ON LOVE; PART CMI
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is 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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
In the last essay we discussed what we see as the very nature of the Master’s teaching to world, that it IS in regard to the Way, the Truth and the Life of each man. While we DID NOT phrase our words in this way, this IS the meaning behind the Master’s words and actions as He instructs men to keep His words and as He teaches them the True meaning of Love. While much of Jesus’ teachings IS hidden behind the intentionally parabolic language that guards the Path to glory from the man whose focus IS NOT upon the things of God, the most important parts ARE left for us to clearly see. In His words on Love and in His words on living according to His words there IS great clarity, a clarity that goes unseen in the rites and the rituals and in the convenient interpretations of the doctrines of men. While most ALL doctrines see the Master’s death and resurrection as the greater Truth of what His Life with us should mean, they fail to see the Love and the humility with which He offered men the Truths of Life and they fail to understand the deeper message that IS hidden behind His actions and His example.
While most of the Christian world continues to rely upon their individual doctrinal sense of believing and faith, the greater reality IS found in our words from the last essay where we can see the intent of these Greek words pistis and pisteuo, which ARE rendered as faith and believing, as the KNOWING that comes to a man whose focus IS on the things of God. In these words we should try to see that it IS by the measure of one’s focus upon the Truth, the measure of one’s realization of the Truth, that a man will have proportionate measure of KNOWING which IS a singular sense of conviction about the things of God and which overwhelms the carnal and the doctrinal sense of things spiritual. This KNOWING, this conviction, IS without doubt and in this we should understand that doubt IS carnal and that it IS in the purity of one’s realization of Truth that doubt IS assuaged and finally overcome. We should try to understand that while much of the Master’s words reflect the end point; that they see the fullness of DOING according to His words, there IS as well the reality of degree and of measure that we understand and which IS coordinated with the reality and Truth of each individuals striving toward the One Truth which IS that fullness of his realization of the Presence of God in his Life.
And this IS what the Master teaches as He shows us what it IS that we should be focused upon and as He sets for us His example and the examples of His disciples for us to see and to follow. In His teachings on the Kingdom of God Jesus shows us Repentance and He shows us the importance of keeping His words which ARE the words of God….He shows us the Way of Love. This Love IS clearly depicted for us in a range of sayings; from His elevation of the concept of Love to the level of the Great Commandments which we have again at the top of our essay, to the deeper realities that can be found in His words which we call the Golden Rule which we also repeat above, to the depth of His words from the Sermon on the Mount regarding our relationship with everyman. And we should NOT forget the emphasis that IS placed upon Love as the Master teaches His apostles alone in the Apostle John’s Gospel; how that He frames Love as “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34) and other like sayings that reflect the reality that “These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:17).
It IS unfortunate that many see these particular words on Love from John’s Gospel as that Jesus IS addressing only their Love for each other rather than to understand that this Love IS for everyman as is depicted in the totality of His words and the words of His apostles. We should see the greater reality of Love as that it IS for everyman, that it IS even without “respect to persons” as the Apostle James shows us saying: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:8-9). While the apostle paints this in words of judging another by appearance, the deeper ideas ARE found in the simple words: that the Love that Jesus teaches us IS without “respect to persons” and that it encompasses ALL men. And this we should most clearly see through the Master’s words saying that we should “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” (Luke 6:27).
It IS this Love that IS God which IS the essence of His Truth and it IS in this Love that we ARE found keeping His words. This sense of equivalency IS clearly stated by the Apostle Paul and alluded to by James’ words above and there IS a great revelation here that yet goes unseen by most men. As Paul tells us that “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10) and that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14), we should be able to see our gateway to ALL spiritual reality. This spiritual reality IS as we have been discussing; this spiritual reality IS the Kingdom of God, it IS the Presence of God in one’s Life and this spiritual reality IS the privilege of discipleship. And these ideas ARE made abundantly clear by the Master who shows us that such spiritual reality as we show here IS the reciprocal action in the Life of the man who keeps His words. There IS NO thing hidden in these ideas:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). In this we see the privilege of discipleship and more….we see the Truth revealed to this man who keeps His words and we see the reality of deliverance in the freedom that the Truth brings; and this IS the greater Truth of salvation. As we have discussed in past essays, the Greek word that is rendered as “make you free” IS the same Greek word that IS rendered as delivered in Paul’s words to the Romans saying that for the man who IS “led by the Spirit of God” there IS the freedom that comes in the Truth that he “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:14, 21). Here, while many see themselves as being “led by the Spirit of God” and a part of this deliverance according to Paul, they DO NOT see the cost which they have yet to pay which IS that one must “continue in my word“.
- It IS with this privilege of discipleship that comes in keeping His words that we also have the reality of the Presence of God in one’s Life in this world….that IS, the realization of His Presence according to His words saying: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:21-23). While these words carry the full force of one’s realization of Truth, that same Truth that will set one free, and one’s realization of the Presence of God, this IS NOT the way this IS seen by most. Nor ARE His word on the “Spirit of truth“, the Comforter or the Holy Spirit seen as the reality of this Presence of God in the heart of the man in the world; the man who will keep His words. And while this reality of the Holy Spirit has taken on doctrinal meanings which ARE NOT Truly supported by Jesus’ words and while many have removed the reality of keeping His words from their understanding of His Presence, the Truth of ALL of this rather clearly stated by Jesus.
- Above we have the Presence of God in one’s Life or, better, one’s realization of that Presence which IS one’s realization of the greater Truths of His words; this IS in essence one’s realized understanding of the concept of Love and one’s ever increasing measure of focus upon the things of God. We also have above the reality of discipleship, the privilege of being called among those who DO keep His words and who ARE among those to whom “it is given” to “know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11). We should try to understand here that in Jesus words here this the idea of given IS the reality of the reciprocal action of the Presence of God, that the man KNOWS this Presence and the Truth that it brings by measure. In both of these ideas, in the realization of the Presence of God and in the privilege of discipleship, there IS a measurable growth of revelation and realization which IS seen in the expression of the man in world, the expression of the “fruit of the Spirit” if you will, which comes as the result of keeping His words. The third part of our spiritual reality IS attaining the Kingdom of God, of being accounted worthy of that Kingdom. While in the idea of one’s attaining the Kingdom of God there DOES NOT seem to be a sense of measure, this view IS contradicted by the Master who tells us of the growth of the Kingdom and that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). In this idea of within we should see the greater reality of the Presence of God and that to have this Presence IS to be in the Kingdom. And we should see how that this idea IS also the result of keeping His words. In Jesus’ saying that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21) we should easily see the criteria, the quid pro quo, that IS the gateway in His words and that this idea of “the will of my Father” IS the same as keeping His words.
While it IS easy for a man to say that he has the Presence of God in His Life, that he IS a disciple or that he IS accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God, the Master’s words set forth the True criteria for each of these aspects of our spiritual reality. That we keep His words IS this criteria; that we strive toward this goal IS the way of Life for the man who desires such spiritual reality; that we Love IS the central message and the Way par excellence that we DO keep His words. In the clarity with which the Master shows us this reality and the reciprocal action in one’s Life, we should see the totality of His message to us and it IS to deliver this message that He came among us. While in His death and in His resurrection there ARE also many things to be learned, none of this exceeds the Truths that He reveals in His teaching of His message of Love. That the world was against Jesus IS easily seen in His crucifixion and in the persecution that He endured but we must remember that the Master encouraged such persecution and that He foretold His own demise.
The world of men was living as men, they were focused upon themselves and the things of the world and this dynamic was at play in the secular and in the religious lives of the Jews and those around them. While it IS against this sense of focus that the Master teaches, it IS against those who presented themselves as religious that Jesus has the harshest words; it IS against the scribe and the Pharisee and the other rulers of the Jews who purported themselves to be in the grace of God but who at the same time DID NOT live according to the ways of God. It IS this reality that we should take from the death of the Master: that He gave His Life and that He endured the suffering to show the greater Truth of the hypocrisy of these men, these Jews who believed that they were right despite the Master’s presentation of the Truth.
And this IS what we should celebrate at Easter: NOT His death and resurrection ONLY but the message that He brought which was NOT seen through the illusion and the glamour of men in those days; men who saw their own relationship with God as of more value and held it in higher esteem than the presentation of the Master which exuded the reality of God. This was the ‘sin’ of men and in His death He shed His Light upon the spiritual lie that had become the Life of men and, for any who chose to follow Him, who chosse to keep His words, for them He took away this sense of sin and He set them upon the Path of Life. Jesus took the burden of the wrong focus of men upon His own shoulders as their teacher and their guide as He brought to the world the Truth of Repentance, the Power of Love and the reality that it IS in His words that one finds Life. In these ideas IS the greater reality of the Way, the Truth, and the Life which the Master Truly IS and which ideas He brought to the man who will hear His voice and follow Him.
We close today with these words from the Prophet Isaiah, words that have taken on the role of the prophets predictions of the Life of the Master for Christians and which include ideas that ARE yet firmly denied by the Jews. While we will discuss the prophet’s ideas in some detail in the next essays, we should note here how that one piece of the Jewish objection IS rather True; that it IS in hindsight that men can attribute Isiah’s words to individual aspects of Jesus Life, suffering and death and that much of their translations and the interpretations ARE in accord with the preconceived ideas of the doctrines established by the early church. We read:
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prisonc and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;d because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
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.
Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions.
Like the shining ones.
The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Today’s Quote of the Day is from the Dhammapada (on JOY)5; a collection of the sayings of the Buddha. These words and ideas ARE much the same as those we discuss in our In the Words of Jesus essays. And what is this freedom but the release of our hearts and minds from loving this life in this world and attaining the Presence of God. This word Joy has many meanings as DOES the idea of Love, but in the context that it IS used here we should see the idea that Joy IS Love, Joy IS health, Joy IS peace and that Joy IS without the burdens placed on a man by the illusion and the glamour of the ways of the world. We should try to see that it IS the antithesis of these ideas in hate, in affliction and in troubles that ARE among the possessions of the carnal man, that ARE among the “evil treasure of his heart” (Luke 6:45) according to the Master.
And it IS in the second stanza above that we see the basic psychic ideas that can eliminate the harm caused by such “evil treasure” as a man looks past himself and at the welfare of others which IS the greater reality of Love as the Master teaches us. It IS in losing such possessions, losing such carnal thoughts and attitudes, that one can truly find the “joy of freedom“….this IS the Truth of deliverance.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
