Love

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In Love, not Fear

At the death of Jesus, God, the Father, separated Himself from Jesus, the Body and in doing so suffered the pains that are associated with sin, such as anxiety, jealousy, hatred, rage, discord, envy, because in reality He was allowing the punishing of Himself..

Although God is God and can do whatever He wants, His nature, shown throughout the Old Testament ( as totally rejecting sin), caused Him to reject Jesus for a brief moment, just as He did Adam and Eve, just as He cursed Cain, killed all except Noah and his family, and continued to reject, leave, punish, and/or kill some Jews and Gentiles alike throughout the Old Testament (s).

God loved His people, but sin caused a separation between God and man, and only His mercy allowed a re-uniting of Himself with man.

Like the father and the prodigal son, the Father again and again, in unwarranted forgiveness (mercy), put all behind and let man start anew.

Man in general, did not learn of God's love from this, but instead learned fear and mercy, and so in repentance turned from sinful acts, and to God, repenting in fear and expectation of restoration, but not in love.

The big revival of the Jews, in 445 B.C., found in the Book of Nehemiah, had no love, and lacking the knowledge of God's PLAN, was short lived, as we see in the Book of Malachi.

By reading Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi in that order, Christians will see:

God was again displeased ........................

Realizing that God suffered each time man sinned, we can better understand how much God suffered when He took all of man's sins upon Himself at the death of Jesus.

By this single act, God has now already suffered for man's past sins, AND to be committed sins.............

He doesn"t ' have ' to separate Himself from man, even when he sins........

because He already has so severly suffered !!!!! Lk22:

And so now you can live in His new Agreement, the New Testament, and believe that the Spirit of Jesus will be with you always. Jn 14:16

Furthermore, you should now realize the love God has for all ( John 3:16 ), and look back to that love, rather than only the fear and mercy displayed in the Old Testament (s).

This is not to say that God, in His Wisdom, does not punish.....

but if He does, it is discipline in the love a father has for a child.

The 'Nehemiah' Jews would have realized this, had they understood the lesson in the covenant 'in love, not fear' insisted upon by the king's son Jonathan, with David . There was a reason Jonathan required David to remake his vow,.. in love !!! This is God's desire !

" So Jonathan made a covenant with the family of David, and David swore to it with a terrible curse against himself and his descendants, should he be unfaithful to his promise. But Jonathan made David swear to it again , this time by his love for him, for he loved him as much as he loved himself 1Sam20:16 TLB"

And now, here we are, 2000 years into a New Covenant,

one made in love ( not fear), by God.

He is the maker,

we only need to learn the terms (conditions), accept, and obey !

In this plan of God's, we not only can get Life ( salvation ), we can get Life Abundantly....NOW, because God through the Holy Spirit of Jesus, will not leave ! Jn 14:18

We don't have to live as Saul did, with God's Spirit leaving. Also, we all have the assurance that " when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us:

love,joy,peace,patience,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness,and self-control;

Gal 5:22 TLB

Jesus died in fulfillment not only of the old Scriptures, but in fulfillment of this New Covenant. It is this death that Jesus refers to in John 3:16

But His death may be in vain for many who don't grasp His teachings, both in Word and examples, for it is only by following His teachings, being in obedience to Him, that we can be assured of Eternal Life with Him !

Jesus said " love the Lord thy God with all thy heart " Mk 12:30 KJAV........" If you love me,obey me" Jn 14:15 See also Jn 15:14,17..and....." your obedience is the measure of your love", Jn 15:13 TLB ....... He said " love others " Mk12.31 ...."When you are praying, first forgive others, if you don't forgive them, neither will the Father forgive you" Mk11:25.....

If, you are finding these teachings to be difficult, you as a Christian can discover that God gives the power, grace, to do all that He asks.

With your focus on Jesus, you will easily learn that to be true !!!

RETURN to Focus on Jesus

or click HERE to read about Forgiveness........