Monday, September 25, 2017, 4:58 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Near the Cross.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read 1 John 2
(Select vv. ESV).
To Know Him
(vv. 1-6)
My little children, I am writing these things to you
so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and
not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know
that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I
know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in
him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By
this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to
walk in the same way in which he walked.
It is God’s will that we not
sin, which is why Jesus died on the cross for our sins, so that we might die to
sin and live to righteousness. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we
might become the righteousness of God. So, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we
are set free from slavery (addiction) to sin so that we can now become
bond-servants of his righteousness. Now we no longer walk (in lifestyle)
according to our sinful flesh, but we now walk (conduct our lives) according to
(in agreement with) the Spirit of God, and in the power and strength of God’s
Spirit now living within us (Ro. 8:1-17).
Yet, this is not to say that we
will never sin again. We probably will, at one time or another. But, sin should
no longer be our practice, for Satan no longer has a hold on our lives, for
Jesus set us free from his control. But, if we do sin, this also does NOT mean
that we are now back under condemnation, for Jesus provided the way for us to
come out from under that condemnation via his blood shed on the cross for our
sins. So, if we do sin, we repent of our sin, and we continue to walk in Christ’s
holiness. God will give us all we need to live godly and holy lives, pleasing
to him.
Yet, if we continue walking
in sin, and we make sin our practice, and we don’t practice obedience,
holiness, godliness and righteousness, then we don’t know God, and we don’t
have the hope of eternal life with God, even if we prayed the sinner’s prayer
and felt as though we received Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives. True
faith in Jesus Christ means death to sin and living to God (See: Lu. 9:23-25;
Ro. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Love and Hate
(vv. 7-11)
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an
old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the
word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am
writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is
passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the
light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother
abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever
hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not
know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Not only do we NOT have the
hope of eternal life if we practice sinning and if we don’t walk in obedience
to Christ’s commands, but we are still in darkness and without Christ if we
profess to be in the light but we are actively hating our fellow humans or our
fellow Christians. So, what is hate? Hate is the opposite of love. And,
Christian love prefers what God prefers, it embraces God’s will, and it makes a
practice of obeying God’s commands. Love, too, does no harm to its neighbors,
but it is kind, thoughtful, forgiving, and giving of oneself to others’ needs.
Hate is hostile, unforgiving, unkind, slanderous, harmful or wishing harm,
backstabbing, and the like. It is especially egregious for a Christian to
actively hate another Christian.
Don’t Love the World (vv. 15-17)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is
in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is
not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along
with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The world we are NOT to love is
NOT the people of the world, for God so loved the world that he gave his One
and Only Begotten Son to die on a cross for our sins, so that whoever is believing
in him might have eternal life with God. The world we are NOT to love IS the
world of sin, worldliness, wickedness, immorality, lust, hatred, violence,
envy, and adultery, etc. We are not to love it, embrace it, agree with it, join
in with it, become partakers of it, prefer it above all else, worship it,
idolize it or be entertained by it. Our hearts, passion, desire, time,
energies, thoughts and values should not be focused on what is worldly, fleshly
and temporal, but they should be centered on God, His Word and his values, and
on what has eternal value.
So, why do so many Christians
(or professing Christians) spend so much of their waking hours, money,
energies, passion and conversations on what is going to pass away, and on what
has multiple elements of immorality, impurity and idolatry in the mix? Why is
it that it appears so few professing Christians here in America make Christ, his
Word, his morals, his thinking and his values the primary focus of their daily
lives, 24/7? Why the discrepancy between their confession of faith in Christ
and the reality of Christ being lived out in their daily lives? And, why is
this considered the norm? And, if someone does truly follow Christ
wholeheartedly, why are they are considered weird and abnormal? Something is
wrong with this picture.
Do we not know that if we
embrace the world of sin, make it our practice, idolize it, and give it our
affections, passion, desire, minds and hearts, that we don’t have the love of
the Father within us? And, do we not know that those who practice following God,
and doing his will, are the ones who will abide with him forever? This world is
not our home. We are just passing through. None of the things of this world
should we idolize and make our gods, for they are not God, who is the ONLY one
to whom we should give such adoration, value, esteem, respect, honor, praise,
loyalty and devotion. We need to die to sin, self and to the world of sin and
the things of this world, and we need to live for God, his gospel, his Word,
his holiness and his righteousness, giving him our passion, desire, affections
and obedience.
Near the Cross
Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane
Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
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