Love for life

A life lived only to enjoy this world and all it has to offer is dangerous. In such a way of life, we find no time for God or to understand His ways. We often find ourselves pursuing lifestyles that have no service to God. When we love only God and His ways, we are not distracted by the things of this world.

John 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Love that disiplines

The wisdom of the proverbs points to a father and son relationship between man and God. God sometimes disiplines us so that we may know the difference between right and wrong. We need to understand that God delights in us when we do His will.

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Love of God

Jesus confronted the Pharisees and told them that they loved the approval and honor from their fellowmen. They did not really have the love of God in them. It is only when we really love God that we will understand the scriptures that point to Christ as our savior and king.

John 5:42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

Merciful God

Moses came to God begging Him to pardon the Israelites for their sins. He was counting on Gods unfailing love. A love which is always merciful and patient. A love that will forgive and care for us from generation to generation.

Numbers 14:19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

Beholding the Glory of God in Christ

The Glory of God Revealed

Reflections on Christ’s Sacrifice and Exaltation

How Jesus Makes God Known to Us

In Hebrews 1:3, we read, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." This verse is a powerful declaration of who Christ is and how He perfectly reveals the glory of God. In Christ, the invisible God becomes visible. Everything about Christ—His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation—reveals to us what God is like.

Matthew Henry beautifully comments on this passage, saying, “The apostle begins with a lofty description of the person of Christ, his glory and dignity, his relation to the Father, and the work he has done for us. God the Father is the fountain of all being, and all perfection; God the Son is the full and flat resemblance of his Father’s glory.” Christ doesn’t just reflect God's glory as a mirror would; He radiates it from His very being. In Him, we see the fullness of God’s nature displayed in human form.

Charles Spurgeon, reflecting on the glory of Christ, once preached, “Jesus, in all His offices, exhibits the glory of God. He that hath seen Him hath seen the Father. As the truth of God is most plainly revealed in Christ, so is the mercy of God most sweetly made manifest in Him.” Christ's life is a window through which we can gaze upon the character of God. His compassion, His justice, His mercy, and His power all point to the grandeur of the Almighty.

It is in the sacrificial love of Christ that we see the glory of God shining most brightly. Spurgeon once remarked, “Christ loved you before all worlds; long ere the day-star flung his ray across the darkness, before the wings of angels had flapped the unnavigated ether, before aught of creation had struggled from the womb of nothingness, God, even our God, had set His heart upon all His children.” It was this eternal love that led Christ to the cross, where He bore the full weight of our sins, revealing both the depths of God’s justice and the heights of His mercy.

When Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, He was not only securing our redemption but also manifesting the glory of God in a way that nothing else could. The cross, which to the world may seem like a place of shame and defeat, is in reality the greatest display of God’s glory. As Hebrews 1:3 reminds us, after Christ had purged our sins, He "sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." His work was finished, His victory complete, and His exaltation secured. 

Matthew Henry further reflects on this, stating, “Here is the glory of the gospel, that He who was the brightness of His Father's glory, and the express image of His person, was employed to bring back a lost world to God.” In Christ, we see the glory of God’s redemptive plan unfolded before us. The radiance of God’s glory shines brightest in the face of Jesus Christ, who, in His humility, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8).

As we reflect on these truths, let us be moved to worship. The glory of God, so perfectly revealed in Christ, calls us to respond with awe and reverence. Spurgeon rightly said, “The more you know about Christ, the less will you be satisfied with superficial views of Him; and the more deeply you study His transactions in the eternal covenant, His engagements on your behalf as the eternal Surety, and the fullness of His grace which shines in all His offices, the more truly will you see the King in His beauty.”

In Christ, we are given the privilege to behold the glory of God, not from a distance, but intimately, as those who have been redeemed by His blood. The more we gaze upon Christ, the more we are transformed by His glory. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 reminds us, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

May our lives be a reflection of this glory, as we continually look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Let us live in such a way that others might see the glory of God in us, pointing them to the Savior who reveals God’s glory most clearly. 

Gospel message

In a nutshell this is the gospel of Jesus. This is the revelation that He came to tell the whole world. We need to understand that God loves us so much that He sent His most precious Son to us, that if we believe in Him, we will also enjoy everlasting life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Blinded minds

We need to be ever vigilant of the evil one who is always trying to blind us with the craving for power, prestige, wealth and other idols that will lure us away from the message of the gospel of love. We have to keep our minds clear of all these thoughts so that we can allow the love of God to shine into our hearts and minds.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Led by the Spirit

If the Holy Spirit controls our life , we will be led to bear the fruits of love. Let us look to the Holy Spirit to live in us and us to live in Him. In so doing we will come to know and understand the love of God toward us and all of His creation.

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Invisible God

St. Paul is telling us that Christ is the image of the the God we cannot see. Jesus existed even before God created heaven and earth. St. Paul goes on to say that everything was created through Christ and for Christ. If we love Jesus and His commandments we will love God and all of His creation.

Colossians 1:15 Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Image of God

Do you see the image of God in the people you see every day? Mother Teresa used to say that she used to see the image of Christ in all the dying people she used to serve. Seeing the image of Christ in them made her want to serve with complete devotion. We need to see people through eyes of love to see the image of God in them.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image

Love for People

The second commandment that Jesus asked us to obey was love for all people. We believe that God loves all people, and so we love them too. If we love only people, then it will only lead to frusteration. Our love for people should be based on our love for God.

Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Love the Lord

Love the Lord

The love for God should be with our heart, soul and mind. This verse is part of the Shema that the Jews use for their daily prayers and we use to pledge our total commitment to God. This was the first commandement that Jesus said was the greatest commandement that we should obey and follow with full devotion.

Deut 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

The Greatest Commandment

The Greatest Commandement

Our faith in Christ should be based on love for God and all people whom God created irrespective of who they are or where they are from. We express our love for God through our prayers, meditations, obeying his laws, and acts of love toward all of His creation. We love all people by being a source of support and strength for them when they are in need.

We all have a role to play. Preachers preach. Teachers teach, Healers heal. When we reflect on the life of Mother Teresa let us praise her for what she did for the poor and dying. Let us praise her for what she said right.

"Only the thirst of Jesus, hearing it, feeling it, answering it with all your heart, will keep the Missionaries of Charity alive after the mother leaves you."

"Somebody asked me: When will poverty be over?" I replied ....let us give until it hurts"

Did Mother Teresa fulfill the Greatest Commandements? Did the Pharisees fulfill it or did their laws prevent them from doing so???

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Matthew 22:34-40

34But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38This is the first and great commandment.

39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.