As Jesus began His earthly ministry, He entered into the synagogue at
Nazareth. He was given the book of the prophet Isaiah to read. He found the
following passage, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the
acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18,19). He calmly said, "this
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21). The
ministry of the power of love had begun.
This message of love was a strange message in the light of the understanding of the time,
indeed, in the light of man’s understanding of every generation. Jesus
proclaimed that the "kingdom of God cometh not with observation . . .
for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20,21). The
kingdom of God could not be seen with the eyes of man. The results of it
could be seen but the essence of true love could not be seen or be produced
for ultimately it is not of this world. It is a spiritual entity.
The essence of the message of Jesus and his early followers was
centered upon what God does for man. The message that was prevalent in the
time of Jesus, however, was focused upon what man does for God. The people
of God, before the preaching of Jesus, were consumed with the teaching of
the Pharisees, a religious sect of the Jews. They who "trusted in
themselves that they were righteous" (Luke 18:9) preached a message of
self-effort as the way to God. Everything was done for the enhancement
of the doer. Others were involved, but only when they were perceived
to be of use for the doer.
Jesus simply stated, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose
it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it" (Luke 17:33).
He said of His own life and His own ministry, "Believest thou not that
I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I
speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the
works" (John 14:10). Again, He said, ". . . the living Father hath
sent me, and I live by the Father . . ." (John 6:57). The mystery
of life is to live in and through the love of another.
Just as the Father had sent the Son and the Son lived by the Father, the early believers
were also being sent by the
Son and living by the Son as well (John 6:57). They lived in
and through the supernatural relationship of love.
When this issue is understood, it is not so surprising that it is also the
issue of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-5), the issue of the Children of
Israel going into their promised land (Deut. 1:22-46), and the issue of
every generation of believers (Gal. 5:16-26). The issue for man has always
been and will always be where he attempts to live his life. He will
live as an individual in his own accomplishments using others or he will
live experiencing his life in relationships with others willing to be spent
through the power of love.
|
Schedule