PT-1 "Love As A New Commandment" (1 John 2:8)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/9/2024 4:01 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  PT-1 “Love As A New Commandment”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 2:8

 

            Message of the verse:  “On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.”

 

            Now I am getting into the “problem” that I have always had with the difference between verse seven which says “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, which appears to contradict John’s saying that I have quoted above.  MacArthur explains “But a closer look clearly reveals that John was using this seeming contradiction to clarify how the old commandment to love is at the same time now new and yet new.  There is a sense in which John was writing a new (kainos) commandment.  Kainos (used in both vv. 7 and 8) defines something that is fresh in essence and quality while not necessarily chronologically new (kairos).” 

 

            Here is how it is different as the commandment’s newness is not found in the words, but in the illustration of love, described in the expression, which is true in Him. Now it is starting to make more sense to me.  MacArthur explains “Even though the Old Testament taught the duty to love, never before had perfect love been so plainly manifested as it was in the incarnate Christ (John 13:1; 15:13; Acts 10:38; 2 Cor. 8:9; cf. Isa. 40:11; Matt. 4:23-24; 11:28-30; 23:37-39; Luke 19:41).  So the newness is not in the command to live, but in the perfect manifestation of love in the person of Christ.  This is one of many ways in which the Son of God incarnate revealed the nature of God in a fullness not before manifest (cf. John 1:14-15; Col. 2:9).”  “14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.   15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’’”  “9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” (Col. 2:9).

 

            I am not about to quote two sections from the New Statement in order to help us better understand this verse from 1 John 2:8.  Jesus did a wonderful job in illustration this true while in the upper room only hours before His death.  One of the things that I like about the gospel of John is the last nine chapter speaks of Christ last moments on earth as He was crucified, and then speaks of things that happened after His resurrection including taking care of forgiving Peter for his denial of Christ.  Jesus promises in that night to the apostles that He would first of all prepare a place in heaven for them (John 14:1-4), that His peace would be with them (John 14:27), that He would send the Holy Spirit to them (John 14:25-26; 15:26; 16:7-15), and that by abiding in Him the disciples and all of His believers would bear much fruit (John 15:1-11) as these were reflections of His divine love.  But Jesus displayed love most graciously in His humbling service to them.  John 13:1-17 records what happened:

 

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3  Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." 8 Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." 9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." 10 Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, "Not all of you are clean." 12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

 

          It was the Lord’s selfless, humble act that was in keeping with Paul’s portrait of Him in his letter to the Philippians:  I have to say that these are some of my very most beloved verses, Philippians 2:6b-8:

 

He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

 

            MacArthur concludes his thoughts on these verses:  “Christ’s ministry in the upper room manifested the heart of God—perfect love, perfect sacrifice (Isa. 53:3-12; Eph. 5:2; Heb. 9:12), and perfect humility (Luke 22:27). 

 

10/9/2024 4:51 PM