Shepherd's Lighthouse Church

The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”  Jer 31:3

Through the ages there have been a small number of special individuals who believed that they had discovered the methods or techniques by which man may realize his full spiritual or human potential.

Some have produced large enough communities of faith to be classified as world religions. 

At present the major ones are Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Christianity.

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are monotheistic but differ in who, and how, they worship

Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism are ancestor worship.

Hinduism is pantheistic with karma and reincarnation at its core.

Buddhism is atheistic with Nirvana as its reward.

And then there is the clever deception known as New Age - a hybrid of all these producing a mixture of ceremony, philosophy, psychology, and myth.

Every religion mentioned, including Christianity, embodies a code of ethics – a set of moral principles to live by.

This is the primary reason that the spiritually unaware think that all religions are the same.

But Christianity, in its purest form is not just a code of morality.

It is a supernatural relationship (knowledge) with the Creator through the intervention of the only human being ever to prove that He is one with God - Jesus of Nazareth

He is the chief corner stone and cap stone – the author and finisher of our faith.  Hebrews 12:2 “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

There is no denying that Christianity imposes a moral influence on the life of a believer; and many of the messages from  Sunday pulpits might give the impression that there is nothing more to it.

But, as important as a standard of conduct is, it cannot produce righteousness.  We can act moral but that doesn’t make us moral.

Governments make laws to regulate a society but:- Morality cannot be legislated. 

That is, the law does not make people moral.

Only the presence of Jesus in the life of a believer can produce genuine morality that is not influenced by circumstance.

In John 14:20-21 Jesus said, "… you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

To the degree that one loves Jesus, one will resemble Him.

God has given us an example of holy affection in the marriage relationship of a husband and a wife.

In Ephesians 5:25 He says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her ...”

And Colossians 3:19 says, “Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.”

To cherish her and shield her from all harm. 

The key to a relationship with God is a holy affection applied through experiential knowledge of Jesus.

He is to be worshipped - valued.

This is the true meaning of worship – “proskuneo” in the Greek.

Proskuneo  (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand); to prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore):-worship.

Holy affection – this is to be the response of the follower of Jesus – this is why we sing love songs to the Lord.

In John 10:30 Jesus declared, “… I and My Father are one.”

From the very beginning God has initiated a love relationship with man. 

This characteristic is unique to the God of the Bible - it is not found in any of the invented deities of the many religions of the world.

It was an act of Fatherly love that produced the first man – Adam to resolve the Angelic conflict and bring order to Creation.

It was an act of Fatherly concern when God warned Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

He knew that it would catapult them into depravity and plunge the world into darkness.

Remember that on the 3rd day (His Day) God said, "Let there be light."

It was a loving Father who promised, in Genesis 3:15 to repair all the damage that the serpent had done when He said, to, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

God promised to restore us to our former grace – a grace that Adam fell from of his own free will.

And natural man continues on that downward path until he accepts God’s glorious gift in Jesus.

It was a caring Father who called Abram in Genesis 12:1 to leave Chaldea and “cross over” to become the first Hebrew - “Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.”

And while the pagan nations were busy sacrificing their neighbors and their babies to demons and idols, the One True God offered Himself in sacrifice for the salvation of human souls.

What kind of love is this?

It is a love that transcends all human emotion and understanding.

It is the love of the Good Shepherd who cares enough for His sheep to lay down His life for them.

On the Cross Jesus put Himself between the Devil and all those who love Him.

It is the bond of the good Lord – Adonai – the adorable King who willingly shares the burden of His people – the One who slips into the harness beside you as you struggle with the weighty things of this life.

It is Holy Affection that flows from the throne of God into the hearts and souls of His adopted ones – “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1John 4:19

This holy affection, not morality, brings about the changes of spiritual maturity in the life and behavior of a believer.

We do not love Him because we are changed by our morality.

We are changed and become moral as we love Him.

God delights not in what we do but what we become – and we become what we love.

Our relationship with God is not based on what we do for Him – rather it is based on how we feel about Him.

When He says, in Romans 8:29, that His will for us is that we be conformed to the image of His Son, He means that we love Him as His sons.

God the Father has made His love manifest to us in Jesus.

In Jesus He first loved us – and in loving Jesus we respond to that love.

At this point I would like to read the final words of a man of God as recorded in the book, "Voices From The Edge Of Eternity" page 168.

“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him”  Isaiah 3: 10

So it was with the devout Bishop Glossbrenner when he had reached the end of his earthly pilgrimage on January 7, 1887. Mr. John Dodds of Dayton, Ohio, a personal friend of the bishop, spent a day or two with him shortly before his death and found him in a most blessed frame of mind. When the subject of preaching was referred to, the bishop said, “If I could preach again, just once more, I would preach Jesus. I would preach from His words to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, ‘It is I; be not afraid’ (Mark 6: 50).” As Mr. Dodds was leaving, he looked back, and, to his surprise, the bishop had gotten out of bed unassisted and was standing by the door. Visibly affected, and with hand uplifted and tears running down his cheeks, he said, “Tell my brethren it is all right. My home is over there!” To another, he said, “My title is clear, but not because I have preached the gospel, but alone by the love and mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rely upon nothing but Jesus Christ and an experimental knowledge of acceptance with God through the merits of Jesus.” In view of his rapidly approaching end, he said to his pastor, “I shall not be here much longer.” When asked about the future, he replied, “Everything is as bright as it can be. What a blessing it is to have a Savior at a time like this.” His last whispered words were, “My Savior!” — From Shaw, Dying Testimonies of Saved and Unsaved.

The love of Jesus – the worship of Jesus – is the fulfillment of all the law and every moral principle.

1John 4:15-17 assures us that, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have  boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” 

God has made it so simple for us – we don’t need to memorized a long list of dos and don’ts….

We don’t need to perform elaborate rituals or ceremonies or eat special foods….

We don’t even need to starve ourselves to gain favor from God.

Just love Jesus – worship Him – acknowledge Him as your Lord and Savior – declare Him in the presence of all to be your God and your King …..

And He will say, “… I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

 

Amen.