LOVE BEYOND THE CROSS – Pastor Chris
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Most people have never known what divine love is, and as a result, they define it on the basis of their relationships with human beings. They think they know and have experienced the love of God because of the things He’s done for them, such as in salvation, health, deliverance, abundance, and many other blessings they experience.
Well, Jesus dying in our behalf to prove His love for us was an awesome blessing indeed; He said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). However, here, He wasn’t referring to divine love, but to human love. When He died for us, He didn’t die as God; He died as a man; that was what made His death in our behalf valid. The love He expressed for us at that point was the love that a man would have for his friends.
Divine love, however, is different. Jesus said in John 14:10, “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me….” He experienced the love of the Father the way no man ever did; He walked in the Father, and the Father walked in Him. That’s the kind of love that resulted after the Cross; that’s the love He brought us into. He invites us to open our eyes, open our understanding and look beyond human love, and embrace His divine love! He saved us with His own love, gave His life for us, so we could experience the Father’s love through fellowship.
The only way you experience the love of God is to be in fellowship with the Father, and that’s what Jesus made possible through the life He gave us; the resurrection brought us into that fellowship; into divine love with the Father. With the resurrection, we came out as new creations; and He gave us the Holy Spirit so we could fellowship with the Father. Now, we can really enjoy the love that’s beyond the Cross. Hallelujah!
PRAYER
Dear Father, I thank you for the revelation of your Word to my spirit on your divine love for me; amazing love, so sweet, so sublime, so divine! Through fellowship with you, studying and meditating on the Scriptures, I experience this immeasurable love in its power; love beyond the Cross, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Romans 8:35-39; Ephesians 2:4-7
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: 1 John 2:15-3:1-10 & Ezekiel 45-46
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Revelation 5:1-14 & Joel 1
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