LIVING IN THE LIGHT (continued)
We began this theme with a discussion of the plight of Christianity today interspersed with some ideas regarding God and how we might define Him. Today we will continue in basically the same vein with a discussion of where “today’s Christianity” has gone along with some ideas on God and Christ that seem to have eluded the churches and which can do much to correct their course.
It is a fact that there is ONE GOD and there is ONE Christ. The ONE GOD ever was and, as we saw in the prior post, Christ is ever ONE with HIM. We have then ONE God over all the Earth and this is the same ONE GOD that is worshiped by all world faiths and by all types of Christians regardless of what form their worship takes and regardless of by what names they call HIM. By deduction then, there is then ONE Christ over all the Earth and this because they are ONE, the Father and the Son, the Father and the Christ. Repeating our scripture from yesterday: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) and in this we know that the Word and Christ are the same. Now this is important because it brings to light the reality that Christ Is; that He is throughout the world. HE IS to believers and to non-believers, to Christians and Hindus and Buddhists and Muslims. If GOD is the GOD of all then Christ is the Christ of all because they are inseparable. It does not matter how people worship Him or by what names they call Him for if they are worshiping the Son of God, the Logos, the Word, the Christ or any name that reveals the Love and Wisdom of GOD, then they are worshiping Christ.
Now if this case can be made for all world religions, that they worship the same God and the same Christ even though they may not know it, what should be said about the Christian church and the people that should know Him. Should there not be total unity in the ranks of Christians. Should they not be able to understand that the acrimony that exists between the sects and denominations of the Christian churches in directly opposed to the teachings of Jesus and of the Apostles and the Saints. To have differing opinions is human, to insist that only your doctrine is right is carnal and generally self righteous and to disparage those who do not agree with your interpretation is against all that is Christian.
Jesus teaches us that we should have love one for another and says: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13;34-35) and this is a measure of our relationship with each other. We should know that the word love in this case is not the emotional based love of the human family, it is the spiritually based love of God. Strong’s defines this love which in the Greek is agapao and agape as: the active love of God for his Son and his people, and the active love his people are to have for God, each other, and even enemies***. In the relationship between churches, this kind of love seems to have been lost in the morass of feelings which is the common basis today in that we love what pleases us. The 1828 version of Webster’s dictionary says this about love: “In short, we love whatever gives us pleasure and delight, whether animal or intellectual; and if our hearts are right, we love God above all things, as the sum of all excellence and all the attributes which can communicate happiness to intelligent beings. In other words, the christian loves God with the love of complacency in his attributes, the love of benevolence towards the interest of his kingdom, and the love of gratitude for favors received“*.
The love of benevolence towards the interest of His Kingdom stands out here as the high ideal that this love should convey to us. The King James Bible translates this Greek word agape as charity in some places. Now the Strong’s definition for charity is the same as for love as they are the same Greek word. Webster’s from 1828 says this of charity: “In a general sense, love, benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men“*. Here, in this definition, is the high ideal intended in the gospels and the epistles regarding love brought down to interpersonal relations with all men. Today, we seem to have taken the charity out of agape and have left only whatever brings us pleasure and delight and no one can argue that this was the intent of Christ.
Returning to Jesus’ words on love we also see: “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends“(John 15:9-13). Now Jesus does not say that we should love only those we agree with and in the broader definition of charity we should see that we should have Goodwill toward all.
These sayings in John are usually interpreted that we should love our Christian brothers and not that we should have that universal love that Jesus teaches us. Remember that Jesus teaches us that: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. (Mark 22:39), using the same Greek word. We should all realize the universality of this love that Jesus preached and that is somewhere lost in the thinking about others that don’t agree with our views. When this is in the church it is very much against the teachings that the church purports to follow.
The rule of the day then should be love and charity which bring with them benevolence, respect and an attitude that whatever that it is that I would want for myself, I want for my fellowman. Sounds a lot like “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31) which for us is the Golden Rule and a rule that we should all follow.
ONE GOD, ONE Christ, ONE church under Christ; this should be the way and all should realize that the adherents of any of the denominations and sects of this ONE church have been attracted to it because it seems right for them at this time or because they were born into it or because its all they know. As much as we do not like others disparaging our doctrines and beliefs, we should not be disparaging others.
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:6). The same Spirit of God and of Christ flows through us all and in matters of Spirit we should look beyond the carnal nature and share love, charity and respect.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matthew 7:12). Today’s quote of the day fall well into the theme we have undertaken as well as all of life. If this simple and golden rule were followed there would be no war, no strife, no starvation….just the Peace of God.
- * Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
- *** Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
