ON LOVE; PART DCCLVII
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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.
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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).
As we continue with our thoughts on grace and Love as the Presence of God and the revelation to men of His Truths as these flow into the consciousness of the man in the world whose focus IS upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, on the things of God, we should try to understand this as one part ONLY of the reality of grace and of Love which ARE, in our view, essentially the same. This link between the ideas of grace, Love and His Presence ARE presented to us by the Master in His words from the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel that we have been discussing and while the link to the reality of the Holy Spirit IS also offered in His words, this Truth must be discerned from the totality of His sayings and from the understanding that the very Presence that He promises IS the Spirit of God as this IS revealed to men. While the promise IS rather clearly stated, many DO NOT understand His intent; neither that these promises ARE the Presence of God nor that there IS a cost for this measure of grace. We read Jesus’ words again:
“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. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
What IS clearly stated here IS the Truth of His Presence; first in the True meaning of the Greek word emphanizo which IS rendered as manifest and which should be understood as the lexicon defines this for us: to manifest, exhibit to view; to show one’s self, come to view, appear, be manifest; to indicate, disclose, declare, make known 2. This IS a spiritual revelation of the Christ in the Life of the man in the world and yet more; this IS also the reality of His words saying “I will love him” and in this we should be able to see His grace, His Love and His Presence in this spiritual revelation of Truth. We KNOW from the next verse that the Apostle Judas DOES NOT understand this Truth that the Master tells the Twelve and we should try to see here how that the question IS based in Judas’ NOT seeing the idea of reciprocal nature of this Presence. And while the Master DOES NOT explain the deeper Truths here, we should be able to see them as that when one “hath my commandments, and keepeth them“, that his focus IS on the things of God and that it IS based in this focus that one finds His Presence. There IS NO special gift or dispensing of grace, there IS ONLY the natural action of the Presence of God in one’s Life as this flows to him from his God Within. The Master’s answer DOES NOT include this idea that the natural action of keeping His words is one’s focus upon the things of God and we should understand that this cuts both ways: the natural action of one’s focus upon the things of God IS that he will keep His words. Jesus answer IS then to show His same idea in very similar terms; the man’s responsibility IS the same, to Love Him and to keep His words and the result IS the same, His Presence in one’s Life, but in this second saying this IS presented in the different idea of abode. The ONLY difference in Jesus’ two statements here IS that in the latter He shows that both the Presence IS of both the Father and the Son and this IS a point that should be clearly understood before He says it here.
The Master’s answer to Judas IS then but a repetition of his former saying and DOES LITTLE to Truly answer the question; the True answer IS left to the apostles to discern from His words and here we should see that Jesus repeats the True answer three times here: first He says “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me“; then He says “If a man love me, he will keep my words:“; and finally He says “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings” from the negative perspective. In each of these sayings we see the causative idea for His Presence and the reality of the answer to the question that Judas asks; here we see that His Presence comes to the man who will keep His words….to ALL that ARE in the world who will DO so. It IS upon the conclusion of these thoughts on His Presence in the Life of the man who keeps His words, that the Master comes back again to His talk of the Holy Spirit and this IS presented in a similar parabolic way as ARE the ideas above. We must connect the dots; we must discern the True import of what He says as He speaks of the spiritual Presence of God in the Life of the man who keeps His words and then shows us that it IS this Presence that “shall teach you all things” which IS His revelation of Truth and the realization of that Truth by the consciousness of the man. And this Presence IS His Love and His grace, as His Love for the man who receives this Presence and the revelation of His Truths. This IS the deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit as HeIS presented as the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth and as the Holy Spirit as we read again:
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence” (John 14:26-31).
Other than the Truth that this IS the Spirit of God, there IS little that we can say about the Holy Spirit from the Master’s words and, as we previously discussed, we can see that He alludes to Himself as this Spirit which we read as “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:15-18). Here we have that same idea of keeping His words as the gateway to this Presence of God as the Holy Spirit and, in the twist at the end we can see that this IS the Presence of the Christ as well. Again, these ideas ARE NOT clearly stated but in the whole of His words here, this reality of the Presence of God, of ALL of the Aspects of God, are shown to us in the Unity that they Truly ARE in God and in the Life of the man who keeps His words. Now the idea of the Presence of God as His grace and His Love should be clearly seen in the above words and ideas and the Love of man for God should be seen clearly here as well. In these same words the Master equates our Love for Him, our Love for God, with keeping His words and this IS succinctly stated as “If ye love me, keep my commandments“. In the former idea we have the Love of God and here we have the idea of man’s Love for God and, in His words we should see that His Love, His grace and His Presence, are offered to the man in the world who Loves Him and keeps His words.
This sense of Love DOES NOT mean that our God who IS Love DOES NOT Love ALL men as Souls and ALL of His creation in this world with equanimity and it IS here that it becomes important to understand the meaning of this Love first and its application in Life in form second. Addressing the second part first, we should understand that the Love of God IS His Presence as the realization by the man in the word to whom He manifests, the man with whom He makes His abode, and this works our in a most natural way as we discuss above. This IS the application of His Love in the Life of the man in the world and in this we should understand that the Presence of God IS always with each man although this will be totally unrealized by the man whose focus IS on himself and his own interests in the world. When we can understand this reality of Life and see the nature of the Christ as the Son of God who IS the Christ Within each man, his Soul, then perhaps we can glimpse the True meaning that the Apostle John offers us in the Prologue to his gospel as he says:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:1-9).
While doctrines see these ideas ONLY in the person of Jesus, the deeper Truth here IS of the Christ; that Aspect of God which the IS the Soul that came among us as Jesus and that aspect of God that IS the Soul of everyman. Jesus brought the fullness of that Light into His Life in this world and the apostle here IS telling us that this Light IS Life and that it IS the Life of Jesus as well as “the life was the light of men“….ALL men. Now we can see this idea in John’s saying that the Christ “was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” and we should see the darkness as the way of men in the world, that they DO NOT see the reality of the Light, they have NO realization of the Light. As we paste ALL of these ideas together we should be able to see the ideas presented here by the Master regarding His Presence which IS such realization. We should of course see the idea of darkness as ‘of the world’ that men ARE born into this darkness, and we should try to see this in the same way as we see the words from the Apostle Paul saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20). This IS the nature of Life in this word and whether we see this as darkness or as vanity, it IS the same illusion and glamour of which we often speak, and it IS in the reality of the Light which IS the Presence of God realized by the man in the world that we find the Path that leads us to the Kingdom of God. In this we should also see how that the Presence of God IS shown to us in the more general teachings of the Master; before He shows His apostles and us the idea of the Unity of God and how that we ARE as He IS, as the Christ Within the form of the man in the world, Jesus offers more parabolic words to the gathered crowd which we read as: “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Again, we must paste togethter the separate ideas that ARE presented and understand that to follow Hin IS to keep His words and, that in so DOING, one’s focus moves from the things of the world to the things of God….from darkness to Light.
The Christ Within us IS the same as the Christ Within the Master and we must try to see that the difference in that He IS expressing the fullness of this Light which Paul shows us as “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). For us there is the promise; the promise of His Presence in the Life of the man who keeps His words which IS the realization of the Christ Within, the Light of the Soul, in the consciousness of the man in the world. This IS the same promise that the Apostle Peter tells us of saying: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust“. Here, while we should see the reality of keeping His words in Peter’s saying that the man who can partake “of the divine nature” IS the man who has escaped the ways of the world, he also shows us in the previous verse the idea of the realization which IS the Truth that “through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3). The point in this ALL is the that Love of God IS present with every man in this world as the Christ Within which IS every man’s share of His Love, the Love “which lighteth every man that cometh into the world“, as His Universal and global grace; it IS the realization of these things by the consciousness of the man that IS the individual grace from God through the God Within; this IS the promise for the man who keeps His words.
Here again we see the Love of God and our Love for God in more practical terms and we will continue along this line in the next essay as we try to define these ideas in usable terms as we come back to the final point of our Love for ALL men. Repeating our sayings from the First Epistle of John:
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect , that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen , how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:7-21).
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.
We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
