BiblicalInsights.net

     What would you allow to come between you and God?  Jesus asked, “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).  What is worth more than your soul?  What holds you in relationship to God no matter what happens?  What force is powerful enough to keep you in covenant relationship with God?  A force more powerful than persecution.  A force more powerful than death?  A force more powerful than life? 
     In Rom. 8:35-39, two loves are brought together for the preservation of relationship to God and the glorification of man.  One is God’s love for us and the other is our love for God.  Together, these two forces can withstand anything!  Together, these two forces make us and God inseparable!  In Rom. 8:35, Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”  One of the first aspects of this statement that needs to be answered is: does this phrase, “love of Christ” refer to Christ’s love for us or our love for Christ?  I believe this phrase describes the love we have for Christ.  Consider the following:  1)  The word separate comes from a Greek word (chorizo) meaning “to put asunder.”  It is in the middle voice which indicates that the subject participates in the results of the action.  Who does the departing?  The saint separates himself from God.  2) The seventeen things mentioned in v. 35, 38,and 39 are all external to the Christian.  These are outward pressures, powers, beings that can cause a Christian to give up on God and separate himself from God.  3) Christ’s love for the Christian is absolute.  Christ will never abandon His own.  4) The Christian’s love for Christ is going to be tested, but it can stand the test.  Christ’s love for the Christian is not tested by the 17 things mentioned.  Is your love for God strong enough to pass the test?  Consider that the apostle Paul’s love for Christ was strong enough because he faced all of these seventeen trials and never broke relationship with God.  If Paul can do it, you can do it.
     Love beareth all things (I Cor. 13:4-8).  Love is strong, tough, and resiliant.  Love connects us to God!  God loves us and we love Him and consequently, we are more than conquerors!  Love connects us to the greatest Being in the world.  Love connects us to the most powerful Being in the universe and beyond the universe.  His love meets our love and forms a bond so strong that it cannot be overthrown.  This type of love is the grounds upon which Paul has great confidence–I am persuaded–that none of these things will separate us from God.  Why?  Love is powerful enough to prevail. 
     The ultimate glorification of the elect of God comes from the meeting of two loves in one life.  When these two loves come together, the result is an inseparable relationship.  Mutual love is a strong bond that can bring us to eternal glory.  Love for God means: adoration of God, complete attachment to Him in covenant relationship, fidelity to Him, unspeakable gratitude to God and fullness of consecration to Him.  God’s love for us will never fail and continually supplies His grace to us. 
     The problem we face in our churches, homes and communities is a lack of love for God.  Love for God is the first and greatest commandment.  If we don’t get this one right, nothing else matters (Matt. 22:36-39).  “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.”

     What does bk2hk stand for?  The letters and number stand for “Be kind to humankind.”  The first observance of BK2HK was in August, 1988.  It is still being observed today–globally.  Lorraine Jara read a story in her local paper some time ago that related an account of several men who had been in a boating accident.  They were not only ignored by several groups of boaters, but were actually refused help by one boater who was asked merely for radio assistance.  The men were eventually rescued but one died at the hospital.
     Jara asked herself what has happened to our society that one person could be face-to-face with another in need and do nothing?  What could she do now to change this situation? 
    Jara created a monthlong event she called “Be Kind to Humankind” (BK2HK).  She assigned each day of the week a specific way of recognizing humankind along with activity suggestions.  Here are some of her ideas:  Monday: motorist consideration day; Tuesday: Touch-a-Heart; Wednesday: Willing to Lend a Hand; Thursday: Thoughtful; Friday: Forgive Your Foe; Saturday: Speak Kinds Words; and Sunday: Sacrifice Our Wants for Other’s Needs.  Surely, one person can make a difference (Bits and Pieces, Aug. 2008, pp. 4-5).
     Some time ago, Jesus told a story about a good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).  Jesus aimed at prompting love for our neighbor.  A man had been stripped of his raiment, beaten and left for dead along the road.  A priest and a Levite passed him by.  But, a Samaritan, moved with compassion, took mercy on him and helped him.  Jesus asked his listener, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?”  And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.  Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:36-37).  One person can make a difference!  Why not you?

     What does it mean to love God?  Love for God is a weighty matter!  Did you know that you can keep commands given by God without loving Him, but you cannot love God without keeping His commands?  Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  He addressed the hypocritical Pharisees by saying, “But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Luke 11:42).  The Pharisees did the “pass over” on important commands from God.  They majored in minors.  The real problem is that they loved themselves more than they loved God.  They elevated their views over God’s Word.  How do we show love for God?  There are five elements of  love for God that we want to consider.
     The first element is adoration for God.  If we truly love God, we will recognize His excellencies and His goodness.  We must know God before we can love God.  We must know His perfections including His glory, majesty, power, wisdom, love, mercy, wrath, justice and judgment.  We must recognize His goodness  revealed by His creative genius–producing design, beauty, functionality and sustenance and His redeeming love–producing salvation, joy, peace and the hope of eternal life.  Adoration is the esteem or value we place upon God when we understand who He is and what He has done for us.  That esteem is manifested in praise.
     The second element is attachment to God.  Love, by its very nature, attaches itself to the object of affection or devotion.  Love for God begins with an exclusive choice for God (Luke 16:13).  Luke declares that we cannnot serve two masters.  We will either hate the one and love the other; or we will hold to the one and despise the other.  We must choose.   A choice for God is a choice to enter into covenant relationship with God.  When we truly love God, God’s laws rule in our hearts.  To love God means that we deny self and live surrendered to Him.
     The third element is fidelity to God.  Fidelity means that we will keep covenant with God.  It means that we will be loyal and faithful to God.  Fidelity to God means that we will forsake all others (we will not serve any other gods).  Fidelity to God means putting God first and loving God exclusively.  We will worship Him only and serve Him only.  Love for God means that we make God the priority of our lives.
     The fourth element is gratitude to God.  Gratitude is the attitude of thankfulness that stems from a humble heart that recognizes that God is the ultimate source of all blessings. Love for God is prompted by God’s gracious acts that overwhelm the human heart.  The unspeakable gift of God’s Son if one example of God’s grace (John 3:16).  Love for God prompts gratitude as we recognize God’s goodness toward us on a daily basis.  God’s grace supplies us with many blessings that enrich our lives.
     The fifth element is consecration to God.  In Luke 10:27, we are taught to love God with “all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength and with all thy mind…”  We must be wholly given to God (Rom. 12:1-2).  Love for God motivates to a life of holiness.  We conform to His will and are transformed by His Word.  Love for God produces the desire to be like God (Eph. 5:1).  We imitate what we admire. 
     Love for God is the ultimate beginning point in establishing relationship with God.  Remember, God went first. “We love him, because he first loved us.”  I John 4:19.

     Marriage–The Promise
     “The playwright Thornton Wilder said it well: I didn’t marry you because you were perfect.  I didn’t marry you even because I loved you.  I married you because you gave me a promise.  That promise made up for your faults.  And the promise I gave you made up for mine.  Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage.  And when our children were growing up, it wasn’t a house that protected them; and it wasn’t our love that protected them–it was that promise.”  (Ravi Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 45).  Many are afraid of commitment.  They believe that they can have a lasting relationship without it.  This is not true.  In marriage, we take a sacred vow and make a promise “to have and to hold” “until death do us part.”  We must keep that promise.  Jesus said, “Wherefore they are  no more twain, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let  not man put asunder” (Matt. 19:6).  Keeping the “lock” in wedlock depends upon meeting the responsibility of a commitment to another person made in a sacred promise.
     Marriage–The Service of Love
     “If the first thing about committing the will is that it is a death to yourself, what comes to life is a disposition that seeks to serve.  The one who serves does so with kindness and gentleness.  This is something we almost never think of anymore, that we are called to the service of love.  We are so prone to lay claim to our rights that we bury the demand that calls us to serve.  Our love story shows us in a simple act the beauty of service that has at its heart a kind spirit.” (Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 49).
     Marriage–Lovingkindness
     The Hebrew word translated “lovingkindness” is hesed.  It is the covenantal term for God’s love.  Hesed is the unmerited and generous favor of God.  It is a love that is gentle and always reaching out to the object of that love.  Old Testament scholar Daniel Block describes hesed as “that quality that moves a person to act for the benefit of another without respect to the advantage that it might bring to the one who expresses it…(This) quality is expressed fundamentally in action rather than word or emotion” (Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 51).
     Marriage-Sense of Humor

     Love is like an onion–
     You taste it with delight,
     But when it’s gone you wonder
     Whatever made you bite.
     Love is a funny thing, just like a lizard,
     It curls up ’round your heart and then jumps into your gizzard.’
     Love is swell, it’s so enticing,
     It’s orange gel, it’s strawberry icing,
     It’s chocolate mousse, it’s roasted goose,
     It’s ham on rye, it’s banana pie.
     Love’s all good things without a question;
     In other words, it’s indigestion.
            (Zacharias, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah, p. 10)

     It is a daunting task to be king!  Solomon followed his father David on the throne of Israel.  David was one of the greatest kings to ever occupy the throne of Israel.  Solomon must walk in David’s shadow. 
     In Gibeon, the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, “Ask what I shall give thee” (I Kings 3:5).  In humility, Solomon requested wisdom to rule the people of Israel (I Kings 3:9).  God was pleased with this request and granted Solomon wisdom and understanding.
     An example of Solomon’s wisdom is found in I Kings 3:16-28.  Two harlots came before Solomon with a dramatic problem.  The women lived in the same house and shared the same sleeping quarters.  During one night, one of the women rolled over on her infant son and suffocated him and he died.  In her desperation, she switched her dead son for the living son of the other woman.  When the other woman awoke, she immediately realized what had happened.  Both women claimed the living child and so the matter was brought before Solomon to discern who was the real mother of the living child.
     Solomon called for a sword.  The presence of the sword creates fear and produces a threat.  Solomon commands that the living child be divided into two halves and that each woman be given a half.  This command meant certain death to the child.
     The true mother of the living child could not bear the thought of his life being taken.  She relinquishes her right to the child in order for him to live.
    The false mother had no real love for the living child and agreed that it should be divided among them. 
     Solomon immediately recognized who the true mother was and awarded the living child to its rightful mother.  All ended well.
     This story is not just about Solomon’s wisdom.  It is about a mother’s love.  A mother’s love is not easy to define.  It is deep, rich and in some ways a mystery.  Both of these mother’s loved their own children.  The mother who lost her child by her own negligence had to be overcome with a tremendous sense of loss.  Her loss leads to her desperation.  She takes another woman’s son, not beause she loved the child, but because she attempted to recover her own loss and fill the void of the pain caused by her own negligence.  That pain must have been great.  It reveals her love for her own son.  However, desperation is not love.  In the end she is bitter and void of love.  You cannot overcome the pain of real loss by being unloving.  You must love again.
     The true mother in this story possesses all the instincts and love of motherhood.  She knows her child and she loves him deeply.  Her love is illuminated by her willingness to sacrifice a lifetime of joys with her son in order to protect his life!  She was willing to make the supreme sacrifice of her own happiness, over a lifetime, with the child, in order to save his life.  She faced an overwhelming sense of loss but she was willing to feel such pain for the sake of the life of her child.  In this way, she preserved love for her son.  She could live with the sacrifice knowing that her son lived. 
     The two mothers can easily be contrasted.  The false mother endured an unwilling loss that led to desperation.  The true mother was willing  to endure a sacrifice that magnifed her love for her child. Such sacrifice would be rare, but, how else could you define a mother’s love?