My last blog, The Marvelous Mediator, shared my thoughts on Job’s great need for a mediator between himself and the Lord. It also went into depth about how Jesus is that bridge to connect us with the Father and the reasons behind this salvation. I wrote: “The purpose of heaven, the greatest gift of eternal life, is knowing God (John 17:3). It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It never will be, not in this life or the next. It’s all about God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
Our purpose, the reason we were all created, is to give glory to God and make His name great: Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts (Isa 26:8). We were made to live in Him, move in Him, be in Him. That’s the aim of this life and the next: Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).
Let me explain a bit more. This all started as a message I gave to the church in Bulgaria in my first month of the Race. My notes are labeled August 14, 2011. These thoughts and ponderings were officially delivered on that day about six months ago, but they’ve been on my mind for much longer than that. I guess you could say that this is when I really internalized the theories and verses as something that legitimately made sense. As I continue to race around the world and see the Lord working in my life, it is a great confirmation. This is a message that I shared again last Sunday, so let me try and adapt it to blog format so that you can hopefully benefit from it as well.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength.
-Deuteronomy 6:5
I realize that if you’ve been in church for very long you have probably heard this often and you know that you should love God with everything… but why? Who is this God that he would command His people to love Him? Isn’t that a bit selfish? Does He need a boost in self-esteem? What a strange command!
Let’s investigate the God of Abraham to see what authority He has in commanding us to love him. I started in the beginning and looked through the Word. Here’s what I found to be true about the God’s character:
He is Creator. (Gen. 1) – What started out as a dark empty void ended with light, stars, oceans, mountains, plants, animals and humankind.
He is Relational. (Gen.) – God sought out Abram, revealing Himself and forming a covenant with Israel, His people.
He is Deliverer. (Exodus) – God takes His people out of Egypt and delivers them from Pharaoh’s stern rule.
He is Just and Righteous. (Exodus/Leviticus) – The Lord gives laws and orders sacrifices for sin to maintain a right relationship with His people.
He is Provider. (Exodus/Numbers) – In the desert God gave water, manna and quail to sustain the people. In 40 years their clothes and shoes did not wear out.
He is Warrior. (Joshua) – The Lord gave victory to Israel simply by having them walk around Jericho and shout at the top of their lungs.
He is Inclusive. (Joshua/Ruth) – He Loves outcasts and welcomes them into the family. Rahab the prostitute and Ruth the Moabitess are both included in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
He is a Refuge. (Psalms) – Countless psalms refer to God as protector, shield, refuge and mighty rock. He’s a shelter.
He is Wise. (Proverbs) – The Lord is the source of wisdom. He gives wisdom and discernment.
He is Faithful. (Jer./Ez./Dan.) – Even in the exile, God sends prophets to speak to his people. He is not restrained to a certain location, but goes with them wherever they are.
He is Sovereign. (Isa.) – God uses other enemy nations to punish Israel in times of rebellion.
He is the Restorer. (Hosea) – God seeks out His people after they’ve given themselves to other gods and brings them back to Himself.
He is Caretaker. (Amos, Isa.) – The Lord has a heart for the poor, widowed and orphaned. He desires justice for the weak and weary.
That’s just from the Old Testament, we haven’t even begun with the New…
He is Servant. Jesus, the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), left a heavenly throne to come as a baby, to show us the way to God and die on the cross.
He is Teacher. Jesus goes from town to town teaching in the synagogues with authority. He sits in boats and on hillsides to share knowledge with the people.
He is Healer. There are many miracles recorded in the New and Old testaments.
He is Powerful. Christ has authority over even the winds and the waves.
He is a Sacrifice. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). He took what should have been our punishment on Himself and died so that we wouldn’t have to.
He is everything that we could ever need or want. He is Life.
If you’re still tracking with me, give yourself a pat on the back and take a deep breath. We’re diving in now. Here we go…
Earlier we read Deuteronomy 6:5 where God tells us to love Him with our whole heart, soul and strength. But we had a question… why? We’ve now looked at who God is and if there were nothing else, no other reasons to love him, these factors would be enough. But the passage goes on… in case you don’t have a Bible nearby, I’ll type it out for you.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you – a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filed with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of slavery.
Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers….
The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.
Deuteronomy 6:5-18, 24
Did you catch that? Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you. God’s commands are for our good. They are not only for our protection, but for our enjoyment. Therefore, we follow the greatest commandment – love God with everything – because He is the best thing that we could love or follow or live in. In the New Testament, Jesus adds another piece to this already wonderful command… “Love the Lord your God…with all your mind.” Many other times in the New Testament Jesus would teach, “You have heard that it was said… but I tell you”. Murder used to be with your hands, but now it’s anger in your mind. Adultery used to be the physical act, but now it’s lust in your mind. Jesus constantly looks at the inner man—what comes from the heart. When you truly love the Lord with everything, it includes your mind and what you choose to put into it.
Going on, this command is not one that we can keep on our own. If we fail at even the smallest commandments as our sinful flesh often flares up to lead us astray, what makes us think we could truly love the Lord with everything we are? How do we do that?
Jeremiah 31:31-34:
“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
The Lord knows we are rebellious children. Israel broke the covenant of old even though God was faithful to them. We choose to go our own way even though God is good to us. Still, He pursues us. He makes a new covenant, putting the law on our hearts, inside of us. We don’t have to look to others to learn about the Lord because we will all know Him personally. When God pursues us and makes this new covenant, He is helping us to know Him, love Him, give Him everything!
Also, there’s encouragement in John. Jesus tells us: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you”(John 15:4). He wants that relationship. In fact, Jesus says, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (15:10-11). Jesus wants our joy to be complete and He knows that He is the only source of that joy. He reminds us: “apart from me you can do nothing” (15:5). Why would we not love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength? With Him we have all we could ever need or want, without Him we have and can do nothing.
As we wrap up, I hope you understand how simple and yet how revolutionary this is. The greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,” is not a selfish, egocentric plea from God to gain a higher self-esteem for Himself. It’s far from that. The greatest commandment is indeed made for us. It is on our behalf. It is for our good.
Thus, if we obey His commands (the greatest commandment above all else) we are able to remain in His love and in that love is where we will have complete joy. It’s a win/win and keep on winning situation. Because His glory and love are revealed to us, we are able to respond by loving and glorifying Him. It’s a beautiful picture where both parties find joy and satisfaction in knowing the other.
It’s like John Piper’s famous quote: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
