Love One Another – God Loves you just as God the Father loves Jesus the Son of Man*
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love you just the way you are now, and exactly as God the Father loves Jesus the Son of Man*, therefore we are to love ourselves and one another in just the same way.
John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:9,12, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; … 12 … love one another, just as I have loved you.”
John 17:22-23, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
John 17:25-26, “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Following the finished work of Christ at the Cross*, God’s love, that is, God the Father’s love for Jesus the Son of Man has been graciously and unconditionally offered to all people everywhere.
Therefore, it is not necessary for us to change anything in order to be loved, accepted, and pleasing to God.
We are already loved, accepted, and pleasing to God just as we are, all and only because of the finished work of Christ, and the Grace of God extended to all people based on Christ’s finished work.
There is nothing anyone can ever think, say, or do that can change what Christ has done for us or change what Father God has so graciously offered to us based on what Christ has done.
One way to view this kind of ‘love’ is to consider it the preeminent Fruit of the Spirit, comprised of the constituent fruits of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
And one way for us to grow in this kind of love is for us to Renew Our Mind (Part 1 and Part 2)*. Romans 12:2, Eph 4:23, Phil 2:5
That is, one way for us to grow in the experience and expression of this kind of love is for us to change our mind about God, about ourselves, and about one another. And one way of doing this is to better understand how God loves us. That is, better understand how God perceives us, how He thinks and feels about us, and His attitude toward us.
Each of us can understand to some extent how Father God must love Jesus the Son of Man, and what Father God must think and feel about Jesus.
Imagine how much the perfect Father God loves Jesus the perfect Son of Man, and then put yourself in the place of Jesus; he put himself in our place on the cross so that we can put ourselves in his place in the heart of the Father’s love.
As we contemplate, meditate upon, and visualize Father God loving Jesus, and as we take time to rest in the heart of the Father’s love for Jesus, we can then expect to grow in our experience and expression of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control toward others.
Jesus the Son of Man was judged, found guilty, condemned, and punished by God the Father for the disobedience of all humankind. And lest we misrepresent, dismiss, or disown the meaning and value of his sacrifice we are to avoid judging, accusing, and condemning ourselves and others for any reason.
Matthew 5:43-45, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
It has been said the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. It might be said we enjoy him most when we are experiencing the Father’s love for Jesus the Son of Man, and we glorify him most when we are loving ourselves and others just as Father loves Jesus.
| Also see |
|---|
| * Jesus the Son of Man |
| * Following the finished work of Christ |
| * Renewing Our Mind (Part 1) |
| * Renewing Our Mind (Part 2) |
| The Purpose and Premise of this Website |
| The Love of Others Redefined |
