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Sunday, January 31, 2016

Full Expression

God is sovereign. Some believers throw this fact around as if to club someone to death. In the Old Testament days God would open the earth and swallow a group of disobedient people. This seems to be what some righteous people would like. Of course, they don’t want to die when they are disobedient. We are living in the New Testament days and God has decided to deal with us through His love. The fact that God is primarily using love as his motivation today does not imply that He is not sovereign. If possible, it makes Him more sovereign. Remember, our new relationship with God is very different from the world. The Almighty offers humans the opportunity to live as a holy person. Wow!

One beautiful difference today is that God actually responds in love to the yielded heart of a Christian. We will never guess the number of things that God has done on earth because of our requests. He loves our yielded heart even though He does not satisfy our selfish desires. The love of God is the biggest reason that Christians have unity in the church. God has ordained the church to be the town center for His unity of love. The Bible says: No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. (1 John 4:12 NLT). This passage explains that God can be seen through the love we express to others. Maybe we could say that we are the lighthouse of love.

We are required to walk this earth without the physical person of Jesus Christ. There is a special blessing for us who have never seen Him. When Jesus was about to physically leave the earth He talked about this to the Father. He said: Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. (John 17:11-12 NLT). The power in God’s names is because of His sovereignty. This means that the unity of love in a Church is encouraged and protected under the sovereign name of God. Christians today have a very special faith because of God’s love. Every Christian must join a local church in order to be united in the way Jesus taught. 

Experts want to know what can be done to refresh the stale attitude of a congregation. Becoming personally involved with others will always make things interesting. This is the unity of love that is available in Jesus. Here is part of the last message that the Lord preached to His followers: I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me … (John 17:22-23 NLT). Some people have said; I wish I knew how to show the world what the Lord means to me. Jesus made it clear that our unity in the local church does show the world that Jesus is our Savior. People must learn that attending church is not enough. It is necessary to actively show other believers that we do love them. 

The center of the Church is Jesus and He is all about our experience, not our knowledge. Jesus prayed that we would experience love and unity. But today people are collectors of information because they desire power. We have learned that to own the most information is a sure way to make a lot of money and to come out ahead of others. This is not the way to win with God. In order for us to experience a righteous life of unity we will be required to give-up many of our personal goals. Jesus is saying to us: Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. (John 12:25 NLT). In other words, a good servant adopts the goals of the Master.
The unity of love that we need can be blocked. It happens when we don’t fully experience Jesus because we still love our old life. Our selfish nature must die before the ways of Jesus will shine forth from our lives. God has created each of us and He certainly knows that we need to learn how to love others. We do have a reason: We love each other because he loved us first. (1 John 4:19 NLT). It takes great dedication to enjoy the unity of love that the Lord wants for us. This includes putting other’s welfare ahead of our own. This is what the Lord is asking for and His Spirit will gladly help us. When we actually become more intimate with Jesus, His love will cause us to seek unity with others.

Every local church is made up of different kinds of people, which means that the unity will feel differently to each of us. However, it is the unity of love that is created by the Spirit of God where we find peace. We can even feel this supernatural unity when we meet a born-again believer from some other place in the world. There are many different kinds of people in the world but having Jesus in our life is the common thread we seek. Christians are special: You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God… (1 Peter 2:9 NLT). Sometimes unusual people who don’t even speak the same language will feel a strong Christian love for each other. This is the kind of thing that can puzzle worldly people.  

The local church should have a priority of encouraging the unity of love. We need to be lenient when it is possible. This includes an attitude of willingness to excuse people at times who have made a mistake. Paul said: if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. (Gal 6:1 NLT). Yes, there will be some mistakes as we try to live as part of a family. However, when people advance in their spiritual maturity it will always be for the good of the group. Our behavior should never be determined by the worst member of the church. We are supposed to help everyone who will let us. Each of us should support the spiritual growth of our Church in the unity of love. Let the full expression of God’s love unite our church.

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