Love and life: the two basic concepts of our faith. For the past five weeks, we’ve been looking at various aspects of agape love. We’ve discussed its outreach, its forgiving nature, its healing properties, its freeing atmosphere, its attitude of faith. As we’ve been observing these various ingredients of Christian love, we’ve actually been digging into the very meaning of life itself.
The basic, bottom-line truth of our faith is that God loves you. He loves me. And because of His love, we can live with power, joy, freedom, confidence, eternally! An abundant life—a victorious, confident and an eternal life is all ours because of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. Jesus promised it in John 10:10. But what is abundant life?
A Joyful Life
The joyful life that Jesus promised is not one of constant laughter, gaiety, or grins. But it is a promised that, in spite of the pains, frustrations, and tears, we can have the inner joy and pea d that comes from knowing that God is in control.
A Worry-Free Life
An abundant life is one in which there is no worry or anxiety about what the future will bring. Jesus declared in Matthew 6, “DO NOT BE ANXIOUS.”
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Matthew 6:25
A Victorious Life
But the life that is ours in Jesus is not just abundant and overflowing. It is also victorious and overcoming! The promises of victory are too numerous to mention here. But in Matthew 19, Jesus told His followers that “with men, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.”
An Eternal Life
This life which is ours because of God’s love is eternal—it never ends. Though our physical bodies may grow old and one day die, our spirits (that part of our being in which God Himself swells) continues to live on. When we accept what Jesus did on the cross for us, we are no longer spiritually dead
To love and to be loved is to live in God. To live in God is to live in love—to know the healing, forgiving, faith-boosting power of love. And to live in the over-whelming power of God’s love is to know that His life-changing power must be shared with those around us who are not yet fully alive.
Let us, as followers of the Master, love one another with His love that we might also share His life.
