EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/11/2024 11:10 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “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.”
This commandment to love not only has a new
expression, and it is because of love’s powerful display in Christ’s life and
ministry; it is also fresh because of its manifestion in the lives of
believers. (Now it is starting to make
sense to me.) It is a glorious
demonstration of what it means to be a new creation in Christ as seen in 2
Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Now if anything defines this love from the
human side, it is humility. Sinners are
radically humbled (cf. James 4:6-10) to the point of self-hate (Luke 14:26) and
self denial (Matt. 16:24-27), so as to be like the penitent tax collector in
Luke 18:13-14:
“13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance
away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his
breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 "I tell you, this man went to his house justified
rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he
who humbles himself will be exalted.’”
MacArthur then adds “At salvation, the Holy Spirit
takes up resident in the believer’s life (John 14:16-17; Rom. 8:9, 114; 1 Cor.
6:19; Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:14; 1 John 2:27; 3:24; 4:13) and sustains the original
humility, out of which He produces spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-23), the most
important of which is love. The apostle
Paul affirmed the presence of this love in believers when he wrote to the
Romans, ‘the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who was given to us’ (5:5), and when he wrote to the Thessalonians that ‘as
to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you…for
indeed you do practice it toward all….But we urge you, brethren, to excel still
more’ (1 Thess. 4:9-10).
“The new commandment or manifestation of live has
come because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already
shining. Obliviously, the true Light is
Jesus Christ (John 8:12), who has come and inaugurated His kingdom (Zech. 9:9;
Matt. 21:5; John 12:12-15; Heb. 1:8-9; 12:28; cf. Ps. 24:7010), in which He
(and this new dimension of Messiah’s spiritual kingdom, the true Light began
shinning and overcoming the darkness of Satan’s kingdom (Rom. 16:20; Col. 2:15;
Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; cf. Eph. 6:11-16).
Right now the light coexists with the darkness but the Light and the divine love He bears will increasingly dispel the
darkness (cf. 1 John 2:17a), shine ever brighter during Christ’s millennial
reign, and eventually rule supremely throughout eternity. Thus, it is only because believers have been ‘rescued…from
the domain of darkness, and transferred…to the kingdom of His beloved Son,’ the
Light, that this new commandment is a reality in their lives (Col. 1:13).
10/11/2024 11:44 PM
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