PT-1 The Preeminent Example of Christ's Love (John 13:34-35)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/3/2016 10:09 AM

My Worship Time                              Focus:  PT-1 The Preeminent Example of Christ’s Love

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 13:34-35

            Message of the verses:  “34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.’”

            This verse has been a bit puzzling to me in the sense that Jesus says at the beginning of it “A new commandment I give to you,” and there is a mention of love in the Old Testament as seen in Deuteronomy 6:5 which says “"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  Leviticus 19:18 says “’You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”  So in these two verses we see that we are to love the Lord and also love our neighbors which are the two greatest commandments given in the Bible.  Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 22:34-40 “36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him, "‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the first and great commandment. 39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’ (Matthew 22:36-40).”

            So how is this a new commandment?  MacArthur writes:  “But it was a new commandment (cf. 1 John 2:7-8; 3:11; 2 John 5) in the sense that it presented a higher standard of love—one based on the example of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  Believers face the daunting challenge of loving ‘one another even as’ Jesus ‘loved’ them (cf. 15:12-13, 17).  Of course, to love like that is impossible apart from the transforming power of the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34).  It is only ‘because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us’ (Rom. 5:5; cf. Gal. 5:22) that believers can love as Jesus commanded.

            “Christ’s example of selfless, sacrifice love sets the supreme standard for believers to follow.  D. A. Carson writes ‘The new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice…The more we recognize the depth of our own sin, the more we recognize the love of the Saviour; the more we appreciate the love of the Saviour, the higher his standard appears; the higher his standard appears, the more we recognize in our selfishness, our innate self-centeredness, the depth of our own sin.  With a standard like this, no thoughtful believer can ever say, this side of the parousia, ‘I am perfectly keeping the basic stipulation of the New Covenant.’”

            I have never heard of the word Parousia before so here is what I found out about it “The word is used 24 times in the New Testament.^[12] Of these, six uses refer to the coming of individuals: Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (1Co.16:17), Titus (2Co.7:6 & 7) the physical "presence" of Paul himself (2Co.10:10, Php.1:26, 2:12), and a 7th use to the "coming of the lawless one" (2Thess.2:9). The other seventeen uses refer to the Second Coming of Christ, except the one case in which it refers to the coming of the "Day of God" (2Pe.3:12, see also The Day of the Lord).

“The word parousia is found in the following verses: Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8, 9; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4, 12; 1 John 2:28.

“The word "parousia" is mainly used in Christian theology to refer to the second coming of Christ.

“Twentieth-century theologian Karl Barth suggested that the parousia includes not only Resurrection Sunday but also Pentecost as well. As such, Barth concluded that the New Testament parousia is not limited to Christ's final return.”  This quote comes from Wikipedia.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Well at least I don’t feel so bad about not being able to keep the commandment like Jesus did, and sometimes when that happens I just give up, but this quote has encouraged me to keep on keeping on.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to cause me to love as He does and when I fail to encourage me to keep going and not give up, remembering that the successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:15) “15 What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  May it never be!

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The Jews” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-15).

Today’s Bible question:  “Did the Galileans receive Jesus?”

Answer in our next SD

11/3/2016 10:53 AM