Love and/or consequences

As God's children, we are no longer ³condemned by God for our ¹poor choices. Legally there is no ³condemnation for those who are in Christ.  

But neither are we ⁴protected practically from the short-term consequences of those choices and the actions that follow. 

The creation - which includes us image bearers, operates best according to God's design (law). To violate that design results in things not operating properly or fully.

When the legal consequences of rebellious distrust are removed, it changes us. We are now "seated in the heavenlies" in Christ. Grasping this new reality of our status with God creates within us gratitude and love for Jesus, who removed them. 

There is a difference between a supernaturally changed heart and a morally restrained one. Love changes us. The law restrains us. Love changes us from within. The law restrains us from without. Both are necessary in making good choices. 

God's law is good and necessary because it lays out and defines how things are designed to operate. To ignore it results in harm to us and others.

These two realities - ⁷love and law - are the positive and negative guardrails that are intended to help drive or guide all true believers' words and actions. 

Love motivates believers to make the right choices (which leads to right actions). 

Fear (respect) of negative consequences motivates us to avoid the wrong ones. 

As God's children, we have no fear of rejection by God, but should still recognize and fear that living contrary to His design always has practical - vs legal - negative consequences. 

As image bearers of God, all our choices matter because we are created to love and honor God. To live contrary to this design results in harm and destruction to ourselves and others. Consequences aren't a direct judgment of God but the organic result of violating God's design.

As God's children our choices do not matter as far as being perfectly loved and accepted by God. In Christ we are always infinitely and perfectly loved and fully accepted and embraced. 

But as the bearers of God's image our choices still must align with how God designed us and the world around us to operate.

These two realities - love and law - appear to be at ⁶odds with each other. But being fully loved and ²experiencing consequences for poor choices are each as true as if the other does not exist. But because of Christ these ⁵exist and work together. Both for our ultimate gain and benefit. 

For a further discussion on the "anatomy" of motivation, click here. 

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Footnotes:

¹By poor choices I simply mean disobedience. Disobedience is the resulting outcome (actions) of our rebellious distrust of God. (This always result in harm to ourselves and others). And distrust is at the heart of our choosing to be our own god. Our desire to be like god - in a way we are not designed to be - was the temptation our original parents bought into that brought pain and death into the world. 

We still operate this way to this day, perpetuating that pain. The present pain, suffering and death we see in the world now reminds us that our choices still matter.

²God may mercifully suspend the the full consequences of poor choices when we sincerely acknowledge them - i.e. "repent." But there is no guarantee. This would be a supernatural intervention and interference of their natural (organic) outcome. Without His mercy (intervention) the consequences will remain, hence His intervention is merciful.

Plus only God knows the sincerity of our heart (and what best aids our maturing) and when we truly abandon (turn away or repent of) a poor choice or only pretend to in order to get some kind of relief or benefit. 

God's objective is our drawing nearer to Him, which is a matter of the heart first. This results in a change in behavior.

³Why are we no longer legally held accountable and condemned for our words and actions contrary to our design and God's will? Because Christ was condemned in our place. The very fact that someone (Christ) was condemned means God's law (will, design) matters. It is vital that these are adhered to. There are always consequence for violating it (them). Because of Christ stepping in for us and taking the condemnation we rightly deserve,  the long term legal consequences no longer fall on us but fell on Him. Instead of the judgment and death rightly due us we are given forgiveness and life. These were earned for us not by us.

For those who ask why there is still pain and suffering in the world after Christ bore the legal consequence of mankinds rebellion, it is because our choices that spring forth from our rebellious distrust of God matter. 

⁴there are also benefits (positive "consequences") for operating according to God's design. Whatever we sow - both good and bad - we also reap. This is why non believers can flourish circumstantially by operating according to God's law. 

Nowhere does the Bible indicate the law is bad, but the opposite. It is seeking to justify ourselves through obedience to God's law that is wrong, not the law itself. 

⁵"Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other." - Psa 85:10 

⁶Our natural inclination is to try to earn God's love. This is why those who claim to be believers have a hard time acknowledging how they come up short. In their minds this means our rejection by God. In order to be fully honest about our rebellious condition we must see God's perfect acceptance and embrace of us because of Christ.

To believe this it is possible to earn God's love does not recognize we can never be perfect enough to earn it. This is why Christ came.

⁷giving us the law is actually an indication and expression of love. What we value most we desire is well cared for. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

AI edit...

The gift of the law reflects love, as we seek to care for what we cherish most. When we value something—or someone—we provide guidance to help it thrive according to its design. The law itself isn’t the issue; the problem arises when we use it to justify ourselves. This is misuse of the law. 

Combined...

The gift of the law is actually an indication and expression of love. We seek to care for what we cherish. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value it i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

The claims of Christ and His return!!

Christ did everything necessary to completely ¹unwind and reverse all that is wrong in the world. 

Yet the world remains a mess.

Why?  

The reversal Christ gained is not automatic. Humanity must now take advantage of what is offered to experience something of it in this life. 

Plus, it is not 100% complete. Full restoration of all things will occur upon Christ's return.

 

Why don't people take advantage? 

Because they (we) either don't understand what Christ did and offers, don't believe it is true, or think it is necessary. 

However, the mess the world is in clearly indicates how necessary this reversal (renewal) is. 

We also refuse to acknowledge and receive what Christ has done and offers. We are too distrustful, arrogant, and self-absorbed. To use a Biblical description... we prefer being "our own god." We believe we can be our own savior, deliverer, and provider. 

How's that working so far? If we are honest with ourselves, it isn't.

Christ's claims

This reversal is not only necessary but also very real, if only because Christ said it was. But he didn't just say it, He did all that was necessary in history and time to reverse our mess and resolve our problem individually and collectively. 

But it was also because he made these ²claims, he was put to death.

The irony is Christ making the claims He did resulted in the very solution needed to fix things i.e. he was sentenced to death and died for making those claims so we could be free from death. I encourage you to ponder how ironic this is... and do it often.

This is the great paradox of Christ's message i.e. life comes through death. A paradox the nation of Israel missed and one we also miss today. People look for deliverance from difficult circumstances first - i.e. physical or political deliverance - when our need for spiritual deliverance is far greater. As Christ asked, what does it profit someone if they gain the whole world but lose their own soul? 

One of many of Christ's ²claims and predictions was he would be put to death but would also ³raise himself from death on the 3rd day. Which ⁴he did. No other religious leader ever predicted, much less did this before or since. His coming back to life was ³unique and only He accomplished this. 

His resurrection confirmed and verified everything he said about Himself was true. Either all of it was true, or none of it was. God would not support or acknowledge a fraud or liar, much less bring one back from the dead!

Christ's resurrection is why His claims should be heeded above anyone and everyone else's. 

What were Christ's other key claims? 

He made several, including: 

• Being the Son of God: 

Christ claimed to be the divine and eternal Son of God, equal in power and nature to God the Father (John 1:1-3,14,18, John 10:30, Philippians 2:6). 

• Being the Messiah: 

He claimed to be Israel's long-awaited Messiah or the Christ - the anointed one - i.e. sent by His Father to save humanity from ultimate death and destruction...spiritually first but literally in the future (John 4:25-26, Matthew 16:16-17). 

• Being the resurrection and the life: 

He claimed that He has the power to conquer death (which He did first by His own resurrection) and grant eternal life (resurrection from death) to anyone who believes in Him (John 11:25-26, Romans 6:9). 

• Being the only way to God: 

Christ claimed that He is the exclusive way to God, His Father and that no one can truly approach God except through Him (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). 

Why? Because He alone did what was necessary to restore us back to good standing with our Creator. Our seeking to be our own god cuts us off from experiencing all He is and offers as well as all we were designed to be. Something God warned about at the very outset of our existence. Christ did what was required to reverse all of this - our rebellion and all the fallout that has since followed.

• Being the true vine: 

Christ claimed to be the source of spiritual life and nourishment for believers, comparing Himself to the vine and believers to the branches (John 15:1-5). 

These claims, along with His teachings and miracles, formed the basis of His followers' belief in Him as the divine Son of God, our Savior and the only way back to God. 

Christ also claims to be alive today and that he will return to literally rule the earth and everything in it with truth, love, justice, and abundance. 

Because he is alive and said he will return, it is wise to ⁵study all he did and all he claimed to be. If what he said is true, our (your) present and eternal state and happiness depend on it. Something worth exploring, wouldn't you agree?

For a further discussion on why Christ must be the only way to God click here and here

For a discussion on Christ's central message click here 

What is the "good news?" Click here.

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¹So when will he fulfill the complete restoration he promised? 

For now, he reverses the legal consequences of our rebellious distrust of His claims i.e. there is no longer any judgment or condemnation for anyone who believes His claims and accepts his offer of forgiveness and restoration to His Father. 

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." - 2 Cor 8:9

What is fully extended to those who believe His claims is perfect acceptance by Him and His Father and their infinite love for us that can never be taken away. 

And ultimately he will eliminate the practical and physical consequences of the mess the world is in as well. These promises will be fulfilled when Christ returns to establish heaven on earth under his literal, physical reign. 

There will be no more pain or tears or death in the new life He will set up on earth. There will only be perfect flourishing, abundance, and the perpetual progression of joy, adventure, and creativity for His honor and glory. 

We will enter into a never-ending, increasing state of bliss and fruitfulness without barriers or limits, for we will be fully engaged and partake in Him, who is the source of life, love, and all things. 

²And what were the primary claims that resulted in His death? He was God who took on human form to live among us. He was the promised and long-awaited Messiah; the Christ; the only Anointed of God. It is in and through Him alone, we are restored back to good standing with God, His father and our Creator.  

Religion and "good" deeds do not and can not restore us to the Father. Only He could and does if we believe him and the claims he made about himself. He invites us to come and believe. 

³No other religion or religious founder made this claim, much less fulfilled it. NO ONE! 

⁴You may find the movie "A Case for Christ" helpful regarding this. It is a true story about an atheist named Lee Strobel who set out to debunk Christianity and Christ's claims.

⁵This blog may also help. I elaborate on most if not all points made here in other posts. 

 

What does God value in us?

Why is humility so important? 

What best brings it about? 

Is there any connection between our value, as bearers of God's image, and humility?

We will start by looking at humility and then how this is connected to being like God - Jesus i.e. in His image.

There are at least three foundational truths to grasp for humility to increase in us...

1. We must know - in our heart not just our head - that all that we are and have comes from God - especially our being in His image with the capacity to enter into the union of Father, Son, and Spirit.

2. We must know God values us regardless of our failures (or struggles). In fact He actually uses struggles to advance us and strengthen our relationship with Him.

3. We must know God values us regardless of what anyone else thinks or says about us - i.e. we don't need to ¹promote ourselves and derive our sense of value through the praise of others. 

We are already fully and eternally valued and cherished by God. If God is for us who can ultimately be against us? Hint...nothing and no one...including ourselves! 

What is the basis of God's value of us? It is threefold.

1. God made us like Himself. It is His image in us that He values. Or it may be more accurate to say he values us because we are in his image.

But why does God value his image in us? What is it about His image He finds so attractive and appealing even though we are so broken, often ugly, full of doubts and distrust of Him? (...or maybe in part indirectly because of these - i.e. because of the humility our failures and struggles help develop in us). 

Christ also being in the image of God may be an important first clue to our value and humility. Let's take a closer look.

God knows our capacity and sees fully what we are becoming and will be that day we are finally and fully glorified and perfectly united with Him in ²eternity (because we are in his image we will be more ³like God on that day than we can even imagine or now see).

2. God no longer holds our failures against us - Christ already fully addressed them ⁴legally. 

In Christ, there is now no barrier between God and us on his side of the relationship (though we wander back and forth in our trust of Him i.e. our side of the relationship always fluctuates, but never His side). 

Therefore He fully and perfectly receives and embraces us in His love. He will never love us anymore (now or in eternity) than He already does because of Christ. To use a description by Paul, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ, at this very moment and every moment since we first trusted Christ! 

 

3. He knows where our struggles and failures are ultimately taking us. Since, in Christ, our rebellious distrust of God is no longer a legal issue, He now focuses on how to maximize the use of our failures and struggles ⁴practically i.e. how they are used to humble us - if we let them - and how they advance our increased participation in Him in all His infinite glory both now but particularly in eternity. 

Our eternal reward is God Himself. The more we humble ourselves the more we see and experience Him in the fullness of His glory and the greater our joy.

God is thrilled and delighted in us - because He is thrilled and delighted in Himself and His Son first and how we are becoming more like His Son through our struggles - and how we will finally be like Him when we are fully in union with Him and fully glorified alongside Him the moment we step into eternity. Because, at that time, our union with Him will be complete and perfect in the same way His Son's is - and was from eternity past and is again since his resurrection - the Son who is already and fully in the perfect image of the Father.

We will be like the prodigal son that his father lost, ⁵who returned. For now, God eagerly watches our progress as we grow in greater trust. He awaits our perfect restoration and union with him (in the same way the prodigal son's father did). At that time God will throw His arms around us, kiss our neck and throw a feast for us, ⁹celebrating our complete union and exaltation with Him forevermore. We will fully experience our glory by fully partaking of His. 

Like Christ, His only begotten Son, we too are his sons and daughters (even though Christ is the only eternally begotten Son; like Christ, we are the sons and daughters of the all-glorious Creator God). 

Because of what Christ did for us, He earned the status of being the first born of many "brothers" i.e. of additional sons and daughters. 

He was also the first (first fruits) to go through death and come out the other side fully glorified and victorious. This suggests there are others like Him to follow i.e. others who put their complete trust in Christ (as Christ did in the Father) and what He did to restore us to the Father. As God's sons and daughters in Christ we are next for we too have died in Christ and therefore will also be resurrected in glory. 

Imagine the delight the Father had in His Son from all eternity past and the excitement he felt upon His return to Heaven and being restored to His full glory and by His side again. The Father has this same ⁶eager anticipation and excitement for being with us and our being united with Him. He values us as His sons and daughters in the same way He values Jesus, His eternal, only begotten Son.

And what a day of joy and celebration that will be for God and us! The greatness of our capacity to be like God (Christ) and enjoy and reflect him throughout eternity will only be 2nd to Christ Himself! 

And the greater our ⁷humbling in this life - whether self imposed (through self denial and sacrificial love of others) or through painful circumstances - the more fully we will participate and engage in, experience, and enjoy the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit - both now, but more importantly throughout eternity. At that time we will fully join in the celebration and divine dance of glory and love between the Father and Son in, through, and by the Spirit. The greater our humility and trust now the more we enter into and partake of the only true God now but especially in eternity.

So never shy away from discipline, obedience to the Father, struggle, disappointment, set backs, suffering but embrace them - in the same way Christ did. The more we do the more we become like Christ and the more fully we will partake of glory (God's and our own) the same way Christ does.

God Himself is our reward and struggle is often the primary means by which we draw nearer to Him. The ⁸more you partake of challenges of any kind - either self imposed or externally imposed - and let them humble you, the more fully you will be able to engage and participate in God in all His wonder, majesty, beauty and glory both now but especially throughout eternity.

So count it all joy when you go through various struggles. Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the greatest pain. Get ready for His celebration of you and your joining Him in the greatest party you will ever have or experience. A celebration that never ends! This is the essence and glory of heaven.

For a discussion on what makes Christ unique as the only begotten son click here. 

For a discussion on the humility of God click here

For a discussion on why evil exists click here.

For a discussion on if we are accountable for Adams rebellion click here.

For a discussion on who we are but who we are not yet but will be click here.

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¹Self promotion - exaltation - is at the heart of pride and pride is the opposite of humility. We seek to promote ourselves to fill the void caused by God's absence, brought about by our rejecting and distrusting God in all His care, love, value, support, advancement and promotion of us. To lay down attempts to advance ourselves and receive the love, care and support of another requires humility and trust (and not just any "other" but the all wise, loving and powerful Creator God). It is acknowledging our dependence on another versus being our own god i.e. vs being independent. It is the reversal of the spirit of distrust and rebellion displayed by Adam in the Eden.

²We have the short view. God has the long view which happens to also be the most important and true view.  

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (temporary, fleeting), but the things that are unseen are eternal (permanent, unshakable)" 2 Cor 4:16‭-‬18

³The potential of our being like God and fully experiencing Him lies dormant in us as bearers of His image. This capacity was not lost in our rebellion but lethally suppressed i.e. we died spiritually the day we rebelled and chose to be our own god. When we rebelled and broke trust with God, our spiritual light went out (though the capacity for that light to be turned back on remained). When we turned away from God, our full brilliance - glory - went dormant. What was left was a spiritual void - hunger - that we now seek to fill. But due to our rebellious distrust of the only One who can fill it, we seek glory outside of and apart from God through creation, instead of in and through Him who is the Creator.

Now we treat God as our enemy and the one that blocks (prevents) us from obtaining fullness of life - or so we think - through created things instead of the Creator of them. 

 

But is this true? Do we really think he's our enemy? How do we know? How can we tell?

If we get angry, when our plans to gain life outside of God are thwarted, we are ultimately shaking our fist at God. We believe He's the cause of our pain when it is His absence - due to our distrust of Him - that is the actual cause.

Physical death is evidence and the outward manifestation of our internal spiritual death that occurred at the rebellion of our original parents, Adam and Eve. In order for our true spiritual brilliance to be completely manifested in and through us again, we have to abandon our pursuit of being our own god and be fully united with - plugged into - the source of life and love - the all glorious, brilliant, majestic, and beautiful God who is our Creator and the Source of us and all things. God alone is our true life source - the source of all glory and brilliance...and of our glory and our brilliance - we are not. 

Being reunited with God - the source of life, love and all things - only occurs in and through placing our trust in Christs efforts on our behalf, not our own.

⁴Our rebellious unbelief (sin) is addressed in 2 ways:

Legally - objectively. Our rebellion is no longer held against us because of Christ and His bearing the full legal consequences of that rebellion i.e. God's condemnation and judgment for our rebellion are gone, removed forever and never revisited again by God. Christ bore all of it when He died and came back to life, putting these away from us forever.

Practically - subjectively. As we become more aware of the depth of our rebellious distrust we are humbled and increasingly understand the significance of Christ fully removing the legal consequences of our rebellion and our desperate need for Him.

⁵Due to his son humbling himself because of his failure to make it on his own.

⁶And not the Father only but the Son also eagerly anticipated His return as well.

⁷Challenges will either make us distrusting and bitter or better. It is our choice. We must choose to believe He is working for our good or not i.e. we are tested on whether we believe he is for us and not against us, just as Christ was tested in the wilderness, in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross.

⁸Do not question God's love and the good intentions He has toward you when allowing you to enter into and go through struggles or fiery trails. He is working in you things you do not yet fully see or understand, to humble you and enable you to be more like his Son so that you can better feast with Him in eternity as the Son does.

So "count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing..." - Jas 1:2‭-‬5

 

⁹If this is the response of a finite and flawed human father, imagine the response of a perfect, infinitely wise, loving, and all powerful heavenly Father. I would say we can't and won't be able to fully grasp this until that day we are looking face to face into His eyes.


A personal note regarding this post...

I used to dread dying and have always hoped I would die quietly in my sleep some day but after understanding the truths above I am inclined to accept the most challenging death, and now recognize going through such a death might humble me further so I might be exalted even more when I finally step into eternity with God. 

The closeness of our union with God and extent of our partaking of God in eternity is in proportion to our humility in this present life. 

Don't shy away from the things that humble you, embrace them. Doing so increases your capacity to experience more of God's embrace of you. Not His actual embrace (i.e. He already perfectly receives us now in Christ) - but our more fully receiving and experiencing His embrace of us now emotionally. This is already perfectly ours in Christ because of His efforts (not yours) on your behalf.

 

Why should we avoid sin

Should we avoid wrongdoing? Yes, and no. No!?

As God's child, we are not to avoid harmful behavior (sin) because of guilt, shame, threat of judgment, or fear of punishment. Why? Because Christ ¹already addressed these fully and perfectly!

Also, note, that in those situations, the focus of guilt and shame is usually not about others but ourselves, i.e. my guilt and my shame, etc. It isn't on how I am hurting others, but on how guilt and shame affect me.

Then why should we avoid wrongdoing?

Because it's incredibly harmful and destructive to others, not just ourselves. (This is primarily about others, not just us - God first and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves). 

Harmful (wrong) behavior cuts us off from the source of our spiritual and emotional development, violates our design, and prevents us from reaching our greatest potential, thereby dishonoring our Creator and Designer, others, as well as ourselves.

It would be equivalent to a child growing up severely malnourished, resulting in them wearing leg braces or needing a special needs education when genetically he or she had the initial capacity of being an Olympian or great inventor.

Wrong, harmful behavior (sin) no longer matters when it comes to our good standing - legal status - before God or his perfect and total acceptance of us but it matters dramatically when it comes to our being all we were created to be for God and our neighbor.

And because it no longer affects our good standing (legal status) before God, this frees us to focus on being all God designed us to be out of love for and trust in Him. Understanding this is absolutely essential to living for God as He intends us to - out of love and trust, not guilt and shame.

God's total acceptance, love and embrace of us - because of Christ's efforts - is the spiritual and emotional nourishment we need and must have to thrive, flourish, and be all God designed us to be.

This is the essence of Paul's words in Rome 8:1-4:

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (i.e. guilt, shame, and condemnation). For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

To the woman caught in adultery...

Jesus stood up and said, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” - Jn 8:10‭-‬11

Though Christ clearly forgave her, it was also clear that he wanted her to abandon a life of destructive behavior (to others as well as herself); not to make her more acceptable to God but because he had already fully accepted (forgiven) her and desired her best, i.e. he loved her.

We are to avoid wrong behavior because we love Him who loved us first.

For a further discussion of the full extent of our forgiveness and God's love, click here.

For a discussion on the righteousness of Christ assigned to us, click here

For a discussion on guilt feelings versus actual guilt, click here

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¹To live in guilt and shame for our wrong doing and bad choices is saying Christ's work on our behalf did not adequately address these. This is an insult to Christ's work for us which dishonors him.

Christ's central message?

Once Christ officially began his ministry, what was His central message? 

"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' " - Matt 4:17 - i.e. the kingdom is right at your doorstep. So get ready for it for its King is about to be ¹set up and established.

What time is "that time" being referred to above? The time right after his 40 days of testing in the wilderness. A ⁹testing that the Spirit ²led Him into right after the public announcement of his ministry at his baptism.

During his time in the wilderness, Jesus passed three tests by the deceiver (corresponding to the 3 failures of Adam and Eve, our original "parents"). This set the stage to announce His soon-coming kingdom and ⁸earned Him the right to be its King.

What is the kingdom of God (or heaven)? It is the rule and reign of ³love by Jesus - the ⁴King of love - over His followers i.e. His willing subjects.

Why does Jesus use the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven interchangeably? Because they are one and the same. 

How?

It is a heavenly (blissful) kingdom because it is a kingdom that issues forth from love and is "governed" by and filled with ³love - for God is love. It is the ⁵arrival of heaven (i.e. Love/God) on earth which was inaugurated at the birth and incarnation of the Son of God, secured and sealed by his death and burial, and initiated by His resurrection (Death no longer has the last word, life does; life back from death) and will be fully implemented when Christ returns to earth to reign forever with those who have received His offer of life and love through the forgiveness earned for them by His life, death, and resurrection. 

Wherever God and His rule of love are present is a ⁶taste of heaven on earth (but only a taste for now...the full feast is later) i.e. a taste of joy and delight in the King's love which ultimately will lead to an uninterrupted, eternal, unobstructed, infinite feast of love and bliss i.e. heaven on earth.

How does this work? How is this different than the typical kind of kingly rule or kingdom?

Typically, a king reigns or rules by decree (law) under threat of punishment. If and when you violate a king's decree (law), you suffer the consequences. Those consequences can be anything from fines to imprisonment to execution. Fear of punishment is the primary motivation used to maintain compliance (law and order) in this typical kind of kingdom.

A rule (kingdom) of (or run by) love is completely different. Unlike a rule of law, which works by ⁷fear of punishment, rejection, and condemnation, a rule of love (or the law of love) creates within its subjects the desire to obey its king's directions (commands). His subjects willingly (delightfully) obey because they want to, not because they have to...they obey out of love for and trust in their King, not out of fear of punishment by their judge. Why? Because Christ bore the judgment for us for not properly honoring and loving Him as rightful King and not loving our neighbor - fellow image bearers of the King - as we were designed to.

Even though there are still consequences for not loving Him (and others) as deserved, under the rule of love they are not the consequences of rejection, condemnation, and judgment. They are consequences of correction as His beloved child. Correction designed to draw us closer to the King of love so we might experience His love more fully and freely display it more perfectly for His glory. Once Christ literally comes to earth to reign, we will be perfected like him, for we will see Him fully as He is in all His love. 

Under both a rule of law and a rule of love there are clear directions to follow on what is good and right conduct. The difference is the motivation that drives the behavior of its subjects. Under the rule of law, it is a fear of rejection, condemnation, punishment, and judgment. Under the rule of Christ, love and trust are the driving force behind true love-inspired obedience.

In light of all this, God calls us to enter His kingdom through the love of its humble king.

Matt 11:28 

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 take my yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

What rest? The rest from fear of rejection and condemnation and constantly having to seek life and love (i.e. affirmation from others) because we now have it fully and perfectly in God through Christ. All that is left is for us to accept his offer. Do you accept it?

It is appropriate and not insignificant that near the end of the bible we are extended the following invitation, 

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.' - 

Rev 22:17

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¹What would it take to establish this kingdom of love? The death and resurrection of Christ that will remove the barrier between God and man - i.e. he removed the legal consequences of our rebellious distrust of Him - so that his love could flow freely to his subjects and Christ's rule of love could be firmly and permanently established.

²Which makes the prayer Jesus taught His disciples all the more interesting.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. - Matt 6:9‭-‬13 ESV

The Father's will being done - i.e. His rule and reign as King - on earth as it is in heaven - was most fully demonstrated in the very person of Christ during His incarnation and time on earth. That which is of heaven - i.e. God and His Son - was fully displayed and manifested on earth in and through Christ as a human... a creature i.e. the incarnation or fleshing out of God himself among us in Christ while here on earth leads to his complete and ultimate physical reign on earth when He returns (and also our reign in and through Him).

Since the resurrection of Christ and the coming of his Spirit (of love and life), we are now the "fleshing out" of God before a watching world until He returns.

³And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered with the Shama, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

And when Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” - i.e. You understand that the essence of the Kingdom of God is love. Now live by it.

"And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions." - Mark 12:28‭-‬34

The greatest and second commandment is the essence of the kingdom of God. And what is the essence of these commands? Love. The love of God and others.

⁴Christ earned his right to reign over His subjects by humbling himself as a servant and dying on behalf of the subjects He rules over. 

Christ our King cast himself into battle to fight and overcome evil to save his subjects and died. He did this knowingly and willingly. 

And then He came back to life. And because He did, those of us who have submitted to Him as our King will also rise to life after our death and rule along side Him on earth when He returns. 

Death is the inevitable result of rejecting the Giver of life. But Life is the inevitable result for those who accept that His death was on their behalf i.e. it was done to restore them back to the Giver of life they had rejected.

⁵The arrival of the Kingdom of God begins in the individual hearts of men and women when we place our trust in the King of love. But will be completed when God sets up His literal physical kingdom on earth at His return. 

⁶It isn't the full meal however until we sit at the feast with the King. A feast that will not be just a one-time meal but heaven itself will be a perpetual eternal feast of love that will never be interrupted or end. At that time he will usher in and fully establish his perfect rule and kingdom on Earth, where there are no more tears, pain, or dying... only love, joy, and bliss. In fact, a (maybe the) primary cause of the joy we experience now under God's rule (kingdom) of love is knowing we will one day experience his love fully and perfectly face to face without limit or interruption.

It is also a kingdom of hope. It is a sure hope (expectation) that we will fully experience what we now only have a taste of.

For an excellent article on the "already... but not yet" aspect of the kingdom click here.

For additional thoughts on this click here.

The arrogant seek to control and rule over the resources of creation but in the end, the meek will inherit the Earth. Why? They are humbly submitted to Earth's Creator, Sustainer, and true King and will use creation to honor Him as such.

⁷We are to fear God as children, not as criminals. This is a fear of correction for not listening to our Father's wise and loving instructions, not of condemnation and rejection for violating the law. A "spanking" hurts but when done out of love it is designed to bring us life. 

⁸Unlike us, Christ earned everything he received. Everything we receive is a gift i.e. by grace - earned for us and given to us by Christ. We couldn't earn it and because He did and extends what is rightfully His to us, we don't have to.

But he earned it nevertheless. How? He fulfilled the rightful requirements of the law because we were unable to - and assigns his complete record of perfect obedience to us as if it's ours - if we accept it. Do you accept his offer?

⁹It is worth noting that Christ encouraged us to pray that we not be tested by the evil one.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (evil one in the original)." Mat 6:13

He's encouraging us to pray we do not experience what Adam and Eve experienced or Job experienced or what Christ went through in the wilderness. Temptation (testing) is not God's preferred plan or design. These were all unique events with a specific purpose and not the norm.

Tests come and we can learn much from them but only because God can bring good out of evil. It is still evil and not what God created us for. 

Death, harm, and destruction are the fruit of our rebellion, not the fruit of our design. They are not the preferred experience he desires for us (and they will all be done away with in eternity). 

Evil is simply part of living in creation that is under bondage among broken humans, eagerly awaiting deliverance. If he want us to go through evil he would not have included this in the prayer he taught us.

rest

What does it mean to "rest" in God? Is there only one meaning?

I would suggest the Bible teaches there is an initial rest and an ongoing rest. 

After we have come into God's Kingdom and into our initial rest from His rightful judgment and condemnation, we are called to enter into and partake in an ongoing rest (contentment). 

The rest of this article will address ongoing rest. 

This occurs when we live according to two key truths.

1. We thank God for everything - especially the "bad" things - whether we understand why they are happening or not.

2. We faithfully (though not perfectly, necessarily) seek to do everything God calls us to do, whether we like it or not.

The 1st (i.e. hard circumstances) we do not control and must accept (receive) ¹passively, and the 2nd we do "control" and must pursue actively. 

Both require a choice we make by faith, and in this sense, both are active i.e. we choose - "control" - how we respond and how our circumstances affect us, not the circumstances. 

But neither can happen without God's strengthening/ empowering us (i.e. we can't do it in our own strength). But by His strength, which only comes through deeper trust in Him. 

We must come to a place where we fully recognize He is trustworthy in both what he allows (#1 above) and in what he calls us to (#2 above), and respond accordingly i.e. in and by faith. 

This is our choice alone and determines how these circumstances influence and shape us.

The theological underpinnings needed to live this way are infinitely deep, because they are grounded in our trust in the infinite love, power, faithfulness, care, and wisdom of God i.e. they must go as deep as God is vast, and as much as our faith allows us to embrace Him as being exactly who He is and claims to be.

To give assent to and ²faithfully carry or live these out, we must recognize (believe) God ³is always good, all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving at all times and in all things. 

If you doubt these things about God concerning you and difficult circumstances, you will not be in a posture of humility and dependence needed to enter His rest. You will remain - abide if you will - in a state of agitation i.e. unrest, anxiety, or fear.

Resting in God is the essence of the now-popular saying, "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good."

Does this mean we will never struggle with believing these things?

Christ himself - the founder and perfector of our faith - wrestled with this in the garden of Gethsemane. He wrestled with both obedience (active) and acceptance (passive) of what God was about to allow him to go through. 

What settled it for him was one very simple decision, "...not my will but yours be done." He came to the place of complete surrender and trust. Once he did, his struggle was over. He was at peace i.e. resting in his trust in the Father, regardless of what He was about to and did go through.

This is why he was able to calmly say to his disciples, "See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer, is at hand.” Matt 26:45b-46. 

He stared pain straight in the face and, out of his total trust in His Father's love, wisdom, and power, was able to embrace the pain, the humbling, and the shame he was about to go through during His crucifixion. From this point forward, he set his eyes on the cross and never looked back. 

Christ was empowered to make this decision because he believed (trusted) his Father was all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving at that moment in that given circumstance. 

We, too, are called to this and can carry it out by the same strength we receive through this same trust in the Father. When we do, we too will calmly (peacefully) and deliberately move forward in life, no matter what is in front of us. 

For a discussion on how God uses evil for good click here.

For a further discussion on why God allows suffering and evil click here.

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¹Passively only in the sense that we don't necessarily have to or can do anything regarding challenging circumstances (of course, if we can, we should take action, but sometimes nothing we do can change things). However, we are never to be passive in terms of faith. Our faith must be actively and willfully engaged to enter and remain in an ongoing state of rest - peace. 

Both being thankful for challenges and engaging others in sacrificial love require faith (in the same way it did for Christ), so in this sense, everything involves active engagement and is not passive. 

²Some have suggested that if you break the word faithful down, it simply means full of faith i.e. faith full. To be faithful (obedient) no matter what we encounter, we must be full of faith.

³To acknowledge these things about God is not easy (it wasn't for Christ either), especially when staring into the face of great evil, struggle, and personal pain. 

What would you say is the biggest thing God is after in the lives of his children? 

Is it not our experiencing a closer relationship with Him?

and

The most important element of any relationship is trust

and

That which requires our greatest trust is suffering, pain, and challenges. We must embrace these and thank God for them. Without faith/trust this isn't possible.

How? The "good" God works in and through all the things we go through - for those of us who love Him (Rom 8:28) - is to make us like His Son (Rom 8:29). In doing so, we experience the same level of glorious and blissful communion with the Father that the Son did (and does). This is the ultimate good end God is working toward, for us, through our struggles. Not necessarily improved circumstances. This has nothing to do with improved circumstances (though it could and sometimes does lead to them, just not automatically). 

What better end is there than to experience God in all his love and glory to the greatest extent possible? 

And what better means is there to participate in this, other than having the same faith (and faithfulness) Christ had? 

And what faith do we have if not a tested faith? 

And what tests our faith most - and Christ's - if not pain and suffering?