do you recognize him when he speaks to you in your heart? Could it be that we are more tuned to other voices than we are to what God says to us? God has spoken for our benefit. He calls us to a life of trustful obedience. Those who respond in faith to the Christ of the cross are given forgiveness and eternal life. The cross is our instrument of life for the believer, but it is the instrument of defeat for the believers’ deadly enemy, Satan. Jesus conquered Satan by surrendering to God’s purpose and giving his life on the cross. The victory Jesus achieved over Satan through the cross is shared with everyone who trusts Jesus as Lord and Savior. John recorded that some of the Jewish leaders believed but would not confess Jesus because “they loved the praise of man more than the praise of God.” (Jn 12:43) Their surrender was incomplete.

Of all persons, the Christian should know the meaning of abundant living, because his life is in the hands of Jesus Christ. Jesus said he came that his followers “might have life… more abundantly.” The Apostle Paul assured the Christians in Colossae that they had “come to fullness of life” in Christ.(Col 2:10 RSV), Mt 5:38-48 spells out some of the radical changes involved in adopting the Christian life-style. Jesus had been pointing out some of the differences between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.

Life of faith is most fundamentally choosing life. We can choose it and lay hold of it, or can throw it away or miss it completely. Choosing life is the very capacity for not putting up with the matter of course destruction of life surrounding us and the matter-of-course cynicism that is our constant companion. Jesus’ purpose becomes our purpose as we let ourselves be drawn to him in his own accomplishment of the purpose which was his. ‘Purity of heart’, Kierkegaard told us, ‘is to will one thing’. Our ‘purity of heart’ likewise, is the willing of the ‘one thing’ which for us has been declared in the life, death, and victory of Jesus our Lord. The life in Christ, like the life of Jesus himself, is the empowered life. Jonathan Edwards once wrote of ‘the expulsive power of a new affection’. It is power in the midst of ordinary life, not power to escape from that life. Life with God in Christ is courageous life, ready to stand firm against hatred, meanness, injustice, dirtiness, selfishness, wherever found. It can dare to be strong, as its Lord dared, because “he that is within us is mightier than he that is against us.”

Let us get rid of the ‘impedimenta’, the excess baggage, the stuff that trips us up. Hebrews 12:1-3 as paraphrased by J. B. Phillips, is picturesque and provocative: “Surrounded then as we are by these serried ranks of witnesses, let us strip off every thing that hinders, as well as the sin which dogs our feet, and let us run the race that we have to run with patience, our eyes fixed on Jesus the Source and Goal of our faith For He Himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame because of the joy He had in doing His Father’s will; and He is now seated at the right hand of God’s throne. Think constantly of Him enduring all that sinful men could say against Him, and you will not lose your purpose or your courage.”

Let us fix our sights. Let us run looking to Jesus. What difference would it make if I did keep Christ steadily before me? Your aim will be clarified and your various purposes unified. Your choices will be simplified. You will find Him providing the power to run the course to the end. He is able to keep you from falling, from fainting, from giving up.

It is God’s intention that we should live abundantly, fully. Many persons today seem resigned to marginal living. How can we live abundantly? If you want to make the most of life, take the New Testament way to life that is life indeed.

1. We must know where life is to be found. You cannot earn it. It is God’s gift. All man can have it by receiving it through trust and loving obedience. Where do you find this life eternal? As you confront God in Christ. “I came”, he said, “that they may have life.”

2. We must enjoy it. “What”, asked John Wesley, “is the witness of the Spirit commonly called assurance?” Answer. “It is rest after labor, joy after pain, light after darkness.” We are no longer servants, but sons, no longer slaves, but friends and heirs. About William Temple, the great Archbishop of Canterbury, some one said, “He was such a jolly man.”

3. We must explore the life God gives us and wants us to live – to the full. This means that we must have first hand acquaintance with what the church has called ‘the means of grace’.- worship, the sacraments, the Christian community or fellowship, the continuous service with the cross at its heart. Would you really live? Then accept, enjoy, possess God’s gift of life. “All [things] are yours, and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s’ (1 Cor 3:22-23)