CONDITIONAL LOVE

Frank B. Smith

 

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION c 1973, 1978 by The International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

First printing September 1988

Copyrightc 1987 by Frank B. Smith

ISBN 0-9618197-1-5

Published by

Frank B. Smith

PO. Box 3009

Vista, California 92085

 

TO HIM

WHOSE LOVE KNEW

NO LIMITS.

WHO GAVE

THAT WHICH HAD THE

HIGHEST VALUE.

WHO GAVE

THE MOST PRECIOUS

GIFT EVER.

WHO

CAREFULLY COUNTED

THE TREMENDOUS COST,

AND GAVE HIM STILL.

 

PURPOSE

The purpose of this book is expressed by Paul's prayer for the Ephesians:

I PRAY THAT YOU, BEING ROOTED AND ESTABLISHED IN LOVE, MAY HAVE POWER, TOGETHER WITH ALL THE SAINTS, TO GRASP HOW WIDE AND LONG AND HIGH AND DEEP IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST, AND TO KNOW THIS LOVE THAT SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE - THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED TO THE MEASURE OF ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. Eph. 3:17,18,19

Incredible! To know the love of God that is beyond knowing. So be it!

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

THE VALUE

THE CROSS

THE PLAN

THE LORD, HE IS GOD!

THE ONE I LOVE

THE UN

A NEW RELATIONSHIP

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Love is measured by what it gives.

If I give a selfish, personally gratifying symbol to another and call it love for them, I am deceiving myself. All I have that I can give is myself. If I truly love another, I can give him of myself. If I do not give of myself, it is something other than love.

It may be that I am so crippled by selfishness and self-centeredness, that I give things and do things in the name of love that really serve me and my interests.

"Did you notice how I took care of my child in that situation? Aren't I wonderful?" I may call this love for another, but it is really a sort of love or lust for myself. It is not love for another.

Love gives that which is precious. When I do that, I am loving another. If what I give is precious, it is part of me. Time, for example, is one of the most precious things that I have. For me to give another time is to give him love.

"Of course I love you, Honey. It's just that there's all this stuff to do, and no time left over." You see, Honey probably didn't want "left-over" time anyway. Honey wanted to be loved with something precious.

Now, if I give something of no value to me and call it love for you, I am deceiving myself. I am using you as a convenient garbage dump. For example: I make a thousand dollars this week. I pay all my bills, spend what I want on my own pleasures, and have $50.00 left over. I then attend a worship service on Sunday and say, "Here God, I am giving you $50.00 because I love You."

"GOD IS LOVE." O.K., if God really is love, what did He give? How much did it cost Him?

 

CHAPTER ONE

THE VALUE

Come with me on a journey, back to before time began. Come to the place where the footings of creation were set and the cornerstone was laid "while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy." Job 38:6,7.

Sounds like a party! Singing and shouting! What on earth - whoops, not yet - what in eternity is going on? It is a party, and it goes something like this:

The almighty God is up to something. God created the heavens and the earth, and now He is up to something. Darkness and chaos are all over the place. The Spirit of God hovers over the face of the waters - ready to spring into action the instant the directions are spoken.

Jesus, though not yet given that name, is the craftsman at Father God's side. (Prov.8:12-31) Jesus is also called Wisdom. (1 Cor. 1:30) The Son of God is a part of God. He is appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.

Well, as the party begins, all the angels of God start gathering in a certain place. "What is it?" "What is He up to?" "What's going on?" "What's going to happen?" "What's this all about?" Excitement and expectation electrify the host of heaven as they wait to see what unknown thing God will do.

Everyone feels the intensity of the situation. Father God is thinking the thoughts that would cause some incredible thing to happen. It is not an anxious intensity, but an intensity so great that it seems to me the host of heaven hold their breath and gasp when they are forced to take in air. (It's impossible to describe this situation without using our human experiences which don't apply to this "party.")

Then the Son of God speaks the thoughts of His Father. He is so in tune with Father, so in harmony, so one with Him, that the very thoughts of Father are the words that the Son speaks. "Let there be light," echoes throughout the vast, unformed, chaotic heaven and earth.

The Spirit of God leaps into action. By the creative power of the spoken word of God, light pierces through the darkness. There before the eyes of the heavenly host is the creation, bathed in the light that comes from God.

Silence. Stunned, awed, hushed silence. Before any can respond, God Himself breaks the silence with, "It's good!" "Yes, it's good!" "It's very good!"

Now nothing can be heard except the cheering and shouting and celebrating of all. Over and over they say, "O Lord God, You did good!" "Congratulations Lord!" "Good job, Lord!" And they sing about this, and dance, and rejoice. The party lasts a whole day.

For six days this goes on. Father God thinking the awesome thoughts of His creation. His beloved Son, the craftsman at His side, speaking the creative word. The Holy Spirit of God, the executive agent of the Godhead, bringing it all about. Then the party: the singing and shouting He speaks about to Job, and also the delighting, the playing, the rejoicing.

No one is having a better time at the party than God. God enjoys Himself, and the awesome work He is doing. He keeps speaking the truth that it is good. Especially is He pleased with the crown of His creation - man, in His own image.

You know how good you feel when you have accomplished a great task - done a great work? And then add to it the fact that you did it together with someone, or several people, that you genuinely like. It was fun, the fruit of it is magnificent, and the exhilaration and feelings of contentment are beyond description.

I have felt some of these feelings - these godlike satisfactions - at different milestones in life. They have accompanied various episodes with our children.

Sometimes they are huge celebrations:

dancing with Betty at our son's wedding reception.

listening to one break the bread of life to a congregation through the foolishness of preaching,

coming into the holy of holies as one ministers to the Lord in song,

watching as one shares with Jesus His death, burial and resurrection through the waters of baptism,

sharing in the pro-creation of children and even grand- children.

Sometimes the feelings come rushing in unexpectedly and yet no less overwhelming:

a child's first fascination with a leaf painted by the brush of Autumn's Artist,

the first dazzling lights of Christmas,

the wonder of the first ride through Disneyland's, "It's A Small World."

Another time for these creation-type parties when we share the deep joys with God and His heavenly host is when we are privileged to be present at a re-birth party. When a sinner repents, the angels rejoice. They have a party and we get to come too! Just one sinner repenting, and there goes the schedule, the deadlines, the piled up work - IT'S PARTY TIME!

That's the way God is. If we want to walk with Him we need to become like little children. Keep your party hats and noisemakers close at hand, because God loves Re-birthday Parties, and during the harvest age that is upon us, we're going to have a lot of them.

Back to our theme, lest we break into a party now. (Actually it would be wonderful to stop and rejoice and sing and dance before the Lord, and with the Lord. If His Spirit is stirring those godly feelings in you now, please go ahead and have a good time. This book can wait.)

These experiences are wonderful. They are the deep fulfilling stuff of life. They provide purpose and keep us on the right track. Even when we're all alone, they are wonderful, but they are made to be shared. We are made to be shared. We are made in the image of God.

A bonding takes place when these feelings and times of great god-like rejoicing are shared. A godly husband or wife, a child, a brother or sister, a friend, a disciple, a teacher, or even a stranger who will never be a stranger again. The relationship deepens and magnifies. We have shared in the holy mysteries of life and godliness. The love and respect, the admiration and yearning for togetherness increases. The desire for more of this heady wine - shared together - becomes an addiction. We want to be together. We want to share life together.

So it is with God! The Father and the Son have had such a relationship since before the world began. The same feelings we have had, magnified from finite to infinite, were experienced in the heart of God.

In your mind's eye, place a huge sign over the Milky Way, big enough to be read anywhere in the universe:

"GOD AND SON,

UNIVERSAL OPERATIVES."

Then see them creating together, rejoicing together, laboring together, laughing together, dancing together, sharing together in everything.

In Proverbs 8 we see Jesus' description of creation and a portion of the glory He had with Father before the world began.

I was there when he set the heavens in place,

when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,

when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command,

and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

Then I was the craftsman at his side.

I was filled with delight day after day,

rejoicing always in his presence,

   rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in mankind.

The delightful word, "delight," brings to mind all these tremendous feelings we have been talking about. Jesus was filled with this delight day after day. He said it continually filled Him for three reasons: rejoicing in Father's presence; rejoicing in creation; and delighting in mankind.

Webster defines delight, "n 1 : a high degree of gratification : joy : extreme satisfaction 2 : something that gives great pleasure. vb 1 : to take great pleasure 2: to give keen enjoyment : to give joy or satisfaction to." Jesus was filled with this day after day because of Father's presence, because of creation, and because of us.

The word "rejoicing" is from a Hebrew word used in some very revealing ways. A good old "belly laugh" would be translated with this word. Ten times that is the meaning in the Old Testament. Jesus and Father "rejoiced" together at the "very good" creation.

If you wanted to play a game, especially if it involved competition, you would use this word. Neighborhood children running outside to get in a game of "kick the can" before sunset would be "rejoicing." The Old Testament translates this word "rejoicing" another ten times like this.

I hope that by now I have conveyed a little bit of the incredible bond between Jesus and Father. I hope you have felt a part of this awesome harmony and love between them. The greatest love and bond and loyalty and joy and relationship that has ever been is that between God and His Son.

May the next words come to life in you. May you see more clearly the awesomeness of what is meant. They are probably the most profound words ever written in human language:

FOR GOD

SO LOVED THE WORLD

THAT HE GAVE

HIS ONE AND ONLY SON,

THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM

SHALL NOT PERISH

BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE

John 3:16

 

CHAPTER TWO

THE CROSS

The most popular symbol in the world is the cross. It decorates millions of homes and buildings world-wide. Hundreds of millions of people, perhaps as many as a billion, wear it around their necks, or on their lapels, or in their pockets, or tattooed on their skin. We ask, "What does it mean?"

Crosses were Roman instruments of painful, public, disgraceful death. To wear a cross as a symbol is something like wearing a hangman's noose, or a miniature electric chair, or a guillotine, or a miniature firing squad. A strange symbol indeed!

The Romans killed thousands and thousands upon crosses. Some of the crosses were like a big "X" with the criminal being tied or nailed with arms spread out above and legs below. The most common type was like a big "T" with the cross piece being removable. This made it possible for the one to die to be tied or nailed to the cross piece and then placed on the upright piece at the place of execution. This was much easier when a large number of people were to be killed. And Rome killed a lot of people.

Then there was the special kind, like Jesus' cross. The Bible doesn't say what kind of cross He died upon, but it does say a sign was put over His head written in three languages saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." This means they could have tacked a sign on a stick over His head with a "T" type cross, or more probably, it was the type of cross we usually see representing His death.

Whatever the type of cross for Jesus, it fulfilled Rome's goal, and the Jewish elders' desire, and God's will. It was the means to a painful, public, disgraceful death.

DEATH MEANS SEPARATION.

The Roman Governor, Pilate, didn't think Jesus should die, but the trouble with the Jews was getting out of hand. They put him in a bind with, "If you let him go, you're no friend of Caesar." Jesus was someone special to Pilate, and he was afraid.

Pilate rationalized the situation like this: "After all, this Jesus is just a person, and people are expendable. The State is supreme. Caesar is divine. Separate Jesus from friends and followers, from life itself. Kill him. Remove him, and we'll quiet this rabble." So Pilate washed his hands, and sent Jesus to the cross.

The Jewish elders conspired, "If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation." The corrupt high priest, Caiaphas, even prophesied (though not on his own) that Jesus should die for the Jewish nation and all the scattered children of God. "Therefore," their thoughts concluded, "kill Jesus. Separate Him from life. Remove the life force from the body, put the body in the ground to rot and decay. Get rid of the trouble maker."

They knew the cross would work just fine for these goals of separating Jesus. It was a painful, public, disgraceful death.

But the greater death, the separation that is much more than body and soul, is separation from God. When they disobeyed God, Adam and Eve died. The close, intimate fellowship they had enjoyed with God stopped. It was drastically different from that time on. Adam and Eve were spiritually dead - separated from God. They needed a new start, a new birth, a new life.

God had a way. The love of God for His separated (dead) people never ceased. His plan was to defeat and destroy death by destroying the one who had the power of death. He would provide a way, the way, to restore the broken fellowship. God would give more than Adam lost through disobedience.

God would make it possible for Him to live within His people Himself. This union would go beyond the fellowship in the Garden. His sons and daughters would be vessels of the living God. It would be more than "in the cool of the evening." It would never end. This greater union is eternal.

The verdict of God is reversed. No more death! No more separation for His loved people who receive His Way. No more leaving time and stepping into eternity in a separated condition (dead). Deliverance! Life! Salvation! Hebrews 2:14,15 tells how God did it.

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

God Himself would come and share our humanity, our flesh and blood, in order to destroy death. He destroyed death by meeting it and going through it; by tasting it and triumphing; by dying and rising again.

Since death is the result of sin and disobedience, Jesus, the sinless obedient One, became sin for us so He could be separated. Beloved, Jesus, the eternal Son of God, became sin for us so that He could die. On the cross, Jesus did die as us, in our place, on our behalf, for our sake.

The cross was a perfect place for this to happen. Extended between heaven and earth it became the eternal altar where the Lamb of God was slain. It was the place where the woman's seed was bitten and yet crushed the head of the serpent. It was the thicket where Isaac's substitute was caught and did not escape the knife of Abraham's God.

On that cross the scream of death echoed throughout the same galaxies that this very one had spoken into being. From the cross came THE QUESTION. At the ninth hour, the craftsman from Father's side who rejoiced and delighted with him day after day cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"

MY GOD,

MY GOD,

WHY

HAVE YOU

FORSAKEN

ME?

WHY?

God did this because He loves me. He did it because He loves you. God separated Himself from Jesus (death) so that Jesus could destroy the evil one who had the power of death.

This is the love of God. The love that is beyond understanding. This is the love of our God, our Father, our Lord Jesus, our indwelling Spirit. This is the most important event in all eternity.

HOW IMPORTANT?

To our Father it is so central, so important that everything else blurs into oblivion. Nothing else matters as much as what Jesus did for us on the cross. No sin of man can withstand the power of the love of God. No sin is greater than the victory of Jesus over sin and death.

Through the triumph of Jesus on the cross everything is restored and made new. Death is gone, finished, destroyed. The love of God has conquered - the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

FOR GOD

SO LOVED THE WORLD

THAT HE GAVE

HIS ONE AND ONLY SON,

THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM

SHALL NOT PERISH

BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

JOHN 3:16

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

THE PLAN

God's plan and purpose at the beginning was for family and fellowship with His created people. He made "man" in His own image. "Man" in the image of God was both Adam and Eve together since God had taken something out of Adam and put it in Eve. Therefore, "man" in the image of God was, and is, both male and female. (Gen. 1:27)

God's plan and purpose was for this man in His image (male and female) to fill the earth with godly children. God loved His created people and wanted to share with them the joys of dominion. God was looking for family. "Be fruitful and multiply," He told them. The heart of God was to share and multiply the kind of relationship He had with His Son. God is love.

God's plan has never changed! His purpose has never changed!

God desires to love and be loved. God's nature is love. Therefore, He does love. He also desires to be loved.

WHY THEN, DID GOD ALLOW SIN TO COME INTO THE WORLD?

A certain man had great wealth and knowledge but he was lonely. Because of unpleasant experiences in the past he avoided people. The man made several robots. He fashioned them so they looked like people, spoke like people, and functioned like people. The man lived unhappily ever after in his sterile world of very nice Droids.

As a father I am pleased when my children come to me and say, "I love you, Dad." I love it! I love it when they hug me. It is real and meaningful because they can also say, "I hate your guts, Dad." It is very painful when they say things like that. Our Father God has provided for us an example of forgiveness and restoration.

Into Paradise, the garden called Eden, came the serpent. You know what happened: Disobedience. Death. Separation. Expulsion from the garden. Pain. Sweat. Struggle. A different kind of rule over the world. A pretend father. Children of disobedience who reflected the new father more than God.

God's purpose and plan never changed. Now, however, He would restore more than was lost. He would give us His Son.

He loved us all too much to let Adam and Eve eat of the tree of life, and live forever in their fallen condition. He would give life, eternal life, and the life would be in His Son. He would give His Son for all the fallen children of Adam.

God followed a plan. He chose the Jews, the children of Abraham, to be special and set apart unto Him and His purposes. You can ask "Why did He choose them?", but you can also go crazy asking such questions. God is God, and He chose them as the apple of His eye. They were set apart as the people of promise through whom He would send His Son. When the Son came, He would be the light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel.

Repeatedly, the Jewish people broke the rules and disobeyed God. God's plan included laws and directions. When they strayed too far from God and His ways, God lovingly dealt with them through a variety of circumstances all designed to draw them back. In love He sent prophets to proclaim His Word and bring the people back. Yet, the people of God killed the prophets.

The prophet Isaiah describes this process:

I WILL SING FOR THE ONE I LOVE

A SONG ABOUT HIS VINEYARD:

MY LOVED ONE HAD A VINEYARD

ON A FERTILE HILLSIDE.

HE DUG IT UP AND CLEARED IT OF STONES

AND PLANTED IT WITH THE CHOICEST VINES.

HE BUILT A WATCHTOWER IN IT

AND CUT OUT A WINEPRESS AS WELL.

THEN HE LOOKED FOR A CROP OF GOOD GRAPES,

BUT IT YIELDED ONLY BAD FRUIT.

"NOW YOU DWELLERS IN JERUSALEM AND MEN OF JUDAH,

JUDGE BETWEEN ME AND MY VINEYARD.

WHAT MORE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE FOR MY VINEYARD

THAN I HAVE DONE FOR IT?

WHEN I LOOKED FOR GOOD GRAPES,

WHY DID IT YIELD ONLY BAD?

NOW I WILL TELL YOU

WHAT I AM GOING TO DO TO MY VINEYARD:

I WILL TAKE AWAY ITS HEDGE,

AND IT WILL BE DESTROYED.

I WILL BREAK DOWN ITS WALL,

AND IT WILL BE TRAMPLED.

I WILL MAKE IT A WASTELAND,

NEITHER PRUNED NOR CULTIVATED,

AND BRIERS AND THORNS WILL GROW THERE.

I WILL COMMAND THE CLOUDS

NOT TO RAIN ON IT."

THE VINEYARD

OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY

IS THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL,

AND THE MEN OF JUDAH

ARE THE GARDEN OF HIS DELIGHT.

AND HE LOOKED FOR JUSTICE,

BUT SAW BLOODSHED;

FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS,

BUT HEARD CRIES OF DISTRESS.

ISAIAH 5:1-7

God sent hardships - even captivity and slavery to foreign rulers. But always the purpose of God was to love His people and provide His own Son for the fallen world. God wants fruit. God wants the fruit of His field to be His own - children of righteousness.

It was as if God said, "What can I do? I know. I will empty heaven of the most precious thing that is. I will give My Own Son. When they see Him they won't reject Him as they did the prophets. They will accept Him. They will love Him. They will follow Him. Through Him, I can give them forgiveness, restoration and my own nature. In Him, I will give more than Adam lost."

When the Son of God did come some 700 years after Isaiah prophesied, the Son put this same parable this way:

"THERE WAS A LANDOWNER WHO PLANTED A VINEYARD. HE PUT A WALL AROUND IT, DUG A WINEPRESS IN IT AND BUILT A WATCHTOWER. THEN HE RENTED THE VINEYARD TO SOME FARMERS AND WENT AWAY ON A JOURNEY. WHEN THE HARVEST TIME APPROACHED, HE SENT HIS SERVANTS TO THE TENANTS TO COLLECT HIS FRUIT. (He wants His fruit.)

"THE TENANTS SEIZED HIS SERVANTS; THEY BEAT ONE, KILLED ANOTHER, AND STONED A THIRD. THEN HE SENT OTHER SERVANTS TO THEM, MORE THAN THE FIRST TIME, AND THE TENANTS TREATED THEM THE SAME WAY. LAST OF ALL HE SENT HIS SON TO THEM. 'THEY WILL RESPECT MY SON,' HE SAID.

"BUT WHEN THE TENANTS SAW THE SON, THEY SAID TO EACH OTHER, 'THIS IS THE HEIR. COME, LET'S KILL HIM AND TAKE HIS INHERITANCE.' SO THEY TOOK HIM AND THREW HIM OUT OF THE VINEYARD AND KILLED HIM.

"THEREFORE, WHEN THE OWNER OF THE VINEYARD COMES, WHAT WILL HE DO TO THOSE TENANTS?"

"HE WILL BRING THOSE WRETCHES TO A WRETCHED END," THEY REPLIED, "AND HE WILL RENT THE VINEYARD TO OTHER TENANTS, WHO WILL GIVE HIM HIS SHARE OF THE CROP AT HARVEST TIME."

JESUS SAID TO THEM, "HAVE YOU NEVER READ IN THE SCRIPTURES: 'THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CAPSTONE;

THE LORD HAS DONE THIS

AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?

"THEREFORE I TELL YOU THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU AND GIVEN TO A PEOPLE WHO WILL PRODUCE ITS FRUIT. HE WHO FALLS ON THIS STONE WILL BE BROKEN TO PIECES, BUT HE ON WHOM IT FALLS WILL BE CRUSHED." Matt. 21:33-44

God wants fruit. God wants people who trust Him and fall on the Rock (Jesus) to be broken and made new according to His love and His image. God wants the fruit of sons and daughters who are like Him. God wants His inheritance - the reward of the love He has sown.

God desires "the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints." Eph.1:18. The Living Bible correctly interprets this verse, "I want you to realize that God has been made rich because we who are Christ's have been given to him!" God is rich because He has us.

God has sown His love. He gave in love the most precious thing ever. Now God wants the harvest of His own love. We are that harvest! We are what He gets out of all this. The Living Bible gives the correct meaning of Ephesians 1:11:

CHAPTER FIVE

THE ONE I LOVE

I was delighted with the movie "Oh God." Sure I had some disagreements with what God supposedly said or thought, but then I have disagreements with almost everyone and everything. I even disagree with things I have said or written in the past.

One of the great things about "Oh God" was that God was real - He had a personality and characteristics. You may not like George Burns as a representation of God, but George Burns is a whole lot better than a thing, or a statue, or a doctrine.

If your God is a doctrine, you are in for a huge and terrible surprise when a real live person tells you, "I never knew you." You may know all the formulas and all the teachings about God but never really know Him. Maybe you can do miracles and great signs and wonders through the power of His name, or manipulate life according to the promises of His word, but still be in the terrible lonely place of an outsider looking in. "I never knew you" are the most horrible words I can imagine.

This God Who loves us is many- faceted, very interesting and boggles the imagination. We see "through a glass darkly," or "a poor reflection," yet we know Him and experience His love. Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 that we would know this love that surpasses knowledge is being answered. It is a process. Here are some other things about this God Who loves us.

John 4:24 tells us that God is a spirit. That means God as a Spirit has mind and will (and a whole lot more that we don't understand), but He has no body. Luke 24:39.

God is eternal. God has no beginning or end. Ps. 90:1,2.

God is unchangeable. God's plan and purpose is the same one He started with. Mal. 3:6; Ps. 102:27.

God is almighty or omnipotent. God can do anything. Gen. 17:1; Luke 1:37; Matt. 19:26.

God is all-knowing or omniscient. God knows everything. Ps. 139:1-4; John 21:17.

God is omnipresent. God is every- where and He cannot be avoided. Jer.23:24.

God is holy. God hates sin. Lev. 19:2; Is. 6:3.

God is just. God is true and impartial. Deut. 32:4.

God is faithful, and He keeps His promises. 2 Tim. 2:13.

God is benevolent. God is good and kind and desires our welfare. Ps. 145:9.

God is merciful. He is full of pity. Ps. 145:9

God is love. God is gracious. God shows us undeserved kindness and forgiveness. 1 John 4:8; Ex. 34:6,7.

All of these descriptives about God are called attributes or characteristics. They are true and accurate. They reflect the One God Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are correct but seem cold. They are truth but seem distant and impersonal.

Let me introduce you to my best friend, my Lord and Master, my God, my Beloved. "I'm my beloved's and He is mine; His banner over me is love." This is my Beloved.

His name is Jesus. He is God. He is the eternal Son of God Who called the world into being. John 1:1,2. He is unchanging (Heb. 13:8), omnipresent (Matt. 28:20), omniscient (John 21:17), and omnipotent (Matt. 28:18). He is to be worshipped and honored with the worship and honor that belongs only to God. John 5:23; Rev. 5:12,13.

Jesus is the visible expression of God in human terms. This means that if you scaled the infinite God down into a finite person - Jesus is the result. Jesus said to Philip, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." Jesus is God at the level we can know and understand and believe and touch and love. He is the creating Word Who became flesh. John 1:1,14. He is the Prince of Life (God) who was killed (man). Acts 3:15.

My Jesus became a real man. Jesus laughed and cried. Jesus felt all the feelings I feel. Jesus knows me, because He was like me. He has body and soul. Even today at Father's right hand in the heavenlies where Jesus rules all things for me and you, His church, He is still Jesus, the one from Nazareth, Mary's boy, one like us.

Here are a couple episodes from the earthly pilgrimage of the life of Jesus, the Word clothed in flesh. This is the one I love:

Jesus had come back to Judea and was swamped with huge crowds. He taught them as usual, and also fended off the attacks and tests of those who wanted to kill Him. This was exhausting activity. His disciples, as most disciples are prone to do, began to protect Him. They shielded Him from those things or people which they judged not to be worthy of intrusion into His time. They, like we do, fell into the trap of thinking, "O good, I get to show how important I am and tell some of these people where to get off."

Parents began bringing their little children to Jesus. They wanted Him to touch them and bless them. The Bible says, "the disciples rebuked them."

I imagine they said things like, "Hey, get those kids out of here! Can't you see the Master's busy and tired? What's the matter with you? Jesus has more important things to do than spend His precious time with little kids."

Jesus was indignant. I like the ancient translation that says, "He was much displeased." Jesus was angry because of this foolish and erroneous presumption of His disciples. He rebuked His disciples. He actually loved His disciples enough to rebuke them. Jesus didn't ignore them and their error. Jesus didn't write them off for this breach of their relationship. Jesus instructed them and cleared the air so they could go on together. He also did what He is always willing to do with His precious time:

"LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME,

AND DO NOT HINDER THEM,

FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE.

I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, ANYONE WHO WILL NOT

RECEIVE THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE A LITTLE CHILD

WILL NEVER ENTER IT."

AND HE TOOK THE CHILDREN IN HIS ARMS,

PUT HIS HANDS ON THEM AND BLESSED THEM. Mark 10:14-16.

This is the one I love and serve.

* * *

There was a woman caught in the very act of adultery. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought her to Him to trap Him. They had Him in a real "Catch 22." (It's interesting that they only brought the woman who was caught. What about the man?)

"Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" John 8:5

"IF A MAN COMMITS ADULTERY WITH ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE - WITH THE WIFE OF HIS NEIGHBOR - BOTH THE ADULTERER AND THE ADULTERESS MUST BE PUT TO DEATH." Lev. 20:10.

If Jesus says to do what Moses said, it's off to the Romans with an accusation that Jesus is encouraging murder. If Jesus says to let her go, it's off to the people saying that Jesus does not uphold Moses. A perfect trap. No way out.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:6-11.

I suspect that what Jesus wrote on the ground were names or places. One by one these accusers were reminded of some sin in their own life. Father told Jesus what to write through the Holy Spirit within Him

This is called a "Word of Knowledge" in the listing of spiritual gifts in 1 Cor. 12.

Jesus hates sin and condones it in no one. He came to be the sin-bearer because of God's love for people and the people's need to be free from sin. Sin destroys people. Sin needs purging, and Jesus is the agent that cleanses from sin. Jesus is the Way away from sin.

Think for a moment about Jesus' great love. He did not condemn the accusers. In fact, if my supposition is correct, He gave them a loving jolt to help them come to their senses and repent. He did not condemn the woman nor condone her life- style. Nor does Jesus condemn us.

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:17.

This is the One I love and serve.

* * *

Above all else stands the account of Jesus' passion, His suffering and death in place of me and in place of you.

Who has not read the story over and over and wept at the incredible love of God? Who has not read of Jesus in the Garden as His sweat became drops of blood at the thought of becoming sin for us, and not imagined, "I could have watched with You one hour Lord. At least I would have liked to try."

Who has not put himself around the fire with Peter and the others during Jesus' trial and not thought, "I would have remained true to You Lord. I would not have denied You no matter what."

Who has not watched Jesus being mocked and jeered, whipped and condemned and not thought, "I would stand with You Jesus. I would share the insults."

Who has not journeyed to Calvary in his mind and thought, "I would stand with You Jesus. I would be there for You so that You would not have had to die alone."

I would like to show my love for Jesus. Not just show it, but live it. Especially wonderful are these thoughts of being there when He walked the earth and standing with Him in His time of need.

The truth is, however, that neither you nor I would have done any better than those men who later became such heroes. God would have seen to that. Jesus had to do it alone. That was not the time or place for us to lavish our love upon Jesus.

The time to lavish our love upon the person of Jesus is now. The place to lavish our love upon the person of Jesus is here, wherever our "here" is. Jesus spoke some words explaining the events of the final judgment. He did not speak them as a command, but for those of us who wish to lavish our love upon the person of Jesus, these words form a pattern for life:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

They also will answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?"

He will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. Matt. 25:31-46.

* * *

I was in Mexicali visiting a mission outpost. We were having a Pastors' Conference just across the border in Calexico.

Some of us were being led through a housing area, now called a ghetto, to a small building that was the meeting place for the small congregation that was coming together. The residences were more like small chicken coops with on overhang in front. There were many of them jammed together, and lots of people.

It was a hot, sweaty, smelly day. The dust hung on my clothes and skin like glue. Flies continually buzzed my head and the sounds of life in this place chirped like locusts.

I noticed a wooden fruit box hanging in front of one of the doors with a small baby in it. The place was so crowded that our path led me within touching distance of the child. I thought, "It sure seems strange that there are black people living here with the Mexicans in this place."

As I reached out, the flies that had swarmed all over the baby's face lifted off, and the very smelly little "nin^o" was as fair - skinned as any of the rest.

Suddenly, I was like the Shepherds who kept watch over their flocks by night, or the Magi who came and presented their gifts to the Christ Child. Here was my opportunity to love Jesus, my chance to lift Him from the smelly manger and kiss the one born King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The One I love lets me love Him this way.

* * *

Several years ago I took a group of Christian young people to the Harbor Light Center in downtown Los Angeles. My son Kevin was among them. This is the Salvation Army's skid row mission. At that time, before the incredible growth of today's street people, the program went like this:

At a set time the doors to the chapel were opened and the people came into a "service." After about thirty minutes they went into the dining room next door which consisted of stainless steel stand-up tables. If someone responded to the message, they stayed behind from the meal for counseling. When a person made a genuine commitment to Jesus, he began an excellent program of rehabilitation. God bless the Salvation Army.

As I recall on the particular night we were there about a hundred and fifty came in for the service. Most were men, several were drunk, and none seemed interested in the "service." The young people played guitars and sang a couple of the songs of the day, and then I preached.

The message was not very long and I don't remember what it was except that it was about Jesus. I got the distinct feeling that many were groaning, "Come on preacher, get this over with. I'm hungry." Or, "If you don't hurry up, I'm gonna get sick right here."

When I finished there was a prayer that included a blessing for the food, and the people rushed past the front of the chapel to the dining room. Four or five stayed behind to pray.

A large, very ugly, very dirty, and very smelly man stood out from the rest. The tears that ran down his cheeks were highlighted because they washed dirt from their paths. His overcoat was stained with vomit, and from the smell of cheap wine and other noxious odors, some of it was probably fresh.

Kevin stood before him and stared. The man looked at him. For an instant there was one of those pregnant pauses which builds intensity. Then my son reached out and hugged this filthy, smelly, broken, hurting, lonely appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the One I love and serve. He has allowed us to love Him, and serve Him, and bring gifts to Him.

In Psalm 76 we are told to bring gifts to the One to be feared. I thought, "How can I bring a gift to this One I love so much? He has everything? What does He need that I have? What can I give to the great giver of all things?"

Because of this principle of the "least of these" I can give Him anything and everything. I can lavish my love upon Him as Mary did with the costly perfume. I can watch with Him in the Garden as I watch with those who are cast off by men and have no hope except for God.

Because of this principle, I can stand with Jesus at the unjust trial as I stand with all those who are unjustly treated by society:

- Refugees and aliens with no rights,

- the poor in America who must accept the second type of justice,

- the prisoners who are victims of "warehousing" undesirables, and then become "disciples" of hardened and twisted people.

Because of the principle of the "least" I can stand with Jesus during His death as I stand with Charley, the young man with AIDS. Just like the woman taken in adultery, I can be like Jesus and neither condemn Charley nor condone his life-style. I too can love him, and wash his feet, and cool his tongue as he travels his valley of the shadow of death.

One of the most loved, admired and respected people of our day is Mother Teresa. She exhibits an extravagant, lavish love upon the most poor, diseased and outcast people of the world - just because those people are Jesus. Dominique Lapierre in City of Joy quotes Mother Teresa as saying to Father Kowalski, "They give us so much more than we give them."

What do they give? If I understand the heart of this great sample of Jesus that stoops to wash the feet of the lepers in Calcutta, I think she would say, "They give the opportunity to lavish love upon the person of Jesus by being 'the least'".

 

CHAPTER SIX

THE UN

The love of God is real. It is as real as God Himself. His love is the huge, incredible, hold-nothing-back love that sent Jesus. The love by which the Word became flesh and embraced the cross and death. The love that triumphed in resurrection. The love that offers to us adoption as sons of God on the condition that the love gift, Jesus, is received. (John 1:12) If you receive Jesus, you receive His love; if you reject Jesus you reject His love.

While writing this book many people said things like, "That's wrong! It's not 'conditional' love, it's 'unconditional' love. God's love is unconditional. You left out the 'un.'"

I left out the "un" on purpose.

God's love is greater than anything I know. He loves us beyond reckoning, beyond reasoning, beyond imagining. What He gives us in Jesus is beyond "conditional" or "unconditional." Yet Jesus, the very love gift of God, becomes the condition of whether I receive the love of God or not.

Jesus is the condition for receiving the eternal love of God.

A problem with the extreme emphasis on "unconditional" love is what my deceitful heart does to it, namely:

"Since God loves me unconditionally, no matter what, it doesn't make any difference what I believe, or what I do."

"God wants me to prosper and have all this stuff. He loves me even if I keep it for myself while others have nothing."

"God loves me unconditionally even though I hold a grudge against people who have wronged me."

These are stupid statements. They are not just un-Christian, they are anti- Christian. They stand in opposition to the clear teaching of Jesus. They fit with Paul's, "God forbid" of Romans 6:2.

To receive the eternal love of God, we must come the exclusive, conditional way. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to God except through Him. To attempt to come some other way is to reject and insult the love gift of God.

Jesus is the condition of the love of God.

* * *

This book has dealt with God's love toward us. Even in chapter five when we talked about how we can lavish our love upon Jesus by lavishing it upon the least, it was still from the perspective of how Jesus allows us to love Him. It was from His vantage point.

Now we are looking at our love and our responses. I want to take a brief look at some conditions God has placed on our love for Him. Yes, this is also conditional.

I need to be careful here because whenever I focus on me, or any part of me, I see me. It is safer, healthier and more rewarding to focus on the object of faith, hope and love, rather than the imperfect faith, hope and love that exists in me.

Here are some conditions:

If we say we love God, yet hate our boss, neighbor, relative, competitor, wife, husband (ex or present), different kind of Christian, etc., etc., we are liars. God has made this conditional. We cannot love Him and hate anyone else who could be called, "brother." 1 John 4:19-21.

If we love God, we do not love money, fame, security, power, etc., etc. 1 John 2:15-17. We do not love our wardrobes or houses. We do not love new cars or fancy boats. We do not love exercising authority over others or . . . . . . . . . . . .HELP! JESUS HELP ME!

As always happens when I focus on me, I see very clearly my sin and shortcomings. Love, like faith, is good, but when I look at my love rather than the object of love, I see something imperfect and in need.

Jesus, the love gift of God, came for the forgiveness of sins. "Thank You, Jesus. Please forgive me, and consume me with Your love, so that I would love all of our family, and not love the world, or the things of the world. Help me keep my eyes focused on You so that everything else fades into the background, and my love for You would grow in purity and intensity. Amen."

 

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

A NEW RELATIONSHIP

If you have a yearning to be closer to this God I love and serve, this Father Who gave His own Son for you, or perhaps you wish to enter into this relationship as a son or daughter, you may do so now. You do not need another person present, although it may help if the other person is a loving child of God. If you desire to be loved by God and to love Him more, then follow these instructions:

1. Be honest. Do not lie or pretend. God hates lying. God hates pretense. He knows everything anyway, so don't fool yourself. He knows the very worst things about you, even those things that may be so horrible you have pushed them way down under the surface. God knows. Be honest.

2. Talk to Him. His heart is drawn towards you in love. This means that He wants to do you good. He gave you the very best when He gave you Jesus. He still wants to do good things for you and to you. He knows you better than you know yourself, and He has a very specific plan for you.

He can hear you, and He likes it when you talk to Him. The things you want to say are of interest to Him and He doesn't count any of it as "too unimportant." He also likes it when you listen to Him.

This is called prayer, but if you're not used to that word, that's all right. It just means that you talk to God and listen to Him when He talks to you. Pray to Him now, and tell Him exactly what it is you want. He is more interested in the attitude of your heart than the words you speak, or the way you say them.

3. God is real. He is not something that people dreamed up because they need a God. He is real. He has a name. Just like your father and mother have names, so God has a name. But He likes it when you call Him "Father." Jesus said God is His Father and our Father. "Daddy" is all right too, especially if this is a brand new relationship for you.

Just as your father and mother made a home for you, so God your heavenly Father has created all things for you. God made all things. He loves you and wants to draw closer to you. This is possible in Jesus.

4. Jesus can do it. At one time Jesus limited Himself by being one of us. He became flesh. All He did while He was here in His human body, He did by the power of the Holy Spirit. Father told Him just what to do, and He did just that.

Now He has all authority. What Jesus says, is what happens. He can do anything. No force or power in the universe, in the world, in your life, - anywhere, can withstand Jesus. He can do those things you ask.

When you say something like, "Jesus, please come into my heart," He does. By His Spirit He actually enters into your being and takes up residence inside of you. He never forces His desires upon you, but He draws you, and asks you to decide to enter the relationship.

He knows and understands. When questions and doubts come, remember He was once like we are. He was tempted just like we are, but He did no wrong. Now He is able to help with understanding and compassion and effectiveness and power.

Speak to God now. Talk to Him in your own words and tell Him what you want. I suggest you speak to Him about the following items:

1. How you feel about the way you have ruled your life. Apologize and ask Him to wash you. Through Jesus' death there is forgiveness of sins.

2. Make a clean break with the world system and all satanic involvement. He said no one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and money.

3. Get baptized. Baptism is part of this dying to the world and satanic stuff, and coming to life again in Jesus, for Jesus, and as a part of the very body of Jesus.

4. Ask Father to tell you where you should fellowship with other Christians. Ask Him to lead someone to you to help you grow up.

FRANK SMITH, PO. Box 3009, Vista, California 92085

 

For further treatment of the subject of love by this same author, see chapter four of his book, Ultimate Evangelism, The Church in the Harvest Age. This deals with love as the testimony by which we are recognized as disciples of Jesus. It also speaks about the three types of love as described by Eros, Phileo and Agape.