SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/23/2019
9:52 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Pattern”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 5:2b
Message of the verses: “the same sort of
love which Christ gave us and which he perfectly expressed when he gave himself
up for us as an offering and a sacrifice well-pleasing to God” (Phillips). “just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself
up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (NASB95).
We
have called this section “The Pattern” and the pattern of living the Christian
life is to follow the life of Jesus Christ who perfectly lived that life while
He was on earth. The problem is that, in
and of our own strength we cannot do this.
The solution is to allow God’s Spirit to pattern us after His Son. Paul told us how this is done in 2
Corinthians 3:18 where he writes “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as
in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Just as we cannot become a believer in Jesus
Christ without having been given the effectual call from the Holy Spirit to be
saved, so we cannot live the Christian life on our own, but we are in need of
the Holy Spirit of God to transform us into the same image of our Lord as He does
this from one glory to another glory. We
could say that Paul is speaking of progressive sanctification here. When we first become a believer we are “baby
Christians” and as Peter says we need to feed on the milk of the Word, and then
after we have grown up more in the Lord we will be able to receive solid food
from the Lord. I have heard that in the
Word of God there is everything from Pabulum (baby cereal) to porterhouse.
John
MacArthur writes “The summum bonum of Christ that we are to imitate is His
love.” The following is the definition
of summum bonum from Wikipedia “Summum bonum is a Latin expression meaning "the highest
good", which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero, to correspond
to the Idea of the Good in ancient Greek philosophy. The summum bonum is
generally thought of as being an end in itself, and at the same time containing
all other goods.” MacArthur goes on “He
loved us and gave Himself up for us. Giving
of oneself to others is the epitome of agape
love. Biblical love is not a pleasant
emotion or good feeling about someone, but the giving of oneself for his welfare (cf. 1 John 3:16). Divine love is unconditional love, love that
depends entirely on the one who loves and not on the merit, attractiveness, or
response of the one loved. Christ did
not simply have a deep feeling and emotional concern for mankind. Nor did He sacrifice Himself for us because
we were deserving (cf. Rom. 5:8, 10). ‘While
we were yet sinners,’ He gave Himself up for us purely out of sovereign,
gracious love, taking our sin upon Himself and paying its penalty in our
behalf.” Now let us look at the verses
that were spoken of in this quote: 1
John 3:16 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Next Romans 5:8, 10 “8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “10 For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
The
love that God has, and also anyone else that loves like God is for the sake of
giving, and not for getting, and there is a difference in this kind of love (agape)
with conditional love, for conditional love loves if the conditions are not met
there is no obligation to love. If we do
not get then we do not give. God makes
no conditions because His love to us and commands that we love others without
conditions. There is no way that we can
earn God’s love or to even deserve it by reason of human goodness, it is just
not possible.
There
is more to talk about from the subject of love as we continue looking in our
next SD. We may even take time to look
at what is called “puppy love” in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I mentioned the love that God has for me is
nothing that I deserve or could earn, and for me to love as God loves me, I
cannot do on my own, for His love has to flow through me to others, and I
surely desire to have this happen in my life.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I truly
believe that humility and love go together as both must come from the Lord,
also something I desire to be better at through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Bible verse that goes along with
yesterdays quotation is from Isaiah 30:15 “In returning and rest you shall be
saved; in quietness and confidence shall be you strength.”
5/23/2019 10:36 AM
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