Here is Love

14 July 2022

Recently, I have been pondering over the words of the Lord Jesus in John 21 and Revelation 2:4. In John 21, the Lord asked Peter 3 times – ‘Do you love me?’ – and in Revelation 2, the Lord Jesus was addressing the church in Ephesus, and after disclosing that He ‘knows their works’, He said, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first”. Although the church in Ephesus has borne much for the Lord’s sake, yet despite all their ‘activities’, ‘long sufferings’ and ‘service’, the Lord, who knows all hearts, revealed to them that they had lost their first love for Him.

The common subject here is love for the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit who knows all hearts and lives caused me to examine my own life in this regard. Do I really love the Lord Jesus?

A disposition to love somebody is one of the commonest feelings which God has implanted in human nature. Alas, too often, unhappily, we set our affections on unworthy objects.The study of Ecclesiastes lists the many objects of our affections, both for non-Christians and Christians also – pleasure, wealth, status, power, human wisdom, knowledge, etc., and apart from God, the preacher lamented that all these are ‘meaningless’ and a ‘chasing after wind’ -they truly do not satisfy.

Any object of our love, more important than God, which we cannot live without, becomes our idol -it ‘replaces’ God in our lives. Perhaps a contemporary example can be helpful – how many times have we heard someone saying that he or she cannot go through the day without the mobile phone – we find ourselves drawn and even addicted to technology, unable to imagine life without it. The allure of a new technology is not simply the appeal of something – it is a desire that arises within our hearts and it can be very powerful – it can be an idol.
John Calvin once remarked that the human heart is an idol factory. The heart is the seat of our emotions, our will and our desire, and because of human sin and rebellion, it lies in direct opposition to God. The heart is always eager to raise up new gods, putting other things and people in the place reserved for the one true God. When we give our lives over to idols, we hand them the keys to our heart – we become driven to use them, please them and find our satisfaction in them.

A genuine Christian is one whose religion is in his heart and life. It is felt by himself in his heart; it is seen by others in his conduct and life; he feels his sinfulness, guilt and badness, and repents. He sees Jesus to be the divine Saviour whom his soul needs, and commits himself to Him. lHe puts off the ‘old man’ with his corrupt habits, and puts on the ‘new man’. He lives a new and holy life, fighting habitually against the world, the flesh and the devil. Christ Himself is the corner-stone of his Christianity.

Besides all this, there is one thing in a true and genuine Christian which is eminently peculiar to him – this thing is love to Christ. Knowledge, faith, hope, obedience – all these are marked features in his character but there is one thing which would make the ‘picture’ imperfect – if we omit his ‘love’ to his divine Master. He not only knows, trusts and obeys – he goes further than this – he loves.

A true Christian loves Christ for all He has done for him. Christ has suffered in his stead, and died for him on the cross. He has redeemed him from the guilt, the power and the consequences of sin by His blood. He has called him by His Spirit to self-knowledge, repentance, faith, hope and holiness. He has forgiven all his many sins and blotted them out. He has freed him from the captivity of this world, the flesh and the devil. He has taken him from the brink of hell, placed him in the narrow way, and set his face towards heaven. He has given him light instead of darkness, peace of conscience instead of uneasiness, hope instead of uncertainty, life instead of death. Can we wonder why a true Christian loves Christ?

Indeed, the words of Apostle John echoed with this statement, “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). As we ponder over what the Lord has done for us, do we love Him in return, not as a duty per se or in fits of enthusiasm which taper on and off?

Consider this: the nurse in a hospital may do her duty properly and well, may give the sick man his medicine at the right time, may feed him, minister to him and attend to all his wants. But there is a vast difference between that nurse and a wife tending the sick-bed of a beloved husband, or a mother watching over a dying child. The one acts from a sense of duty; the other from affection and love. The one does her duty because she is paid for it, the other is what she is because of her heart. It is just the same in the matter of the service of Christ. All the great Christian workers have all been eminently lovers of Christ. Are we lovers of the Lord Jesus? Am I?

Some practical apparently common points may be helpful in our evaluation of whether we are indeed lovers of Christ.
If we love a person, we like to think about him – we do not need to be reminded of him. We do not forget his name or his appearance or his character or his opinions or his tastes or his position or his occupation. Though he may be far distant, he is often present in our thoughts. This is just so between the true Christian and Christ!

If we love a person, we like to hear about him. We find it a pleasure in listening to those who speak of him. We feel an interest in any report which others make of him. We are full of attention when others talk about him, and describe his ways, his sayings, his doings and his plans. It is just so between the Christian and Christ!

If we love a person, we like to read about him. What intense pleasure a letter from an absent husband gives to his wife, or a letter from an absent son to his mothers. Those who love the writer see something in the letter which no one else can. They carry it about with them as a treasure. They read it over and over again.Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!

If we love a person, we like to please him. We are glad to consult his tastes and opinions, to act upon his advice and do the things which he approves. We even deny ourselves to meet his wishes, abstain from things which we know he dislikes and learn things to which we are not naturally inclined, because we think it will give him pleasure. Well, it is just so between the Christian and Christ!

We can go on: if we love a person, we like his friends; if we love a person, we are concerned about his name and honour; if we love a person, we like to told to him.

Notice the parallels in our love for the Master: Do we think often of our Master; do we have thoughts of Him every day as long as we live; do we delight to hear something about our Master; do we delight to read the Scriptures which tell us about our beloved Saviour; do we seek to please Him by being holy both in body and spirit; do we regard fellow believers as our friends and brethren; are we ‘jealous’ to defend the honour of our Master; do we find it a breeze to talk to HIm in our prayers every morning and every night, to tell Him out wants and desires and our feelings and our fears??
These things and examples are familiar and common enough – but they do give us an indication of whether we truly love our Master – if we love Christ in deed and truth, rejoice in the thought that we have good evidence about the state of our soul, for love is an evidence of grace. Love to Christ will be the distinguishing mark of all saved souls in heaven. The multitude which no man can number will all be of one mind and one love.

Our very salvation is bound up with this – life or death, heaven or hell, depend on our ability to answer this simple question: ‘Do you love Christ?’ Only such a love would ensure we endure to the end and persevere to please Him, to honour Him and to glorify Him until we see Him face to face. Anything less than this cannot ensure our willingness to press on against great odds and opposition in our pilgrimage towards the heavenly city?
‘I cannot speak much for Christ, sir,’ said an old uneducated Christian woman to a missionary, ‘but if I cannot speak for Him I could die for Him!’ That is the ‘love for the Master’ speaking. As I read this, tears welled up in my eyes, for I know I have a long way to go to reach the level of our dear sister in Christ