Love Came Down

For this is how God loved the world... (John 3:16)

This is how God loved the world, he sent his son. God exists agape love (1 John 4:16). And "the Son is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature..." (Hebrews 1:3). God is love and Jesus is the exact radiance of his glory, thus existing love. Because God so loved, love came down.

Friends, let us love one another because loves exists from God and all the ones loving are born of God and know God (1 John 4:7).

Loving one another is how we are known as children of God. If we know God and claim to be mature in his character then the representation of God's character would be reflected in us. "The one not loving doesn't know God because God is love" (1 John 4:8). In this the love of God is revealed in us because love came down and we live and love through him (1 John 4:9)

In this is love, not because we loved God rather he loved us... (1 John 4:10)

He came down to give himself a sacrifice acceptable to God, to reconcile man to God, this is love. Because he loved us he gave himself up to establish a new covenant and gives of the promised Holy Spirit so we should be called children of God and if children then heirs of the promise. The promised Holy Spirit testifies we are his and pours out his love into our hearts, in our most inner being we know we are his and loved.

and we know and trust the love which God has in us, God exists love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him (1 John 4:16)

Because God is in us and he exists love, we have come to know him and trust in his love. If we know of God and how he loves us then we would love like he does. "This is the charge we have from him, the one loving God also must love his brother" (1 John 4:21). The one who says 'I love God; but hates his brother is a liar, for the one not loving his brother whom he sees cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). For this is the love of God that we keep his charge (1 John 5:1). Loving one another his brethren is a sign of keeping his charge, of being his disciples (John 13:35)

in this the children of God and the children of the devil exist revealed... (1 John 3:10)

This is the word given to us. From the one who came down from God, who exists the radiance of his glory, and represents his character and nature. If we know him he lives and abides in us and he exists love therefore so do we. This is how good and evil is revealed in this world, as we become like him we love like him. Love came down and revealed God's love to us so we are called children of God, the world can not understand this because it doesn't know him (1 John 3:1). The children of God, good and evil, are revealed by their nature; good practices righteousness and loves.

now, if any loves God, he is known by God (1 Corinthians 8:3)

You are known by him because he is in you and you know his love. Jesus will say to some I never knew you depart from me and he associates knowing with loving his brethren. I hope God's love is revealed to you and you too become a child of God. What we speak of, agape love the world can not understand because we exist not of the world (John 17:15-19). The world hates us because it doesn't know God. So what about the world? How are we to love the world who hates us by our very existence?

that they all may be one, just as you Father are in me and I in you so they also exist in us so that the world believes because you sent me. Just as the glory which you give me I give to them so that existing one just as we are one. I in them and you in me so that existing fully one so that the world may know you sent me and love them even as you love me (John 20:23)

The same Spirit Christ gives to us, one of power and love so we may be one, is how the world knows we are from him and loves as he does. Those the Father gives will exist of his glory and see his glory because the Father loved them before the creation of the world. We do not have the strength to grasp the fullness of such love, we at first need a foundation to build upon then we may have strength to lay hold of more of his infinite love, that which has no bounds, and brings us into the fullness of God. Oh, how we struggle to know how we are fully known as beloved children.*. We too will see and exist of his glory, one day knowing fully, at present looking into his face in which shines the glory of God.

Love came down for this reason so the glory of God exists in us, and we know how much God loves us. The world will believe we are his disciples by our love for one another. The world will know he exists from God because his children exist as one in his glory and love. When God's children are filled to the fullness of God the world will know of him, of this love that came down.

Oh Holy Night

...

O night when Christ was born!

...

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

...

The Tripartite Nature of Humanity: Spirit, Soul, and Body

The Tripartite Nature of Humanity: Spirit, Soul, and Body in Biblical Understanding The human being, as depicted in the Bible, is a multifaceted creation, often understood through the distinct yet interconnected components of spirit, soul, and body. While some theological perspectives lean towards a bipartite view (soul and body), which we do see in the Old Testament, a careful examination of the New Testament scripture reveals a compelling case for a tripartite understanding, where each is divided into or composed of three parts. Let’s explore the biblical distinction between spirit, soul, and body. The Body: Our Earthly Vessel The body is the physical form that interacts with the material world. From the very beginning, Genesis 2:7 states, " Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being ." This verse clearly establishes the body's origin from the earth, emphasizing its connec...

True Widows: A Biblical Perspective

True Widows: A Biblical Perspective Throughout Scripture, God's compassion for widows is evident. He is portrayed as their defender, provider, and source of justice. The Bible repeatedly calls believers to care for widows, reflecting God's own heart for the vulnerable. However, in his letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul provides a specific definition of a "true" widow, emphasizing the church's responsibility in supporting those who are genuinely in need. God's Compassion for Widows The Old Testament is rich with passages that reveal God's concern for widows. In Exodus 22:22, God commands, "You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child." This verse underscores His protective nature, ensuring that widows are not mistreated or neglected. Similarly, Deuteronomy 10:18 declares, "He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing." Here, God is depicted as a just and loving prov...

The Persuasion of Faith: Theological Foundations of Trust, Persuasion, and Transformation

The Persuasion of Faith: Theological Foundations of Trust, Persuasion, and Transformation Introduction The interconnectedness of faith and trust lies at the very heart of Christian theology, yet these terms are frequently conflated or oversimplified in both personal devotion and academic discourse. The Greek root of "faith," πείθω ( peithō ), meaning "to be persuaded," provides critical insight into biblical faith, suggesting that faith involves a process where conviction is formed through persuasion—one that originates from the trustworthy character and actions of God. Contrary to interpretations that require blind obedience or uncritical acceptance, the Christian Scriptures depict trust not as a demand, but as a relational response to God’s persuasive self-revelation. This dynamic is embodied in the ministry of Jesus, who consistently subverts authority structures by exalting humility, service, and self-giving love as prerequisites for true greatness—a recurr...

My Rightousness

" Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb...

Word Of Life

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life. " 1 Jesus is the Word, He was in the beginning with God. 2 All things were made through Him. He is the Word and Light of men, the way, the path, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." 4 Thus we can say as the Psalmist, Jesus, the Word, is a Lamp unto my feet, and a Light unto my path. 5 "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." 6 Concerning the Word of Life, " the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life ," Proclaimed, that our joy may be complete, a glory like that in the beginning, fellowship with the Father, with one another, and with his Son Jesus Christ, the Word of Life. "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot...

Law of the Heart

" The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him " (John 14:21). Most people think this means obeying the ten commandments or Mosaic law. While obeying the law is important there is a greater meaning. The commands are the ones God said he would write on our hearts. “ I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people " (Jeremiah 31:31-34). This is the new covenant, in which we are the heirs through Jesus Christ who is the first (Romans 8:23; Colossians 1:13-18). The heirs of Abraham are made righteous through faith, for if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is void and the promise nullified (Romans 4:13-14). The righteousness of God has been manifested, through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe (Romans 3:21-22). What the law could not do, in bringing right...

I Will Awake Like Him and Be Satisfied

I Will Awake Like Him and Be Satisfied Psalm 17:15 frames the believer’s hope as both present communion and future consummation: “ As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness .” This essay develops Charles Spurgeon’s reflection by adding the biblical emphases that we are being conformed to Christ now, that the Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies, and that our final awakening will reveal the full redemption of those bodies in Christ’s likeness. Present beholding and present transformation We already “behold the face of the Lord in righteousness” because Christ’s righteousness has reconciled us and opened intimate access to God. That beholding is not passive sight but an active, formative encounter: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Faith fixes our gaze ...

Stay In The Fold

I have other sheep which are not of this fold. These too I must bring in. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock, with one shepherd (John 10:16) Two becoming one speaks that there is only one fold in the new covenant, and being part of this fold is not based upon the fleshly birth but of the Spirit, so both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus will enter the fold where Jesus is the Good Shepherd. A sheepfold is a robust fenced enclosure to protect the sheep gathered within it. Figuratively Jesus uses the idea that we are sheep in his fold. When comparing God's children to a flock or sheep in his fold we see he calls them by their name, and they follow him because they know his voice (John 10:3). When he brings the sheep out [of the fold] he goes before them and they follow him because they know his voice (John 10:4). They will not follow a stranger's voice because they do not trust his voice, but they know the good shepherd will protect them and care for an...

Sons of Abraham

Know then, the one through faith, these exist the sons of Abraham . * The sons of Abraham exist by faith. Faith exists things that are not seen by the earthly man but of those who are heavenly, these have assurance, conviction, and hope in Jesus Christ. Qualification of being a son of Abraham is not based upon the flesh, it is not based upon the covenant of circumcision and it is not based upon the covenant of the Law which came later, but is based upon Grace, so that the promise comes to all, not just those under the Law but also those of the faith of Abraham. Through faith, according to grace, one exists a son of Abraham. Now the promise was spoke to Abraham and to his Seed, not saying 'and to seeds' referring to many except 'also to your seed' referring to the one Christ. * The word seed is also translated as descendant, so the promise was always referring to one descendant. Seed is singular meaning one person, from the lineage of David, fulfilled in Jesus Chris...

Divine Persuasion

" I say to you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner repenting. " 2 This word for repent is metanoéō (from metá, "changed after being with" and noiéō, "think.") Oh many have misused this word. We are changed after being with Jesus. The woman at the well was changed after being with Jesus. The Bible says repentance is of the will of God, without regret. This word for " without regret " means not to be repented of, about which no change of mind can take place. Repentance like faith, a Divine Persuasion. Repentance is a change of mind that we do not change our minds about, or repent of. We know that the mind regulates the heart and the word of God discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart thus it is through the mind the power of God is manifested in our hearts. Through the mind we are divinely persuaded or convinced of God. " Indeed, according to God the heart-sorrow repentance without regret produces salvation,...

Love Fulfilled Ministry

Search This Blog