Life and Death part 2-The Love of God and the Law of God

In Part 1, I discussed how the love of God is enough to keep a person alive by daily providing a reason to live.

Sometimes however, we also need the commands of a stern Father to keep us from doing the unthinkable. When a person feels like there is nothing left to live for, the commandments of God serve as a protective barrier against evil. The commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Ex 20:13) resonates down through the ages to us and in this day and age, is a lifesaver to a person who is so deep in depression that he cannot feel God’s love. Knowing God and His royal Law could mean the difference between life and death. The Christian has a distinct advantage over the average person when it comes to dealing with depression and the suicidal tendencies it sometimes creates in the heart and mind of man. While we may shut out God’s love, we cannot silence His commandments!

I believe that the commandment not to kill was not just intended to prevent us from murdering others, but also to protect ourselves. Sometimes, a person’s worst enemy is himself and this is especially true for those locked in the solitary deserts of depression.

When a Christian feels like giving up on life, he has not only God’s love but also His commandments to help him out of the icy grip of depression and death. Killing yourself will not solve any problems, but it will mean that you have disobeyed God and will face the consequences in judgement. Just the thought of not having a place in God’s kingdom is enough to bring stability to a troubled mind. Being separated from God is no joke; it was the one thing our Lord feared as evidenced by His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

However, in order for you to experience the protective, keeping power of God’s Law as well as His love, you must determine why you want to be in His eternal kingdom. This means asking a question which may prove difficult for some. Are you only following Jesus so that you can one day wear a crown or walk on streets of gold and a sea of glass? Would you still be a Christian if Jesus promised you nothing but atonement for your sins and the lowliest place in His kingdom? Would gazing into His face every day in worship be enough of a reward for you if there were no crowns or streets of gold promised?

If your answer to this question is in the negative, then your so- called devotion will never stand the test of time. Life is difficult and the desire for riches, whether it be now or in the new Heavens and Earth, will not be enough incentive to help you when you hit rock - bottom and have to make a choice whether life is worth living. At that point in time, it’s only a relationship with the Lifegiver that will save you. When you refuse to feel His continual love enveloping you, knowing His commands will save your life, because you cannot disobey as you will be risking your chance to spend eternity in His company and that’s an awful lot to lose!

Scripture refs: Deut 30:19; Job 6:11; Job 7:15; Ps 21:4; Ps 119:11,25,55; Prov 14:27; John 1:4

Greater Love Hath No Man...

“Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends”. (John 15:13) These were some of the many words Jesus spoke as he instructed his disciples on the meaning of the kind of love he expected them to have for God and their fellowman.

The beauty of the Gospel is demonstrated in these words and we can clearly see that Jesus never asks us to travel a road that he has not travelled Himself. As the good shepherd (John 10), He does not drive us forward relentlessly, but rather he leads the way while calling our names and gently expects us to follow in His footsteps. Just as Jesus sacrificed all for us on the cross, so we are called to be living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to Him and consecrated for the service of mankind. (Rom 12:1)

Each of us has a place and a role to fulfill in this big tapestry that is life. We are all linked together by a common need-the need to love and to be loved and the need for a Saviour to rescue us from our sins. In Jesus, we find all this and more!

I only really began to understand the true import of Christ’s words while reading a book about the Underground Church in Russia. In countries like these, God’s people face terrible persecution and yet they still love God and their persecutors with all their hearts! Compared to the trials they face, which include being beaten, starved to death and tortured, we are privileged possessors of a religious liberty that we all too often take for granted.

We bicker and fight about church politics, office politics and things that could be easily resolved if we all worked as a team for God. While we cannot resolve the smallest matters among our brethren, others suffer gruesome trials for their faith that we cannot even begin to understand, and yet they face them with a dignity and grace that only Christ can impart!

We need to learn the true meaning of what it means to be a hero, because Jesus is calling us to be heroes in the midst of adversity, shining for Him like lights in this dark world. He is our ultimate hero, and we must daily become more like Him.

I often wonder how strong my faith in God is. Will I give up if I face terrible trials like these precious people of God, or will I be able to stand up for my faith and totally surrender my life to God? Our greatest fear should not be the trials and persecutions that may or may not await us, but rather the possibility that we will disappoint Christ because in the weakness of our flesh, we will fail to stand for Him.

Jesus asks a compelling question in Luke 18:8: “When the Son of Man cometh, will He find faith on the earth?” Will Jesus find His faithful bride or will we have lost ourselves in fighting, trivialities and “playing church” and in so doing, lose our salvation? We cannot let the wickedness of men take away the love of God from our hearts for them. It is only through God’s love in our hearts that we can conquer and change the world!

"For God so LOVED the world that He GAVE His only-begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him SHOULD NOT PERISH but have EVERLASTING LIFE." -John 3:16

 Other Scripture Refs:1 John 3:15, John 15:13