I WROTE THIS AS AN AID TO CHRISTIAN GUIDANCE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
WHAT DOES GOD WANT THE CHRISTIAN TO DO
Or the Greatest Commandment
WHAT DOES GOD WANT THE CHRISTIAN TO DO
Or the Greatest Commandment
What does God want me to do?
If only God were here and could tell us the answer...
"then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" (Mark 12:28)
and the answer from the lips of God himself
"And Jesus answered Him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:" (Mark 12:29-30)
How can we love God like this?
"We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19)
If you feel that you need to grow in your love and affection for God before you can be satisfied that you are not falling woefully short of what God has clearly stated is the most important commandment that He has given you to keep: you are not alone and
John in his epistle has shown us the way forward.
Our love for God springs from our understanding of His love for us as a natural response. So how can we deepen it? We feast ourselves as much as we can on the word of God and Christian literature derived from it such as, hymns and spiritual songs. Concentrating on the Priestly Work of Christ's perfect life, death, resurrection, ascension and intercession and all the astounding things this secures for us that trust in Him now and forever.
As we dedicate time and effort to increasing our appreciation of these things, as we become thoroughly grounded in the faith and immersed in the word we are providing the means for the Holy Spirit to develop and expand our love for Christ. He’ll develop it to the sort of proportions that will fuel and sustain us as we go on, even through suffering to fulfil the rest of His commandments. With Paul we will be able to say
" the love of Christ constraineth us;" (2 Cor 5:14).
Now as we feast upon the words of our salvation and as the fire of love to God is burning hotter and hotter and we begin to glow and spark with spiritual energy we will feel like some powerful engine with nowhere to go. We will need some focus, some direction, some trail to blaze with all of our heart and soul for God.
Again the voice of the master comes to us?
WHAT DOES GOD WANT THE CHRISTIAN TO DO
Or the Greatest Commandment
But what are the commands and words of Jesus? The Bible is full of them and each one is a treasure and a gem to be closely inspected, dissected, taken to heart and lived out to its highest expression for the glory of God in our lives as individuals and collectively.
This minefield of beauty and wisdom really has to be personally explored and meditated upon to be appreciated fully. However let us mount up with eagles wings and survey the shimmering ocean of glistering sapphires and clear crystals which are the words and wisdom of God and see if we can trace some majestic pattern some spiritual theme that runs through all uniting and condensing them into one blazing coal that sits second in the words of God to man.
"And the second...There is no other commandment greater than these."(Mark 12:31)
WHAT IS IT?!
Lets turn to (Romans 13: 8-10)
"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another for he that loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law." The commandments do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet and whatever commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule "Love you neighbour as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbour therefore love is the fulfilment of the law."
Paul was only echoing the words of Christ, the ultimate authority on the wishes of the eternal God of the Universe that He is. (Mark 12:31)
.
Who was, himself, merely quoting something that he had heard earlier in
(Leviticus 19:18)
Concerning the two testaments is has been written
"the old is in the new revealed
the new is in the old concealed"
or again
"the new is in the old contained
the old is in the new explained."
Love to God was because He first loved us, we love Him because our God is altogether lovely and His works are wonderful and it is not possible to know Him truly without loving Him, which expresses itself if it is genuine in serving Him.
WHAT DOES GOD WANT THE CHRISTIAN TO DO
Or the Greatest Commandment
Or the Greatest Commandment
Love for our neighbour has its source not in the loveableness of our neighbour but in the overflow of our love for God.
Many years ago just after giving these two commands Jesus was asked to define 'neighbour.' He then told the parable of the good Samaritan. After which He turned the question on its head by saying to his interrogator
"So which of these three thinkest thou was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?" (Luke 10:36)
In verses 36 and 37 He teaches we are to be neighbours to those we see in need. No doubt you know that those we don't normally get on with normally are not to be passed by and we must extend this neighbourly love across racial and friendship barriers to all of mankind, the sons and daughters of Adam created in the image of God.
From the parable it is clear the love we are to extend to them is not a feeling.
(1 Corinthians ch13) describes this love as a character, the character of God, of Christ, of a Saviour.
If you really care for someone as instructed by God. You must seek to put him in a community of loving people and more importantly you must put him in the love of God and remove him from under His holy anger: if not he will ultimately be tortured forever and harassed and hurt all the days of his life. No wonder there is no peace for the wicked (Isaiah 57:21).
Therefore if you love your neighbour seek the advance of the kingdom of heaven, the building of the character of God in the people of God, and care for them yourself.
In short there is no contradiction between the two statements of Jesus.
" Love the Lord your God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Mark !2:30-31)
and the other statement,
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mark 6:33)
Seeking the Kingdom being the increase in the people of God with the favour of God, the righteousness of God being the character of a saviour as demonstrated in Christ.
