(This message series is inspired and excerpted from He Loves Me! by Wayne Jacobsen.)
The Most Powerful Force in the Universe
“Won’t the awareness God loves us no matter what lead to spiritual laziness and moral laxity? Theoretically, this seems to be a reasonable fear, but in reality the opposite is true. . . . The more rooted we are in the love of God; the more generously we will live our faith.” – Brennan Manning, Lion and Lamb
“‘DO YOU LOVE ME?’ Is there a harder question you can be asked by someone you care about? It implies you’ve done something to suggest otherwise. How do you answer with words when your actions fall so far short?” (p. 76)
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, 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.” [16] He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” [17] He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, 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 everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17 ESV)
This passage is a great picture of the understanding Jesus has about the frailty of humanity. Peter is our prime example for enthusiastically following Jesus; he jumped about of a boat in stormy seas, and hacked the ear off a Roman soldier. Then he became overcome with fear. He was afraid the Roman soldiers would kill him if he proclaimed his allegiance to Jesus and he denied it, three times. John, who was walking behind them, wrote about this conversation that completely transformed Peter’s life and ministry. Jesus pressed Peter to deal with the fear and failures associated with those terrifying events. What failures might Jesus need to press you to deal with? Or . . . Have you have been through this walk with Jesus? Think about the process?
“After his work on the cross was finished, however, Jesus went looking for love, and he sought it from the one who had just failed him the most. Could this be what he most wanted the cross to produce in his followers? Was his death designed to reach past their fears of God and begin a new relationship based on the intimacy of love instead? What else could it be?” (p. 78)
“‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
[7] “‘You shall have no other gods before me.
[8] “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [9] You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [10] but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:6-10 ESV)
“Throughout the Old Testament, God often identified himself as the God of love and mercy, but few understood him that way. They seemed able to obey him only under threat or judgment. Even commanding them to love him with all their hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5) seemed to negate the end by the means employed. Can true love really be commanded?
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, [8] but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. [9] Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, (Deuteronomy 7:7-9 ESV)
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8 ESV)
“When that love touches you, you will discover there is nothing more powerful in the entire universe. It is more powerful than your failures, your sins, your disappointments, your dreams, and even your fears. God know that when you tap the depths of his love, your life will forever be changed. Nothing can prevail over it; and nothing else will lead you to taste of his kind of holiness.” (p. 78)
So… why is “fear of God” in the New Testament at all? After describing us (believers) as “the temple of the living God” in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul urged the body of believers at Corinth to fully understand fear in regard to God.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV)
“I am not saying that the fear of God is wrong, only that it is incomplete. It is the first rung on the ladder to knowing God in his fullness. He said himself it was the beginning of wisdom, but it is only the beginning. Love is the end product of wisdom.
If you don’t love God, you would be well served to fear him. At least that might keep you from behaviors that will destroy you and others around you. But once you know how much he loves you, you’ll never need to fear him again. In other words, this Father doesn’t just seek your obedience, he desires your affection. He can have your obedience without your love, but he knows where he has your love he will also have your obedience.” (p. 79) What do you think motivates people to try to obey God without loving him?
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:18 ESV)
“John paints fear and love as polar opposites. Before the coming of Jesus, God used fear to hold our passions in check, but it never made anyone holy. In Christ, God wanted to win our affection with his own. Thus he needs our fear no longer, knowing we will never love that which we fear.” (p. 79)
We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 ESV)
“The doorway into the Father’s love begins at the cross. Seeing what Father and Son accomplished together in that climactic moment defines love in a way that you can experience only in him. This is the love that will allow you to feel perfectly safe in the Father’s presence. It frees you to be exactly who you are, weaknesses and all, and never again to pretend before him.
[. . . Walking with Jesus by Galilee’s shore] was a transforming moment for Peter, and though he couldn’t get it right then, he eventually did. When he wrote his letters, the only love he spoke of toward God was the depth of love with which Jesus had addressed him. He finally tapped into a love so deep that he never needed fear again.” (pp. 82, 83) Put yourself on that shoreline, what thoughts and feelings would you experience?
How would you answer?
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8 ESV)
For Your Personal Journey
Are most of your actions motivated by your security in God’s love for you, or your fear that if you don’t do enough God might not be pleased with you? Ask him to show you the ways your fears motivate you in day-to-day decisions. Read through 1 John 4:7-21 every morning [or whenever your personal time is] for a few days and meditate on John’s words there. Ask him to help you discover how much he loves you and, in doing so, to drive out the fears in your life.
Next Week: Section III The Undeniable Proof – He Loved You Enough to Let You Go
Leave a Reply