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UNDERSTANDING THE LOVE OF GOD SERIES
PERFECTED BY LOVE
We are covering on the subject of love. And you will notice that
there is no other way to the perfection of Jesus except through His love. If
you try to be perfect by His laws and just by truth alone you will never
achieve it. Perfection comes through His love. Through His love we learn His
truth. Through His love we began to comprehend truth. Perfection is always
through love. We have been singing the song “To Be Like
Jesus”. If we want to be like Jesus we have to start on the love side not on
the justice side. Justice demands judgment. But love demands mercy.
Turn to the gospel of Matthew chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount
in verse 48. You, therefore, must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect. Definitely it is the will of God for us to be perfect.
Otherwise Jesus will not make this statement to His disciples, “Therefore you
shall be perfect.” God intends for His
people to be perfect as our Father is perfect. The only question is how do we
achieve that perfection? We will see through this series that the whole Sermon
on the Mount is based on love. We will compare the scriptures and we will show
that every fruit of the Spirit is found in that Sermon on the Mount. Perfection
flows from love. The gospel of Luke records for us the same Sermon on the
Mount. But it records a few extra phrases that will give clarification to this
passage on how to be perfect. How are we to be like our heavenly Father in
perfection?
Turn to the gospel of Luke chapter 6:36 Be
merciful, even as your Father is merciful. So now we begin to understand
how to be perfect. The Word of God tells therefore be perfect as your Father is
perfect. The same word that was heard by a different disciple he also
remembered that Jesus said therefore be merciful as your Father is merciful. We
can never be perfect unless we understand the mercy of God. Perfection flows
from God’s mercy. It was the same Sermon on the Mount. And it is recorded in a
different phrase, mercy.
Now mercy progresses from love. Because of God’s great love He is able
to show us mercy. And if it was just God’s justice and law we would all be
judged. Justice demands judgment. But love demands mercy. So to be perfect we
have to have mercy. To have mercy we have to have love because God is love.
Turn to I Jn. 4:7 Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.
He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.
Here is a statement that the apostle John made saying that if you
know God you will love. It will come forth in your relationship. Many times
people claim to know God, know the great doctrine of God, to know
sanctification, justification, predestination and all those huge doctrines of
God. They know the bible from Genesis to Revelation. But all our knowledge if
it does not produce love comes to nothing. In other words it will just remain
knowledge about God. To know about God and to know God is different. How many
of you have heard of Abraham Lincoln? You know about Abraham Lincoln. We know
something about him. He was tall and he was President of the
The bible says that those who know God will be able to love. Those
who do not know God do not love. Or he put it the opposite way. He says those
who have learnt to love are because they know God. But those who have not
learnt to love do not know God. And those Christians who do not know how to
love one another the way Jesus tells us they do not know God. They may know a
lot about the bible. They may know a lot of doctrines. But everything that we
know in the end must come down to the level where we could relate to another
individual whether they are lovable or unlovable.
As we have said there are four kinds of love, storge,
eros, phileo, and
agape. The first three types of love storge,
eros and phileo
are based on emotion. But agape is based on our will, our decision to
love. It is not based on an emotion. So many Christians are confused with the
different kinds of love therefore they cannot practice God’s love the agape
love. He who does not agape does not know God. He has not comprehended
how to love one another. Can you imagine we can live on this life until Jesus
comes maybe some of us may live up to 70 and some 120. But as you pass through
this life and you go to church and learn the doctrine of God, you could have
victory and success on this earth, in the long run it still comes down to
whether you are able to relate with people better. So as Christian we must
realize that this year you are supposed to relate better with others than last
year. And next year you are supposed to relate better than this year. And if
you cannot measure your progress you have not grown to know God. You have only
grown to have more knowledge. The more you grow in God the more loving you
become. If you have not become more loving you have to examine your life
because all you are concentrating on is the knowledge of God and not knowledge
personally of God.
The measure of our progress in God is our ability to love one
another. All of us to a certain extent develop different ability to love
people. Some people because as they are growing up they come from broken homes
they have no ability to love others. And oftentimes these people grow up to be
criminals. They vent their hatred on society. We are talking in reference to
human love first. Whereas others who have received a lot of love and attention
and affection when they were small, as they grow up to a certain extend they
have a larger capacity to love others.
Yet we find that human love comes to a certain limit. You can love and
love and then you come to a certain limit where your capacity runs out. But
isn’t it wonderful that our Father God’s capacity never run out. His capacity
to love us never runs out. It just keeps flowing from His very heart.
We say God’s love is eternal, is inseparable. It tells us in Rom. 8
that no angel, no demon, no death, nothing can separate us from the love of
God. That kind of love we are talking about is called the unconditional love.
It is a love that flows from God’s heart and that is not dependant on the
recipient. Because God loves us even while we were yet sinners. He saw the good
in us and He love us into His goodness.
Here in I Jn. 4 it says in verse 7 Beloved,
let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God
and know God. If you are born of God you are having the ability to love God
and then you know God. Verse 8 He who does not love does not know God; for
God is love. When the apostle John made this statement that God is love he
is saying more than God has love. God not only has love. God is love. His love
itself is personified. His love is flowing. Every part of His being is love and
mercy flowing forth. All those who have come face to face with God like Moses
will see His love. Moses saw the back part of God. What did God revealed – His
love. God proclaim His long suffering and His mercy. See God Himself is love.
Love is a part of Him. Love is His presence. We sing, “Holy, holy, is the Lord
God Almighty.” I remember that holiness
of God is filled with His love. To be in the presence of God is to be in the
presence of love. So there is no way you could be in God’s presence without
being in God’s love. God’s presence and love are inseparable. When we say God has
love it means the quality of God’s love is separate from His being that He has
love.
Let me illustrate here. We say that James has the bible. That means
that James and the bible can be separated out. James is a person and the bible
is a separate part of his being. He just possesses it. And if I say that James
is the bible. What do I mean? That means James is a walking bible. If you ask
him any question on Scriptures he would answer you correctly and immediately.
He is the bible. It’s a different matter. That means there is no way I could
separate James from the bible. The bible is him and he is the bible. When I
want the scriptures I just read him.
The bible says that God has love. It would have meant the quality
of love is separable from God. But when the bible says that God is love, it
means that is inseparable. There is no way you could dissect it out. To dissect
love from God is to dissect God Himself. There is no way you could separate the
quality of love from God. The bible says certain things about God. It says God
is holy; it says God is light. When the bible applies the word “is” about God
it means that there is no way you can separate God. Lets look at the phrase God
is light. When it says God is light then it means there is no darkness in
God. Light is a part and parcel of His being. To remove light would be to
remove God. And the opposite of light is darkness where the devil is. So its
inseparable. God is light; God is holy; God is love. Love and God are
inseparable. It is the living force from His being. There is no way you could
divide them.
Having understood that God and love are one, then we see that to be
in God’s presence is to be in His love. Which is why John is saying here the
reason he made those statement saying that he who loves know God. They are born
of God and they know God. He who does not love does not know God. The reason he
say it is because God and love are inseparable. Like the Word of God. If
certain parts of the Word of God have become a part of our lives, we cannot be separated
from that Word of God because it’s a part of our very flesh and bone. Look at
Jesus Christ in I Jn. 1:1 It says that Jesus was the
Word. He was the Word made flesh. And John says we have touched, we have
handled the Word of life. John is saying that Jesus was the Word personified.
If you want to see what a walking Word is like look at Jesus. Jesus was the
walking bible. Everything that was in the bible came from Him.
When we say that Jesus is the Word lets illustrate here. I Jn. 1:1 That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of
life – the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and
proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made
manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so
that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ.
In verse one and two it clearly talks of Jesus as the Word of life.
Jn. 1:14 it says He was the Word made flesh. He was
the logos. This bible is the written Word. Now the written Word came from the
living Word. Which one started first? The living Word. And the living Word was
revealed. Let’s supposed Timothy is the Word personified. If he said that he is
the Word personified it means that he and the Word is inseparable. When you say
the bible you have contains the written Word it means that he for example is
the Word personified. Lets say he represents Jesus Christ the Word in person.
Jesus Christ puts forth a part of His Word and spoke it to man. So it became
the written Word. So the written Word came second. It came from the person who
was the Word. And the person who is the Word will always be in line with the
written Word. Or rather the written Word will never contradict the living Word.
In the same way love was in God first. God is love, love is God.
The only way we could understand love is by what God does. The only way for us
to understand the Word of God is by what Jesus did. By His acts and by His
spoken words we understand what the Word of God is like. We understand the laws
of God; the knowledge of God through His spoken Word. What Jesus did and
through all creation and generation, everything in the bible from Genesis right
to Revelation when it was spoken it had the Trinity together, The Father the
Word and the Spirit. And all of it flows through Jesus Christ. It was revealing
Jesus Christ. Everything that have been spoken to man has always has an
instrument and a connection to Jesus Christ who was called the Word. So God
reveals His Word through the life of Jesus.
In the Old Testament we see glimpses of the Word here and there in
a prophet here and there. But when Jesus Christ came to the planet earth and
lived and walked and talked among men, men began to see the fullness of the
Word. We began to see the fullness of what the Word was like in the life of
Jesus Christ. Now if Jesus were the Word, everything He did and spoke would
have been the Word. Everything He did would have been the Word. Everything He
lived would have been the Word. And all that He said, all that He did, all that
He lived was recorded for us in the written Word. It proceeded from the living Word.
It says in the Word that God is love. Love is a apart of God’s being. There is
no way you can understand love without understanding God. Now if God is love
every act of His is love because love is a part of His being. Every word that
He speaks is from His love. Everything He said and does is from His love
because it’s a part of His being.
If I say that you are a human being, everything that proceeds from
you would be as the works of a human being. Look at the things around you. This
cupboard was the work of a human being. The chair you have is the work of a
human being. So we can classify everything as from a human being. You see
buildings, you see buses, you see roads, everything around you are works of
human beings. Now the works of a human being and the human being are flowing.
The works came from a human being and it reveals the existence of a creature
called human being.
In the same way God is love. Everything that God does has love
involved. You cannot separate love from His acts; love from His words; love
from His being. Everything He said and does breathe with the life of love. That
is what the apostle Paul meant when he says that the gifts of the Holy Spirit
which come forth from the Spirit of the living God has love involved. Here is
how you tell a genuine gift of the Holy Spirit from a false counterfeit – love.
Jesus talks about false prophets that come. How do you tell the difference
between a false prophet and a true prophet? By their fruits you shall know
them. By their lifestyle. Because everything that proceeds from the devil have
the devil’s nature. Everything that proceeds from God will have God’s nature.
So when the devil sends a false prophet, the false prophet can do some
imitation tricks. But there is no way that they could demonstrate a degree of
love that is called agape love. So Jesus says you can recognize by the
product of love. When you see all these false prophets you will find that they
always contradict the written Word and they always contradict the nature of
God. What they do is never in line with the love of God. Having understood that
God is love that His existence is love. In His presence is love. Every time you
worship God and you experience God’s presence. If you want to know the real
presence from the false presence, the real presence of God has love involved.
Whenever you are in God’s presence you sense the fullness of His love. His love
comes forth and there is no fullness of God without the presence of His love.
Look at Eph. 3:14-19 For this reason, I bow my knees before the
Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according
to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with might
through His Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to
comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and
depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may
be filled with all the fullness of God.
It says that we have to be rooted and grounded in agape love.
There is no way you can reach perfection without being perfected in love. The
next time you are thinking of getting angry with somebody else. The next time
you are thinking of having a bad relationship with somebody else. You have to
remember that the poor relationship that you have with another person is going
to cause imperfection. It is going to cause you to be beyond or below the
standard of perfection. How you relate to another person is going to determine
the measure of God’s presence in your life. See God’s presence and love go
together. When God comes love comes because God is love. When God goes loves
goes. God and love are linked up together. In fact there is no way we could
have understood love if God has not sent His only begotten Son to show us what
love is like. God demonstrates His love and tells us about love and how it
operates. When God’s presence comes love comes.
Paul is applying that truth positively when he says being rooted
and grounded in love. Who did you get grounded and rooted in? God. Many
times we want to be perfect and we always put it in a mystical and theological
fashion. You say I want to be in God, like God. Tell me how are you going to be
in God, like God. See we left it in the theological circle. You go round and
say I want to be like God. On the practical aspect there is no way you can be
like God without being like love. So Paul is simplifying the process to tell us
how to be like God. To be like is simply to be like Him in His love. To be
rooted and grounded in love. People go round saying I want to be rooted and
grounded in God. To be rooted and grounded in God you got to be rooted and
grounded in His love. Love and God are inseparable. So Paul knew the key that
is why he knew how to pray. So he prayed for the Ephesians and said I pray that
you may be rooted and grounded in love. When you are grounded and rooted in
love, you are rooted and grounded in God. See how important your relationship
is with another. The test of love is in relationship.
Lets continue. That you may be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the width and length and depth and height, what is he
talking about? Love. The bible says the whole earth shall be filled with the
glory of the Lord. Which means the whole earth shall be filled with the
presence of the Lord. Which means the whole earth shall be filled with the love
of God. In heaven love is everywhere because God’s presence is in heaven. And
everywhere where the presence of God is there is the love of God. Paul is
praying for them that they all may together understand the great height, depth
width and length of God’s love.
What does width, length, height and depth speak about? Four
dimensions, these are all dimensions in human terms. We have to come to a stage
to realize that God’s love continues sideways, forward, downwards, upwards in
all direction. Do you know that we always draw a line where love ends? When
they grow up some people draw a line around only their family. That is only storge love. Then after that they draw a line among
those whom we know. That is only phileo love
and eros love. All these three kinds of love
have a limited dimension. Eros is only between a man and a woman. Storge is among family. Phileo
is among your friends. These all have a dimension. There is a limit to its
dimension. But agape love has no limit. It draws a huge circle that
covers all of eternity. Which is beyond our comprehension. Which is why Paul
says that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width,
length, depth and height, the love of God that is so far reaching.
And some times we draw people outside the circle of our love. How
much love do you intend to show to another person is determined by your free
will. Many time people say if only I have that love. What they are saying is if
only I have that feeling. Do you know that God’s love you have to love by
faith? Everything that comes forth from God has to be by faith. If its God’s
love it proceeds from faith for without faith it is impossible to please God.
In God’s love you love because God loves. You cannot claim that you don’t have
the love of God in your life if you are born again. Look at I Jn. 4:7 it says that he who love is born of God. The
fact that you are born of God is the only ability and the only qualification
required to have agape love. The only qualification to have agape
love is to be born again. When you are born again God’s love is in your heart.
You possess God’s love. As long as you are born again God’s love is in your
heart. In Rom. 5:5 it says and hope does not disappoint us because God’s
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us. It says that when you are
born again the love of God has been, not will be, past perfect tense. It is
something that has already been accomplished. When you were born again God’s
love has been poured. I am sure all of you know the difference between pouring
and sprinkling. It did not say that God’s love has been sprinkled. It says
God’s love has been poured that is without any discrimination. Everyone of us
who is born again the Holy Spirit has poured God’s love into you.
You say, “Brother how can that be?” The bible says that you have
received a new spirit and you have the Holy Spirit inside you. Now your spirit
is a hundred percent like God. And being like God it has a hundred percent of
God’s substance of love. You were made in the new image of God. Your whole
spirit man is bubbling with love. It is not just a little drip. It is not just
a little sprinkling. It is a pouring into your heart. You have more love and
you have a greater capacity to love than you are deciding to release. Your
capacity to love is enlarged to the capacity of God. Understand this very
carefully eros love, storge
love and phileo love has a limited capacity.
But agape love has an unlimited capacity. And when you are born again it
says the Holy Spirit has poured His agape love into your heart. Not only
do you have agape love but you have it in abundance. God changed your
heart when you are born again. To make you and to give you an ability to love
with the same capacity like God which is an unlimited capacity. It will never
run dry.
God is telling us to build our homes, build our families, build the
churches, build our relationships on agape love. You know there are
situations in life where you need agape love. Your own capacity runs dry
tap on the love from the Spirit. Love is the fruit of the Spirit and not the
fruit of your flesh. Love is from your spirit not from your head, not from your
soul, not from your body. It tells us here that love is in great abundance in
our heart. Having settled the fact without controversy. Having settled the fact
that there is love in everyone of our hearts. The question is why are people
not releasing it? Because they did not see that it is theirs. If you keep on
having in your mind the fact that I am limited in your love and capacity to
love, of course you will act according to what you believe. By that kind of
thinking you limit God’s love.
But when you accept the fact that God has put His capacity to love
in your heart then your mind get renewed and you began to act in the love of
God. It is not a feeling. It’s the accepting of what He says. Then you will be
able to love whether you feel like it or not. Do you know that the justice of
God that looks down on us would have zapped us all if it has gone by feeling?
The bible tells us that God loves us while we were sinners. Do you know as
sinners we provoke the wrath of God? Do you know that sin angers God? Sin
provokes His wrath. If God were to just go by His feelings or wrath we will all
be doomed. But His love came forth. His capacity to see the highest good in our
life never ends.
Ephesians chapter 3 that you may know the width, the length, the
height and the depth. Even among Christians circle sometimes we say love,
love, love but when we come to a certain brother or sister, we say he or she
cannot into my circle of love. Then we draw them out of the circle and continue
with our lives. What we are doing is that we have not understood the length,
the width, the depth, the height of God’s love.
Here is how Paul say how do I comprehend and understand with the rest.
For example, you may be able to love everybody but there is a certain
particular person that your feelings and your capacity seemingly in the natural
seems to run dry. What happens is you have to link yourself up with God. And
you have to see God still love this guy. If God still love this person I tap on
God’s flow of love. See God’s love is flowing to everybody. God’s love is
radiating on everyone of you no matter what you have done. Supposing His love
is flowing to Albert. As His love is flowing there and supposing I cannot seem
to release love to his life. What I do is get in the flow of God’s love and
God’s love will lead me to be able to love him the way God wants me to love.
Just get into the flow of God’s love. Look at one another with the eyes of God
not with our own eyes. Then we will be able to comprehend the greatness of the
love of God.
Eph. 3:19 And to know the love of Christ which surpasses
knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. There is no
way we can be filled with the fullness of God without being filled with His
love. The result of understanding love; the result of being rooted and grounded
in love is to be filled with the presence of God. So there is no way we can
release the presence of God without releasing love. There is no way you can
release the power of God in your family or in your church life without you
releasing love. What will happen when the fullness of God comes? Healing comes,
deliverance comes, prosperity comes and blessings come. In the fullness of God
we receive all these things.
But how do we release the fullness of God? By releasing love to one
another you release the power of God. The fullness of God brings the power of
God. We know what the power of God can do. The power of God can part the
Do you know why our capacity fails? Because we look at each other’s
past and we look at each other’s present. But God loves us because He looks at
each other’s future. Agape love seeks the highest good in your life. And
because God has a wonderful plan for each one of you, you can look at each
other’s future. And those of you in the same family you find it hard to love
one another. It is one thing to talk nice things to people who you meet once in
a while. But it is almost disaster’s time when you are under the same roof. Do
you know it’s a different thing? And do you know that it’s harder to love those
who are under the same roof some times than those you meet once in a while.
Every time you meet in the church you are just well dressed, you are just
loving each other, you always have a smile on your face. But when you go back
that’s where you live life out. And that’s where the person is not up to their
best. And that’s where some times a person misbehaves. Then when you are at
home you find it hard to love. Because your eyes have turned away from whom a
person can be to look at who a person is or who a person was. And every time
you look at who a person was and who a person is agape love gets stifled
because agape love looks at your potential and your future. The next
time you find your love limited you can check on this area it is always there.
You are always looking at each other. You know how some couples quarrel? They
always say, “You always do this, you always do that. I don’t know why you are
like this? I don’t know why you are like that?” They constantly look at each
other as they are. Do you know if God were to look at each one of us as we are,
we would be finished? And if God had looked at the way we were sinners, we would
all been condemned to the lake of fire. You better thank God that God doesn’t
look at you the way you are. But God looks at you and say you little saint. He
looks at the way we will be. And He brings it out from us. That’s the agape
love of God.
Here is a little tip. The only way you can
change another person is by seeing what they can be and loving them into it.
You will never be able to change another person by looking at who they are or
where they are. Even when you drive a car or when you are walking, do you know
you have to keep in mind where you are going? In order to bring someone along
where God will be able to deal with their life and they will be able to come
into the fullness of God’s plan for them is to see who they are going to be in
God. Then every time when you see what they can be it becomes natural for you
to talk about who they can be.
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