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.

Tension in prayer.

Most prayers have a good part and a misguided (foolish) part. At it's core the good part is wanting and asking God to give me what I need to be the best person He wants me to be - and can be - for Him. 

The foolish part is thinking I know what accomplishes this better than God and therefore asking of Him things that are not truly best for me, Him or others.

What's the difference between what I want and what God wants? 

We pray for what we think we need to be most fulfilled and the best person God wants us to be. God offers and gives to (or withholds from) us what he ¹knows is best for us to be that person.

If you knew what God knows about Himself, us, and the world, you would always ask for the right and best things i.e. what God desires. Your prayers would always be in line with what God ¹knows is best and therefore they would always be granted in just the way you asked them. We are promised if we "ask anything in His name he hears us." But knowing when we are asking for His sake and not our own isn't always clear.

The formula for successful (answered) prayer is actually wrapped up in this one little verse:

(To get a better feel of the richness and full meaning of this verse, I encourage you to read the entire psalm.)

When I first came across this verse early in my Christian life, what jumped out at me was God will give me the desires of my heart. That sounded good to me - as if God was offering to be my celestial genie in a bottle. I was all in! 

As I've matured (some 50 years later) in my relationship and understanding of God (and of myself), what now stands out is we are called to delight ourselves in the Lord. An entire ²book could be written on what this means. 

The bottom line is when we delight in God our desires are ³aligned with his i.e. what God and I want are the same thing. When they are, he grants what we want i.e. because it is what He wants, which happens to be what is best and true i.e. what honors Him most and truly advances us best.

Not because God has to "get His way" but because His way is always based on the perfect understanding of what is best. The only thing at issue is do we (you) trust him.

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 ¹We either deliberately ignore or quickly forget that God alone is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and everywhere present - and of course perfectly good, caring and all loving. 

To assume we know more or better than God is the height of arrogance and foolishness. He is God, not us. We only assume God is not good, caring, and loving when things get hard for us personally and it appears he's allowed things to get so messed up with all the pain and suffering in the world. When in reality he is doing exactly what is best and wisest in light of our rebellion (distrust) - even though it might appear otherwise. For a further discussion of this click here.

If we refuse to believe God is who He claims, we will think we know better than God what we and the world need most and our prayers will not be aligned with what is wisest and best.

What settles our doubts about God best is seeing and understanding who Christ is and what He willingly submitted to, so he could ultimately remedy our pain and suffering as well as the rest of creation. All that is wrong about us and the world will be permanently fixed one day because of what Christ did over 2000 years ago. 

God didn't (doesn't) ignore the suffering as some accuse Him of doing, He embraced it and let it kill him so that He could free whoever accepted his offer of all pain one day. His overcoming death is our proof we too will one day be free. He is the first of anyone who embraces Him. 

If we accept what He did for us and the rest of creation, we will be a part of that remedy and no longer a part of the problem i.e. among those who ignore or reject His offer.

²If you poke around my blog long enough, I address in many posts what's involved in our desiring God.

³It is not what we ask for but why we ask for it that determines whether God grants it or not.  

Do we want something so we can better only our personal circumstances or honor God, advance our agenda or God's purposes, build our kingdom or His? 

We often pray "in Jesus name" not as an expression of our hearts desire but as if this expression is some magical mantra, formula or spiritual fairy dust to sprinkle over our prayers to get God's approval regardless of why we ask or what we ask for. To pray in Jesus name simply means to pray for his honor and fame versus our own. 

The irony, surprise, and reality is when we do we are actually advancing ourselves as well. God's perfect will is actually our highest good and our greatest gain though it often may feel or seem the opposite.  

Not my will but thine but done.

Ask, seek, knock. Persist in prayer and you will be given what you ask for.

Why?  If we don't get the answer we seek but continue to persist, it eventually causes us to identify an ill motive so we might realign our hearts with Gods. Once we do He gives us what we ask for.

Knowing God but not fully yet!

Understanding the "already... not yet" aspect of the gospel (good news) is vital. This addresses how we are seated in the heavenly's but have yet to be in heaven. Without a clear understanding of the difference, we will not enter into the benefits of what God has already secured for us in this life. 

This involves a clear understanding and faith in who we are in Christ right now vs who we are not yet but will be one day. This concerns how we are viewed by God now vs how we will experience God in eternity.

To gain a solid understanding of this key component of the gospel (good news), we need to differentiate between our ¹legal status (standing) before God and our actual experience of God.

What do we mean by the expression "already but not yet?"

Christ already fully loves us (just as much as He will in eternity), but we have not yet experienced that love to the full extent we will in eternity.

God is already fully committed to us, totally engaged in our good, and fully present with us now (just as much as He will be in eternity) but we do not yet see him face-to-face i.e. we are not yet without any obstructions, or distractions and fully in his presence (though His love and care are perfectly and fully set upon us now and every moment in Christ...in Him, we live and move and have our being).

We are totally delivered from the ultimate legal consequences of our past, present, and future rebellious distrust of God. But we are not yet presently or fully delivered from all the practical consequences of that rebellion or from being in a broken, rebellious world and wrestling with the day-to-day struggle of our own distrust. We ²still wrestle with trusting God perfectly even as His children - in the same way Christ did (though Christ did without sin i.e. he always obeyed. We often do not).

For now, what connects and brings something of - ³but not all - the glorious future blessings God has in store for us into the present, is faith. 

Faith in what? Faith that God is fully committed to us and engaged in our lives as much now as He will be in eternity. And He is working in all things for our good for those who love Him, even if it doesn't seem or feel like it presently. And He is using all things good, bad, and ugly to draw us into greater union with Him, who is life, love, and the source of all things.

In this present existence, the just - those who are legally and perfectly right before God because of Christ - live by faith. Faith is the evidence of what we hope for (confidently expect) and the certainty of things not yet seen (Heb 11:1) i.e. faith in what is already perfectly ours - though not yet fully ours in our day- to-day experience. By this faith, we bring something of our glorious future of overflowing joy and delight into the present. The more we agree with and trust in what we now have (God's perfect acceptance, commitment, and love) the more we experience something of it but do not yet fully have, i.e. the full experience and participation in what is already ours legally. 

You could say God has all of us now as much as He will ever have (regarding His complete acceptance, love, and devotion to us) but we do not have all of God yet. God is always working through all our experiences in this life to move us more in that direction practically/ experientially, to align us more fully with what has already been earned for us legally. Christ already fully took care of the legal part i.e. "It is finished."

No matter how much faith we have it will not result in the ³full experience we are yet to have in eternity i.e. we are not glorified yet with all its benefits. Glorification is real and something different from our present experience. Something will happen to us that is not yet happening. 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Only in eternity will all tears, pain, and death be eliminated. Only then will the rest of creation be fully delivered from the corruption, pollution, and decay of its present bondage.

Yet, at the same time, we are already glorified in the eyes of God.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (a present reality). Rom 8:30. 

Our present existence consists of pain and suffering. For now, we primarily experience God by faith. But there are times He will give us glimpses of His infinite love providentially, i.e. we will experience something of His involvement in our day-to-day lives circumstantially. And if we are about advancing His purposes, this involvement may be very significant - just nowhere near the same level we will see in eternity.

In eternity, we will experience God fully and directly without interruption, in all the fullness of His glory, face-to-face. Now we relate to God through faith, hope, and love. In eternity, love will be central if not the only way we relate to Him. Who hopes for what they already fully have or must trust what is fully seen?  

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Cor 13:12‭-‬13

"...then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known..."

This wording is deliberate and specific. It says our experience of God (knowing Him perfectly) is not yet full even though God's disposition of love and commitment to us (and knowledge about us - including our sin) is i.e. we are fully known (and loved) by God even though we do not yet fully know (and love) Him. 

This suggests the reason we will one day fully know him is because He already fully knows and embraces us now in our brokenness i.e. he knows everything about us, good, bad, and ugly, and fully receives and embraces us in Christ.

For a further discussion on how we know God now vs in eternity click here.

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¹Because of Christ the disposition God has towards us now is exactly the same as it will be in eternity i.e. perfect and total love and acceptance. We will be no more loved by God in eternity than we are right now. The difference will be our experience of that love. It will be different because we will be different (glorified) and face-to-face with him vs seeing him now through a glass darkly (in a mirror dimly) i.e. we now live by faith, not by direct sight, as we will one day be in His direct and unobstructed presence.

The only reason we are equally loved and accepted by God now as we will be in eternity is Christ. He took the full consequences of our rebellious unbelief onto himself and assigned his perfect obedience and the right standing he earned with the Father fully to us. In the eyes of God, we are legally, perfectly, and fully received and embraced in the same way, and as much as the eternal Son of God is...the Son of His eternal and infinite affection. We are now seated (legally established) in the heavens, but not fully (physically) present there yet.

²God seeks to eliminate that wrestling as much as possible by increasing our faith and removing our doubt as we faithfully pursue Him.

³Though a great deal of the energy and effort expended by many believers is to secure all the benefits of heaven here and now. This is sometimes referred to as the "health and wealth" gospel or the "prosperity" gospel. To assume this, does not recognize the benefit of struggle and the importance and necessity of strengthening our faith through it.

For an excellent, more technical article on the "already, but not yet" teaching in scripture click here.

The sacrifice of praise

What is a ¹sacrifice of praise

or thanksgiving (Psa 107:22, Heb 13:15)? 

It is giving thanks when there is no apparent reason to give thanks; it's making yourself gave thanks when you don't necessarily feel like it. It is giving thanks on the claim and promise that God is for us and not against us when in the moment we feel the opposite. It is giving thanks by faith not sight or feeling (i.e. not based on a direct first hand good experience or feeling). It is a sacrifice simply because you're giving something you don't want or like to give at that moment i.e. thanks for the challenging times as well as the happy times. To do so you must give up - sacrifice - something you previously wanted more i.e. the comfort of pleasant circumstances.

When circumstances are difficult, what is the basis for our giving thanks? 

We are told if we love God, all things work together to conform us to the image of his son. This is good for God and us. Good for God because our praise displays His infinite beauty and worth over and above pleasant circumstances and brings him ²greater glory. It is good for us because it draws us closer to Him to experience more of Him who is life, love and our greatest joy.

Our trust in God and faith that these things are true enables us to be thankful for all things… even and especially the hard things. It is praise that comes forth by faith not pleasant circumstances.

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete (like Christ), not lacking anything.

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom (about the struggles you're going through), he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting (that struggles are good for you), because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and ³tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways i.e. Flip flopping between whether you believe God is good - and working for your good - or not.

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¹Technically, this is a type of offering in the Old Testament (Lev 22:29) but the underlying principle, both now and then, is being grateful in the midst of sacrifice - being glad (thankful) to make it; to give up something you value - you put time and energy into acquiring such as a prime calf or goat you spend hours caring for - because you value more what you're gaining through the loss - sacrifice.

²having and knowing God is more important than experiencing pleasant circumstances i.e. He is that significant.

³tossed by doubts of whether God loves me or not.

Captivated by love or the Spirit

When we are captivated by

God's ¹love we are also filled with or driven by the ²Spirit. This means what we say and do comes from and by the Spirit i.e. we are moved by love. 

The only question is if and when we are truly captivated. Is this even possible on this side of eternity? It is certainly something we should seek. 

To be moved by love is functionally the same thing as being moved by or filled with the Spirit, for God is Spirit and also love. Spirit and love are different aspects of the same being, but are also the same thing. 

To act from a heart filled with God and His love - i.e. in and by the Spirit - is to operate out of fullness, not out of need and emptiness. God's infinite love frees us to focus outwardly instead of inwardly, on others and not ourselves. This is expressive versus deficit motivation. When we are captivated by God's love, we change from the inside out and go from being takers (or "getters") to givers.

When we are moved by love - i.e., the Spirit - we do not have to give much thought to our actions toward others or our response to challenging circumstances. Generally, ³our response will be right because it is coming from the right place - i.e., a place of fullness of love, not a need for love. It will come from who we are as an infinitely cherished child of God bearing His image.

Right intent doesn't always guarantee right actions, but more often than not, results in them.

If you wish to operate in the Spirit, focus on and soak in God's love, not right conduct. Right living is the fruit of being loved, i.e., of operating in and by the Spirit.

How do we focus on his love? 

By faith.

But faith in what? 

Faith in the evidence of God's love, demonstrated perfectly through sending his Son to restore us to Himself. 

Christ stepped into our world of pain, suffering, and death to take upon himself our pain and death (caused by our rebellious unbelief). Why? So he might restore us to the Father and eventually free us from all pain, suffering, and death one day. He did this by removing the barrier between Him and us so He could love us freely and fully ⁴again (allowing Him to freely be who He already is as someone moved completely and perfectly by love without any obstruction or reservation getting in the way and blocking His love). 

Now, because of Christ, nothing can separate us from God's love.

For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, let them see and hear... and believe!
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¹To say it more precisely, we are captivated by the God of love, not by the blessings of God. God himself is our focus, not the benefits He provides.

Because our faith is weak and our hearts are so quickly led astray, we can easily lose sight of the Source of all things and become obsessed with the things themself (the "prosperity gospel" is the classic example and manifestation of this natural inclination). This is a constant battle we must be aware of and on guard for. We are reminded of this by Israel's regular wandering back and forth from the Lord (depending on the leadership of their various kings and whether they had a heart for God or not) and God blessing or not blessing them according to their arrogance or humility; their dependence on God or on creature comforts. When they got obsessed with the blessings of life, the blessings dried up and when they cried out to God in sincere humility, God opened His hand of blessings to them again. God loves to bless us, but if the blessings pull us away from Him, He knows that isn't best for us, He is.

²The Spirit (literally "breath" in the original languages) of God is the outward manifestation of the passionate love of God between the Father and the Son as they behold the glory (beauty) of the other. This love is so all-powerful it is the foundation of the very existence of God Himself and all that flows from Him. God is love, and He is Spirit. And He is Spirit because He is love. 

For more on this click here.

When we are passionate about another, our excitement, heart rate, and rate of breathing go up as we behold the one we love. That very same kind of love is now directed and focused on us if we are in Christ.

What is it about us that God beholds, which creates this same passionate love for us? We are like God, i.e., in his image. God is most passionate about himself as a being of relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. Therefore, He's also passionate about us because we are like him, designed for a relationship with Him first. And out of that, relationships with other image bearers. 

We are also his children; the very sons and daughters of God (Christ is the firstborn of all God's children and our "big brother").

³How do we know when we are not captivated by love? When we do not respond in love to challenges or opportunities to love others. 

⁴In Christ God no longer deals with (relates to) us based on (according to) our rebellious unbelief but based only on (according to) his infinite love perfectly secured for us by Christ.

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.

God's glory or our delight?

When all our focus and energy is on honoring God, you would think we would get lost in the process. However, it is just the opposite. It is when and where we "find ourselves" most, are most grounded, and experience our greatest fulfillment and joy.

We don't get lost, but our trying to find fulfillment on our own, apart from or outside of God does.

Even though our greatest fulfillment is found in valuing (worshipping) another (i.e. God, who is most valuable), it is no less ¹our fulfillment we are experiencing. 

Our fulfillment is legitimate and important not just to us, but also to God. He created us to experience and enjoy Him and find our greatest joy and fulfillment in Him in doing so.

In turn, God experiences his own joy in bringing us joy. He is driven to bring the joy and delight in who He is - as Father, Son, and Spirit - to others in and through Himself who is the true source of life, love, and all things. God is thrilled when we delight in Him. He finds great ²delight in doing this.

But all this is the result of honoring God, not the goal. To say it simply, ³our greatest joy (fulfillment) is bringing the highest honor ³to another, not in seeking joy itself i.e. for its own sake.  

Because we are in the image of God we are wired to focus on another and find greatest joy in doing so because this is exactly what happens between the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit.

And this is not just honoring anyone but the one Being that is most significant and honorable above all others and most worthy of all honor - the Creator and Giver of life, love, and all things.

If we truly desire to find our life, we must lose our life first, i.e. lose our hopes and attempts to find life outside of or apart from God. Because He is life. True life is ultimately and only in Him.

Related topics:

Are our desires good or bad? 

Who are we?

Created for Glory II

Crowned with glory and honor

Giving and receiving glory

Why God calls us to glorify him

The importance and necessity of the Trinity 

The essence of God's life

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¹Our desire for fulfillment isn't in question. We are designed by God Himself to be filled, but only by Him. It is a matter of how we best experience fulfillment - by seeking it directly, independent of God, or by seeking God and, in doing so, finding our greatest fulfillment. The Bible says it is only possible in and by the latter.

The most amazing part is this is also central to the very being of God himself. The Father finds the greatest joy in exalting another - i.e. his Son - and the Son in exalting his Father. This delight, love, and joy is the essence of who God is. The delight between the Father and Son is so great it tangibly manifests as God's Spirit, the third person of our triune God. God is Spirit and He is Love. 

Because we are like God, we too find greatest fulfillment in this same way, i.e. by exalting another. God not only instructs us to this end and in this way but actually lives this Himself. This is who God is and who He calls us to be i.e. like Him...in His image.

²...Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us' ”? - James 4:5 ESV

yearns -

ἐπιποθεῖ (epipothei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1971: From epi and potheo; to dote upon, i.e. intensely crave possession.

spirit -

πνεῦμα (pneuma)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4151: Wind, breath, spirit.

He caused to dwell - 

κατῴκισεν (katōkisen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2730: To dwell in, settle in, be established in (permanently), inhabit. From kata and oikeo; to house permanently, i.e. Reside. The spirit He put within each of us did not disappear but is dormant due to our rebellious unbelief.

According to the above passage, there is something about us - our breath-spirit-life-being - he put in us that he values, prizes, longs (yearns) for, and seeks to engage.

What is that something? Our being like God - in his image. He longs for Himself in us - i.e. that which is like Him. Since he created us like himself - in his image - he also longs for us. He longs for and delights in us because we are like Him. 

God is all about giving because He already has all that he needs within himself as the community of Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit.

³And so it also is with God. His greatest joy is bringing delight to another. First, the Son brings joy to the Father, then the Father to his Son, and then out through the Son to us, his adopted sons and daughters who are like God.

God's delight is like a parent who gives a legitimate gift to a child that the child wants and enjoys. As parents, we delight in doing so when we know it's in their best interest - and when they appreciate the love conveyed to us through that gift and are not just enamored with the gift or drawn away from the Giver by it.