Our love must be upgraded to the greater love of God.
God does not want everybody to understand what He says:
“The disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.’” (Matthew 13:10-11).
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God does not want our faith in Him to be based on our own understanding. He says in Proverbs 23:4: “Because of your own understanding, cease!”
God wants us to believe what we do not understand. Solomon counsels: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5).
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God is only interested in the obedient. He wants to teach us obedience. He wants us to obey what we do not understand. He says: “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22).
“If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people.” (Exodus 19:5).
When they ran out of wine at the wedding in Cana, Jesus told the servants to fill the pots with water. This did not make sense because they needed wine and not water. But, “His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’”
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Then Jesus turned the water into wine.
This leads me to the principle: the things we do not understand are more important than the things we do understand. The things we do not understand lead us to God.
“There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.” (Job 32:8).
God wants us to seek understanding from him. The psalmist says to God:
“The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:30).
“Let my cry come before You, O Lord; give me understanding according to Your word.” (Psalm 119:169).
Solomon asked God for understanding:
“Give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.” (1 Kings 3:9).
God not only gave him what he asked for, He also gave him wisdom above all others.
No Loss, No Gain
In the kingdom of God, you cannot receive without losing. For example, you cannot receive eternal life without first losing your life. Although we had what we regarded as life before Jesus came, He declared:
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).
This is because God kills and makes alive. He requires that we relinquish the life we had to receive the life He has to give. If we are determined to hold on to our old life, then we cannot receive His newness of life. Jesus says: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25).
“He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39).
We have to lose the counterfeit to gain the original. Thus, we cannot receive the love of God without first losing the love of man. To love God, we have to hate the love of man. Jesus says:
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26).
Although we are required to love others, this love must be with the greater love of God and not with the inferior love of man. So, Paul says:
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” (Ephesians 5:25).
Counterfeit Love
The love of man is counterfeit because we hate those we are required to love. John says:
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.” (1 John 4:20).
Thus, Amnon loved Tamar. But after raping her, his love for her vanished.
“Then Amnon hated (Tamar) exceedingly, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her.” (2 Samuel 13:15).
This is the classical love of man. We love our wives, then we divorce our wives. We love our friends, then we despise them.
Peter’s love for Jesus was also counterfeit. His love contradicted Jesus’ love for God. This made his love demonic:
“Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matt 16:21-23).
Peter’s love for Jesus was so inadequate that he denied Jesus three times after He was arrested. So when Jesus rose from the dead, He confronted Peter about his inadequate love.
“Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’” (John 21:15-17).
Jesus then required Peter to upgrade his love for Him by laying down his life for Him:
“‘I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!”’ (John 21:18-19).
Jesus says: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13).
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