Because of their great love for us, God designed the plan of salvation and Jesus accomplished it. When we accept the gift of salvation, we receive the effects of it. This devotion looks at the effects of Jesus’ everlasting love and constant peace.
Nuggets
- Jesus has a personal love for us.
- Love is the foundation on which Jesus and God built the plan of salvation.
Devotions in the Comprehending Christ’s Love series
Comprehending the love that Jesus and God have for us is a mind-boggling task. Yet Paul, in Ephesians 3: 18, said he wanted us to understand.
We have been looking at a sermon by Baker entitled Comprehending Christ’s Love to try to help us.
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Strap in. This one is going to meander. Let’s see what we can piece together here.
Let's Put It into Context
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is” (Eph. 3: 18 NLT)
Here is what we pulled out of the devotions so far.
- God’s everlasting love means that — no matter what we do — He is going to love us.
- God loves us so much that He designed a plan to restore our relationship with Him.
- The purpose God has in saving us is so that we are no longer spiritually dead.
- Jesus’ love for us is so intense that He willingly gave up His life — gave up Heaven — so His blood could be used as the sacrifice for us.
- The plan of salvation is open to all mankind.
- Even as His love for us is going to last forever, God is going to have an agreement with us that will last forever.
- Because we are children of God, we are heirs of God.
- We are not called to be children of God by anything we do; it is about what Jesus has already done for us.
- We may not be able to figure out everything about God, but we have to figure out enough to believe in Him.
- What God won’t forgive is our continued unbelief.
Note: The headings in blue are Baker’s words, not mine.
That they might comprehend the perpetuity of it
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (Jn. 13:1 ESV)
It is mind boggling to think that – even with His impending death — Jesus responded in love to His disciples. He looked at them and exuded love and compassion.
We know He did that because this passage is talking about the men Jesus called His disciples. They held a special place in Jesus’ heart.
Jesus called them “… his own who were in the world …” (Jn. 13:1 ESV). Wray wrote that this “… imply[s] a relationship of the dearest and closest kind.”
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It is obvious throughout the four gospels that Jesus thought fondly of these common men. He not only spent time with them, but He also instructed them. He answered their questions (Mt. 24: 3) and gave them a more in-depth understanding of the parables He taught (Mt. 13: 36).
Jesus has a personal love for us. How do we become Jesus’ own? Wray gives us a list.
- Jesus purchased us — past tense — when He shed His blood to pay for our sins.
- We become — future tense — His when we surrender ourselves to God’s authority.
- We are sealed as His.
- We are Jesus’ reward for His obedience.
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Glossary
Did you see that the verse says that Jesus love them till the end? It might be easy to think that He meant the end of His life.
I don’t think that’s what Jesus meant. In Matthew 28: 20, He said that He would be with them until the end of the age. Since the age will never end, his love will never end.
Maclaren argued that “… to the end” (Jn. 13:1 ESV) “… express[ed] the depth and degree rather than the permanence of our Lord’s love.”
Oh, yes. The disciples would have many sins that they would confess in the future – for which they would have to ask forgiveness. But Jesus was still going to love them. That is the depth of His love.
That they might exhibit the effects of it in its constraining influence and constant peace
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us” (Rom. 5: 1-5 CSB).
Love is the foundation on which Jesus and God built the plan of salvation.
- Jesus justified us. Justification means the act of making something righteous before God.
- He became the propitiation for us. Propitiation means that a substitute is offered to avoid God’s wrath.
- He was the atonement for us. Atonement is about repayment for a wrong.
- He provided for our regeneration. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- He sanctified us. Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul beginning with regeneration and ending with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
Jesus justifies us when we exhibit faith and put our lives in His hand. Faith is the belief that the doctrines stated in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them.
We get both of these through God’s grace. Grace is a free and unmerited gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers.
Because grace has given us faith and justification, it has also given us hope and peace. Hope is where we desire for something that we believe is obtainable. Peace is an inward tranquility resulting from a balanced life with spiritual order, equity, and truth.
Before salvation, we were spiritually dead. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
Jesus loved us so much that He came to be the Sacrifice so that we might become spiritually alive. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
It is only through Jesus’ love that we have hope. If Jesus is not Lord of our lives, we do not have hope. If Jesus didn’t justify us, we wouldn’t have hope.
I like how Dykes described hope. He called it “… exultant hope of future glory.” Exultant means it is not run-of-the-mill. Future means we have to wait for it. Glory means it will be worth the wait.
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God is the God of Peace. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 7 ESV).
Jesus is the Prince of Peace. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9: 6 ESV).
This peace is offered to us. Goodrich wrote, “As our conscience has had peace with God by our being put right with God, so now our intellect has peace with God’s revealed truth by being assured of that truth.”
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What that tells me is peace grows more peace because we have determined what Truth is. Truth is Jesus. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 NIV). Spurgeon wrote, “Lasting peace must be founded upon everlasting truth.”
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Robinson asserted that peace ushers in prosperity. He wrote, “God opens the door of His treasury of promise to the souls He has welcomed into the palace.” God’s promises facilitate peace.
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Making the Connections
I don’t know about you, but my brain hurts. Thinks just seemed to swirl here. Let me see if I can swirl this up into a bow.
At that specific time, Jesus was still in the world. However, that was not a permanent residence.
We are also in the world — and that, also, is not a permanent residence.
Still, God does not immediately call us home when we ABCD. He leaves us in the world. Wray noted, “Eternal life is the gift of God unmerited and free; yet the Christian’s future will be largely influenced by the tone and character of his life on earth.” We are to be in the world, but not of the world.
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We have jobs to do while we are here on this earth. We show others God’s love. We demonstrate what Jesus’ love has done for us.
The jobs we have are meant to expand God’s kingdom. We are meant to follow His laws and commandments.
When we obey God, we will get His peace. It is a peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4: 7). It is a mind-boggling peace.
It is our peace – given to us by the One true God.
How Do We Apply This?
Johnson contended that two things just happen in order for us to experience peace.
1. We have to grow closer to God.
2. We have to mortify our sins.
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Glossary
We mortify our sins through faith in God. Faith, therefore, brings us peace.
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We grow closer to God by searching for Him if we have not submitted to Him. We seek Him if we have. But you know, the road we take is the same. We hear His Word, read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it. All through that, we need to be in prayer, asking God to provide the meaning.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
We look to our loving Heavenly Father.
Father God. Lord, we look for Your peace. We hide in the palm of Your hand. We search for You and we seek You. Help us to imitate You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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Great post. Yes we do need to comprehend the Love of the Lord for us. and as you have stated, one response is to grow closer to the Lord.
The Lord had done so much for this, the least we can do walk in what He has made available for us. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the encouragement! I know we will never totally understand because God’s ways are so much higher than ours. We do, however, have to understand what He is revealing to us. Thanks for your comment.
Love how you “swirled everything up into a bow”! Oh, the amazing effects of our salvation!
Glad it swirled for you. We serve an amazing God!