How Should I Live If He Loves Me? (Part 3)

As I was waking up and preparing to come downstairs to pray, I was starting to think about my  most recent topic - "How should I live if I believe God loves me?"  The first thought that popped into my head was the fact that God loved Jesus, and said that very clearly at the beginning of His ministry, as recorded in Matthew 3:16-17 NIV:

[16] "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. [17] And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

This same thing is true for each of us, God loves us and is well pleased with us!  That is and should be an amazing reality!  What that means to me is that Jesus' life of favor from God is a model for the type of life God the Father would have me live!  Jesus' life was lived as a man, fully obedient to the Father, in intimate relationship with the Father, but still fully man.  His life is meant to be an example of Kingdom life, of the reality that is available to each of us.

Jesus came to reveal the Father to us and one of the primary things He revealed was that the Father loves!  In His famous line recorded by John, Jesus refers to God's love as the primary motivation for His coming to earth - John 3:16-17 NIV:

[16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Love is and always has been God's primary motivation in relating to man.  His desire is for relationship, and His expression is love.  His love brings with it His provision and blessing, His interaction and His guidance.  God never intended for us to live outside of the knowledge of His love, and desires for each of us to discover His abounding love.  Once we discover His love, He desires us to walk in His love, in relationship with Him.

Jesus said it this way in John 17:20-23, 26 NIV:

[20] “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--- [23] I in them and you in me---so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

[26] "I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Did you get that, verse 23, that the Father loves us even as He loved Jesus and demonstrated that to the world?  He desires the same for us that He might be in us, and that He might give us His glory, and that in that way the world would see and believe!  Jesus' life is meant to be an example to us, and we are supposed to live in a similar way, that is the Father's desire!  Paul wrote the following - Romans 8:28-29 NIV:

[28] "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."

We are predestined to be conformed to the image (example) of Jesus, and He is the firstborn of many brothers and sisters, in other words we are called to be just like Him!  Amazing!

So my meditation this morning is that my life, in light of God's love for me, should take on conformity to the life of Jesus.  I should love others like Jesus loved, I should serve others like Jesus served, and I should have a relationship with the Father like Jesus demonstrated.  His healings, miracles and signs and wonders were all accomplished through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, in obedience to the Father through intimate relationship, and were meant to be a sign of God's love and desire to be known.  We are invited into that same reality, because He loves us even as He loved Jesus.  He loves each of us, even as He loved Jesus.  His interaction and indwelling Holy Spirit is supposed to be our normal life experience.  I am reminded of John 14:9-13 NIV:

[9] "Jesus answered: “Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? [10] Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. [12] Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

This morning I am encouraged to press into this life, this example of how my life should be.  I am encouraged and confident because I know that God loves me, even as He loved Jesus.  I am encouraged and confident in His ability to work in and through my life, because of His love. I am encouraged to press into the more that is available in His love, to not settle for simple head knowledge, but to press into experiential knowledge of His love and awesome power.

Lord, I desire more, and I know You want me to experience more!