We have seen that to believe in the Lord is to receive Him, and that to love Him is to enjoy what we have received. So many Christians have believed in the Lord and received the Lord, but not many enjoy the Lord by loving Him.
In John 14:21 and 23, the Lord says that when we love Him, He will manifest Himself to us. This is a personal matter. Then He says that He and His Father will come to us and make Their abode with us. This really means a mutual abode. He will be our abode, and we will be His abode. It is a mutual abiding involving persons. A Person comes to make His abode with us; hence, we must take the Lord as a Person. This abounding grace is not only in faith, but also in love.
When Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the Lord, the Lord came to him as a great light and he was smitten to the earth. Then Saul called, “O Lord, who are You?” And the Lord answered that He was Jesus, the One whom Saul was persecuting. But just by that calling, “O Lord,” Jesus came into His persecutor and turned him into one who loved the Lord.
This is really grace. It is grace that causes us not only to believe in Jesus, but also to love Him. For this reason, Paul said that the grace of the Lord is abundant in faith and in love (1 Tim. 1:14).
Then Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “...who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Paul is saying that since Christ loved him, he must love Christ. His love constrained Paul to love Jesus. In this way Paul took the Lord Jesus as his life.
There is much talk today about Christ as life, but not many Christians really know how to enjoy the Lord as life. It is not a matter of knowing, but a matter of enjoying. Yes, Christ is our life, but how can we enjoy Him as our life? There is no other way except by loving Him. This life is not a doctrine; this life is a Person. If we would enjoy Him as our life, we must take Him as our Person. The One who is our life is a living Person! Therefore, we must love this Person.
To love a person is wonderful, but it also causes problems. I have been loving this particular Bible since 1964. For the past eight years, I have never had any problem with it, because it is not a person. There is no problem to love something which is lifeless. But when you love a person, there are always problems. All of us who are husbands do love our wives, yet loving our wives often times causes problems. And the more we love them, the more problems we have. This Bible has never given me any problem because it has no personality, but the more the wives and husbands love each other, the more trouble they have.
Generally speaking, you never hate a person whom you have never loved. Loving a person really involves something. The more you love, the more problems you will have. You will never hate a stranger walking on the street; it is always those with whom you have close contact, such as your roommate or your marriage mate. First we love them, but then our love issues in problems. I have never met a husband who had no problems with his wife, and I have never met a wife who had no problems with her husband. It is because they love one another as a person. If we did not have love, there would be no problem; but because the one we love is a person, there are problems. Because I am a person, I cause problems for my wife and for those with whom I am closely associated. While we work together and love one another, we experience some problems.
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