[Therefore] … if [you have] any comfort from his love…
Summary: As we continue through Paul’s checklist, we are reminded that being broken before God is a prerequisite for finding comfort in his love.
In this passage, Paul provides us with a kind of “pre-flight” checklist.
When I was young, my dad owned a small plane, but it was a very simple one. No electrical system or fancy-dancy navigational equipment. Just magnetos for electrical power and a good, swift pull on the prop for a starter.
Mags on? CHECK
Fuel on? CHECK
Carburetor heat on? CHECK
Controls free? CHECK
That’s it. Dad would yell, “CLEAR” before starting the engine, and then we were bumping down the grass runway until we lifted off and soared up into the air. The checklist gave us confidence that everything would be okay.
Paul’s list is simple, too. We’ve talked about receiving encouragement from Christ, so let’s move on to the next item on the list. Have you received any comfort from his love?
As simple as this question is on the surface, the roots of it run deep,
To receive Christ’s love, you have to know him. Not just in a “Yeah-I-met-him-down-at-the-church-once” sort of way, but really know him. Even reading about him isn’t enough. You can read about someone famous, but that doesn’t mean you know them.
Knowing Jesus happens when we are broken by this world (Matthew 5:3-12). Being broken means that the walls of our pride collapse. Standing alone, surrounded by the rubble of our pride, we are able to see clearly. We see the God our pride denied was real, and we see our sin: that ugly black stain that pride told us was good.
Being loved by Jesus happens when we accept that he accepts us (John 3:16-18).
Being accepted by God is the antidote to everything the world has to offer. The world is full of rejection, hate, competition, and insecurity. The world offers pain.
Christ endured everything the world had to offer, and it killed him (Acts 2:22-24). Then God raised him up from the dead and set him on his eternal throne (Acts 2:36).
This is the same Jesus who said, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:21)
Are you broken yet? If you have turned to Jesus, then you have felt comfort from his love.
Application: Stay broken.
Food for Thought: How does being loved by Jesus change who we are?
A few months back the Holy Spirit led me to a realization about myself. I do believe it is fruitful to remember our passing through the cross, the “I used to be, but now I am.” Remembering the transformative power of Christ. When we remember how we used to think, act, and the desires of our heart before knowing Jesus, remembering that He died out of love for us, to free us from the hold sin had on us, to restore us to God through Him, and how we are a new creation with Him and by Him, it humbles us in gratitude, thanksgiving, and praise. We are able to live in the hope He has given us.
All that to say, the realization that the Holy Spirit led me to was that God created each of us individually and for a specific purpose. He gave us talents and abilities, crafted our personality, gave us our spirit. I think this has been said many times before, but I must have missed the true internalization of that truth. I finally understood that when we use what God has given us for His glory do we realize what a tremendous gift He has given. How effective He is as He works through us. When we use them in anger, resentment, or to gratify the flesh, we give Satan credit for who we are. We say “I am this way because of something that happened to me.” “I am entitled to be that way because…” When I understood this and set my heart to give God glory for who He created me to be, the old fell away in great measure. It was like another veil was torn away from my heart. I began to see the one that Jesus loves. The one He created to glory God.
How does being loved by Jesus change who we are?
Being loved by Jesus means He loves us for who He created us to be, and with His Spirit living inside of us we are able to see the image of that creation. I’m not saying I love the image of myself, I am saying I love the image of Christ within me, and His impact on my life. It has changed how I view myself, and the world around me. I can see the fulfillment of His promises in my life and in the lives of those around me that call Him Lord. Without Christ, I am incomplete, with Christ, I am complete. A new creation. His love has changed me because I am complete in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Ephesians 4:23–24 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Thank you, Chris.
I guess feeling complete in Christ is one of those things a person has to experience to truly understand.
Great stuff CH! Thank you!
Being loved by Jesus is a miracle beyond my comprehension. Although I know it is important to try to comprehend and to grow in that comprehension.
Ephesians 3: 17b – 19: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Thank you, Rich!
So true! Christ’s love for us is truly a miracle!
AWESOME CH, THANK YOU!!
How does being loved by Jesus change who we are?
Receiving the love of Jesus is to be rised from death to Life.
Ephesians 2:5-7, Made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Our salvation through Jesus Christ is the greatest, most powerful event of our entire lives, and for a period of time, two weeks, maybe four, we are for the first time, fully spiritually alive in our Lord. Then the powers of the physical self and world around us begin seeking to regain control. However, God has other plans!
Philippians 1:6, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:29, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Our lives will change, just as Pauls life as a totally dedicated persecutor of all things of Christ, became a totally 100% supporter, teacher of Jesus, gave his physical life for Jesus.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here. 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Peter 1:3, Galatians 2;20, Ephesians 2:10
Ron,
Thank you for pointing us to the knowledge of Life in Christ beyond this physical life. That truly is a life-changing event! (No pun intended!)