The Spirit of Love

the image of God

• John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 is what God our Father in Heaven is all about. Love as defined by God is giving to others. Giving of your substance to rescue and sustain those in need is love and is what the Law of God is all about. (Ex. 20:6, Lev. 19:18, Deut. 6:5, Mat. 22:37-39) God has made the ultimate sacrificial gift of love to all the world by giving the only gift that truly keeps on giving... Jesus Christ His only begotten Son.

God is a Spirit and God is Love (Jn. 4:24, 1^st Jn. 4:8, 16) and if you understand this you understand that God's Words given to man represent Him and since He is about love so are His spoken Words and His Word are His Laws and prophecies spoken through His prophets. God's Words reveal His thoughts to man. It stands to reason that since God is a Spirit and God is Love then His Words are an image of Him we can comprehend. One such example can be seen when Moses asked God to show him His glory. The word translated as 'glory' is in the Hebrew tongue 'Kavode' which also can be translated as weight as in substance. Substance can also be understood to mean 'nature' or character. God's Character is tied to His Holy Name and His Holy Name to His Glory. God is truly One and His Name one or unified. (Deut. 6:4, Zec. 14:9)

The Glory of God

There are many references in scripture to God's glory and many think they know what God's glory is but it is God Himself that defines what His glory (kavode) or nature is. Moses asks God “show me your glory”. Here is His reply.

• Exodus 33:18-23 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. (19) And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. (20) And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (21) And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: (22) And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: (23) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Consider that when Moses asked God to show him His glory God does so by proclaiming that He is merciful, gracious, long suffering, abundant in goodness and truth and who pardons sin. Moses did not actually see God's form. Moses could not actually see God's face and live but Moses could hear all about God's true nature and see His hinder parts.

• Exodus 34:5-7 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. (6) And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, (7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

This is how mankind may know God. Man can only know or see God in a spiritual sense in what God says and does but not what God looks like. Men recognize each other by appearances but as God says no man can see God and live. So it is a fact that man can only know God by what God says and does. Therefore God is known to mankind by His Holy Words which contain His Promises, Commandments and Laws. All these things are His glory revealed for us to experience... to live by. Jesus said that man must live by EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God. (Mat. 4:4, Deut. 8:3) God's Word is His glory or His nature revealed for man to see. What is God's Word? His Laws and Commandments and the prophecies spoken by His Holy prophets!

Jesus walked before man and God the Father in righteousness. Jesus was the very image of God in human form. It was not how Jesus looked but what He said and did that manifested the true image of God. Phillip asked Jesus “show us the Father”.

Jesus explained to Philip:

• “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:9)

The life of Jesus revealed the Father in human form. (See 1^st Tim. 3:16) Jesus was merciful, gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. Jesus pardoned sins and thus Jesus reflected the true image or nature of God the Father in every way.

• Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

• John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

• Matthew 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

• Matthew 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

Jesus manifested the divine nature or glory of God the Father in all He said and did. God is Holy or set apart from all other's by His divine nature. So too is Jesus and it is the fact that God and Jesus' character are the same that reflects or models who He is. When you think and act like Jesus then you are also acting like God the Father. You are not God but you can spiritually look like God by learning to think and act like God. This is accomplished by learning His Laws and Commandments and then living by them as Jesus did. God is good and God is love and it is these positive traits or characteristics that truly are represented by His Holy Name. God's Holy Word is Spiritual so when you accept His Son as Lord and Master over your life you actually are accepting God the Father as Lord and Master. And since God's Son is the Word of God made flesh that lived with us (Jn. 1:14) then you are also accepting God's revealed nature or glory to rule over you. Do you see how this is? This is why when you are truly lead by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8) you will act like God. You will be patient, merciful, gracious, forgiving and filled with truth.

Reputation

Reputation is everything in our world. People's names are always associated with the type person they are. Are they good, God fearing, honest, trustworthy? Is their word good? Are they kind to others even strangers? Are they generous and hospitable towards others? All these are positive traits that describe a good and godly person. On the other hand a sinner is one who is often the exact opposite. The sinner is not trustworthy, honest, charitable and kind to others and their names are also associated with who they are and how they are.

One's nature or substance is revealed by what they say and do:

People have a name and God has a name and both are known by what they say and do. Jesus came to show all mankind the way to eternal life was through Him. To believe in Jesus' Name is to follow His Law abiding ways. It is by faith and so trust and emulation of Jesus that we are placed on the straight and narrow path to life eternal. His blood covers us only if we have faith in Him and so His ways. His ways are the Father's ways which are explained or revealed to us through the Laws of God all of which an ever sinless Jesus kept. (John 15:10)

How faith works

In Egypt those that believed in God's Word obeyed God's Word and killed the lamb as commanded. Its blood was placed upon the door posts and lintels as commanded and death passed over. No house with the blood of faith upon it suffered death of its first born. This is salvation by faith through obedience to God's Commandment. As James the brother of Yeshua says “faith without works is dead” (Ja. 2:18-26). Something more to consider is that the lamb had to be eaten completely up with nothing left over. Eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (See Ex. 12) All these elements were and are symbolic of a life totally and sacrificially given to save and sustain God's holy people Israel. When we come to be under God's Heavenly rule through true faith and obedience we too will live as Jesus did... a sacrificial life that is offered up for the good of many. Not an easy way in the flesh and only possible if you are one with God who is the Spirit of Love. True faith will cause you to bear the cross as Christ tells us.

• Matthew 16:24-25 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (25) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

This kind of self sacrifice can only be done from the heart and by the Spirit of God within. The Spirit of love must rule your heart and if so then truly God's Heavenly Kingdom is come to be within you. Paul tells us that unless you have this Spirit of Christ you are not God's (Rom. 8:9) and this is what Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3 when He said that a man must be born of the water and Spirit. To have God's Spirit is to Have His nature and thus His Word (Laws) within you always guiding you to abide in faith which really can only work by love. (2^nd Cor. 6:6, Gal. 5:6, 13)

John 3:16 is the reason we who believe will inherit eternal life. God so loved all of mankind that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to die for our sins that we might be justified by our faith in Him. This is the Spirit of life and the Spirit of Love that has saved us from our sins whose non-repentant reward is eternal death. You see salvation is really a simple matter of faith. Yes, all you have to do is believe and then act on your belief. Like the children of Israel so long ago in Egypt had to accept God's Word and obey it to be saved today's believer must accept Jesus (God's Word made flesh Jn. 1:14) as Lord. Now Lord means master and if He is your master then you do what He commands. What did He command? That we love him when we keep His and thus God's Commandments. God is pleased and we are fulfilling God's Holy Laws when we love one another and this love is no ordinary love it is a love that is all consuming. We must become love for our fellow man as Jesus became love for all of us. True godly love is sacrificial. Paul tells us in 1^st Corinthians 13 what godly love is all about.

• 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8 Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, (5) doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; (6) rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; (7) beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (8) Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

God is all about love and so God's Holy Word is all about love. This is why He says that if we truly love Him we will keep His Holy Commandments.(Jn. 14:15, 23) His Commandments are true and eternal as He is. His Commandments are spiritual. (Rom. 7:12, 14) This is why true godly love of others fulfills God's Laws and Commandments. (Gal. 5:14, 1^st Tim. 1:8) Thus to walk in Love is to walk in the Spiritual image of God and it is in this same Spiritual image God has created man. If we walk after the flesh we are children of the devil and so God's wrath to come. If we walk after the Spirit of God we will also live by what the Spirit tells us and so we will naturally abide in the Commandments of God. If we have godly love ruling over our hearts we will not murder, rob, lie, steal, commit adultery, covet or blaspheme. We will long to be close to God and we will seek out and unite with Him in all His holiness. We will rest when He rests on His Sabbath days. We will refrain from eating things He calls unclean. We will refrain from sexual sins and in fact we will not do what God calls evil because we will be the exact opposite of evil we shall be as God... we shall be good in all ways! We will abide in or live a crucified life with Christ Jesus the Son of God and serve one another by love if the Spirit of God which is Love fully and truly lives and reigns as supreme ruler and King of kings within us.

• Galatians 5:13-26 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. (14) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (15) But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. (16) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (18) But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (24) And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (25) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (26) Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

A warning:

Living a crucified life is not ignoring those things contained in God's written Laws and Commandments. Do not suppose as some have wrongly taught that even the least of God's Holy Laws and Commandments have been done away with (See Matt. 5:17-19) Living a crucified life is living your life by the power of God's Holy Spirit inside you that has written God's Laws upon your heart. (Jer. 31:31-34, Heb. 8:10) Thus your new Jesus like nature will be an image of the eternal and loving Father of us all. If you truly have God's Holy Spirit in you then you will truly want to be close to Him in every way. You will want to know His thoughts and ways and to walk with Him and talk with Him always. You will be zealous for righteousness!

If you do not wish to learn His ways or walk in them then you do not have His Spirit and you are not His thus you have no salvation! Examine yourself to see if you are walking in His ways. (Read 2^nd Corinthians 13:5) Look in your Spiritual mirror (The Bible) to see who you truly are the image of! (Read also Matt. 25:31-46)


Shalom,


Avi