Life Marks – “The Impossibility of Love”
As we saw last week, Jesus calls His followers to love Him above everything else in their lives – above our family, above our careers, above our favorite meal or vacation spot, above our fitness programs, and yes, even above our favorite sports (bye-bye football!). Don’t get me wrong, Jesus wants us to love many things, in fact, He created a world in which He made it easy for us to love a variety of so many wonderful things (if you’ve been to the ocean or the mountains, you know what I’m talking about). But while we love other people and things, He wants to have first place. Is that too much to ask of Jesus, the Son of God, the One who came to redeem us?
I see three important questions that must be answered in order for us to even consider loving Jesus above all other affections. Here they are: 1) Why should I love Him in the first place?; 2) What makes it possible for me to love Him?; and 3) What does He want me to do in order to express my love for Him? All three questions are inter-related and they must be answered in a particular order. Interestingly, I chose to ask the first question “Why should I love Him in the first place” because that is usually the first question in our minds, that is, “Why love Him at all?” But in reality, it’s the second question that must be answered first, that is, “How can I love Him, even if I find valid reasons to do so?” So, let’s tackle that question, question #2, for the remainder of this blog.
Here it is again, the “How” question — “How can I love Him above all other affections? Do I simply make a list of all the people and things that I love, and then make sure that Jesus is at the top of the list?” Of course not. The real answer to the “How can I love Him?” question is simply, “You Can’t!” It’s impossible for any of us to do. But before you lose heart, I’d like you to think back to the Christmas story. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce that she, being a virgin, would give birth to God’s Son, Mary asked, “How can this be?” To which Gabriel replied, “With God, nothing is impossible” (Luke. 1:37). So let’s talk about how the “impossible” becomes “possible.”
It’s true – From a human perspective, it is impossible to love Jesus in any capacity, let alone to place Him at the top of our list. If we could, then the Christian faith would just get dumped into the bucket of other world religions and philosophies that promote human solutions to spiritual problems. For us to love Jesus, God must do something. He must take the initiative, just like He did with Mary. The Bible is consistently clear that our capacity to love comes from God, and that capacity to love is given as a gift to all those who are “born of God.” (1 Jn. 4:7).
“Born of God! What’s that?” In a conversation with a religious leader who came to Jesus at night inquiring about His extraordinary ministry, Jesus told him that he had to be “born again.” As he was trying to figure out what Jesus meant by that, Jesus stepped in to help him understand the concept, and proceeded to tell him that one’s first birth is by natural means (from the flesh), but the second birth is spiritual (from the Spirit) (see John 3:1-8). And in that spiritual birth (or we might say “rebirth”), one receives the gift of “life,” that is, spiritual life from God. And it is that life that gives us the capacity to love Jesus above all other affections, and other people as well, including those whom we might consider to be “enemies.”
And how does one experience that “spiritual birth?” Jesus said it over and over again, simply “BELIEVE.” Believe in the ancient story found in God’s Word, a story that kings and priests and prophets heard long ago. It was the story of a sacrifice in which blood would flow to pay sin’s price (lyrics from the popular Christian song, “Lamb of Glory”). Believe that Jesus is God’s sacrificial Lamb who came to redeem you from the penalty and power of sin; Believe that He paid the price for your sins when He died on the cross; Believe that He rose again; and Believe that by confessing your sins to Him He will forgive you and give you “life,” a “life” that lasts for eternity.
By believing, you will be “born of the spirit,” and have the capacity to love Him above all other affections. It’s a “God-thing.” Remember, love is a gift of God, and you will never be able to love unless He gives you that gift. He gives it to everyone the moment they “BELIEVE.” And that’s the answer to the “How can I love Him” question. You can’t do it until God gives you the gift of “life.” And then you can love Him because He has given you His “life,” and in that “life” is the capacity to love.
The most memorized verse in the Bible is this, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). There it is again, “….whosoever believes in Him….” The “whosoever” includes you. No sense in putting it off! If you have never done so, do what Jesus asks of you – just “BELIEVE.”
