Isaiah 63: | 7: “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.” |
LOVE:
The most widely used word in the language; a word that is the theme of millions of letters, books, songs, movies and plays; and
yet perhaps the most misunderstood word ever to be voiced by the lips of men and women. Let us consider
‘love’ this Sabbath.
What love is not: | |
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1 Corinthians 13: | 4: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5: Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6: Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;”
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What love is: | |
1 Corinthians 13: | 7: “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” |
1 John 4: | 16: And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. |
Faith - | conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things. |
Hope - | joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; and |
Love - | “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.” |
God Is Love:
1 John 4: | 7: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” |
Redeem: Hebrew = gaal = to buy back, to recover a thing by payment or by doing something, to clear a debt by paying it off. Note the following stages in the process of redemption as recorded in...
Exodus 6: | 6: “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 7: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” |
Exodus 2: | 23: “And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.” |
Exodus 3: | 7: “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;” |
Isaiah 48: | 20: “Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.” |
2 Samuel 4: | 9: “And David answered Rechab ... As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity.” |
1 Kings 1: | 29: “King David said ... As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress.” |
Hosea 13: | 9: “Oh Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself... 10: I will be thy King... 14: I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” |
Psalm 49: | 15: “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,” |
John 3: | 16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. 18. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” |
Romans 3: | 23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” |
Acts 4: | 12:“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” |
Ephesians 1: | 7: “In whom we have redemption through His blood...” |
1 John 3: | 1: “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. 2. Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (Behold: means to look, consider, scrutinize, and concentrate). |
It is virtually impossible to fully appreciate this astonishing message. Now are we the sons of God. or even that phrase we shall be like Him. Pause awhile and try to appreciate your high and infinitely holy position as a ‘son or daughter of the King of the universe.’ The very concept of that royal position beggars the imagination. But it is true nonetheless, and one day we shall understand it to the full. Meanwhile let us rejoice in the fact that in His great Love Yahweh, the Almighty God of Israel has adopted us into His Royal Family. Praise His Holy Name for such astonishing love!
2 Corinthians 6: | 2: “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” |
Fundamental Facts To Remember:
When the Saviour returns to this earth, we shall begin to really understand the meaning of the word redemption. Suffice it at this moment to know that our redemption is by the grace of God; the grace which is prompted by Yahweh’s amazing love - is in my estimation the greatest characteristic the Almighty possesses. For all eternity we shall learn about and marvel at the multiple virtues of the Most High, His abilities and power, His position and authority, His likes and dislikes etc. But somehow I feel that we shall never fully fathom the depth, the height, the length, the breadth and the full extent of Jehovah’s great love. That is a boundless domain, wider than the spiritual universe of motives, thoughts and deeds: an area for study, contemplation, appreciation and wonder throughout the endless cycles of time!