Living As Jesus Did...

This morning I am continuing my working through John's first letter.  His letter is loaded with good stuff, and this morning's verses are no exception - 1 John 2:3-6 NIV:

[3] "We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. [4] Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. [5] But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."

Again, the context for these comments is clearly relationship, for he talks about coming to know Jesus.  The Greek word in use is Ginosko and it means the following:

1. to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel
    a. to become known
2. to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
    a. to understand
3. to knowJewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
4. to become acquainted with, to know

So often when people read these sentences, I think they might get caught up on the word  "commands" and think that this is all about obedience, and such.  When I read these sentences I understand it to mean that if we really enter into relationship with the Lord, we are changed, and start to become more like Him.  Relationships are based on relational paradigms, not commands and obedience, as in a ruler and subject, where the subject has no choice but to obey.

I believe that what John is getting at here is that when we come to really know Jesus, we start understanding His incredible love for us, the fact that He is our advocate and helper, the fact that He has paid the price for our sins that we might have relationship.  It is in that context that we being to understand His love for us includes His plans and purposes, His perfect will which is for our absolutely best life possible.  As we get to know Him we begin to love Him, and that love is what opens our life to His "commands" which are His desires for us, His hopes for us, His plans for us which we are free to embrace because we understand His love.

The bottom line is that when we come into relationship with the Lord, we are affected and our lives bear witness to that change.  It is just like when I fell in love with my soon-to-be wife, my life was changed, and others could observe that change.  To say that I was in love with her, but to not change my lifestyle, and not desire to spend time with her, and not begin to live my live in such a way to bring her pleasure and joy would indicate the opposite, and I would be lying.  That is John's point here -  if we say we are in relationship with Jesus, but our lives are not affected, then we are lying.  The affect of relationship with Jesus is that we become more and more like Him, for His life becomes our life (Col 3:3).

John says this very clearly in verse six. "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6 NIV)    Jesus two primary commands are to live our lives the way He lived.  We are to love God and love one another.  This is the model for our life that Jesus passed to us, loving Him and loving each other.  The two are inseparable and are supposed to be the foundations of our lives.  If we live a life of love, mercy, compassion, and grace towards one another we are living like Jesus did.  If we live a life of relationship with Him, we live like He lived, for His was a life of embracing relationship with the Father.

So let us embrace relationship with the One who loves us! Let us allow His love to wash over into our lives, changing us as we reflect His Glory and love Him and one another!

Amen!