What’s LOVE got to do with it? Part 2

What's LOVE got to do with it?

Absolutely everything!

God is love and He created man in His own image, in His likeness, so it is understandable that love is an incredibly important part of our lives. (1 John 4:8, 16; Gen 1:26)

In fact, love is so important to God that 1 Cor 13:12 tells us that if we have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all faith so that we can move mountains but do not have love, we are nothing.

And just a few verses later, He tells us that love is even greater than faith and hope. The reality of this truth will be seen when our lives here on earth are over and we are ushered into the presence of our Savior. Faith and hope will be fulfilled in that moment and only love will remain — God's perfect love.

Mankind was created to be a reflection of God, who is the purest form of love. We were designed to live in perfect fellowship with Him in a world that He created just for us — a world that held everything we would ever need, including perfect fellowship with Him.

And everything was perfect until satan entered the scene.

(Cue dramatic music)

The deceiver knew that all he had to do was plant a seed of doubt in the heart and mind of man. It's such a subtle and effective strategy, isn't it?

He asked the question that began, "Did God really say?"

It's so easy for us to fly by the importance of this one simple question. In our fallen state, it is normal for us to question the validity of God's Word in the choices we make every day, but for Adam and Eve, questioning what God said was a choice that had never existed until that moment.

Why would they have needed to question God and His intentions? He had given them life and provided for all their needs. He loved them and they loved Him with that perfect and pure love of God that they were created to emulate. Their relationship with God and all He had created was all they knew.

The question itself imparted a level of pride that they had never experienced — and Satan made it seem so effortless, like it was perfectly legitimate to question God's intentions. To question if God really wanted what was best for them. To question if He was holding them back from being all that they could be.

Sound familiar?

They had no idea they were dealing with the father of all lies. The great deceiver.

Truth be told, we usually have no idea who we're dealing with either!

Satan planted a seed of doubt in the midst of this garden of perfection and the first weed sprang up in the mind of man. Could God be keeping something from them that is better than this? Something that would make them like God Himself?

They gave an ear to Satan's lie and didn't turn away, allowing the deceiver to give the greatest sales pitch in the history of mankind. Eve listened to satan and just as his lies always do, he caused her to reevaluate the goodness of God's plan for her. She bought the world's first "3 Step Plan to the Perfect Life” fron the ultimate salesman of sin.

Satan won his first customer and disobedience to God changed the world as we know it in an instant. As the knowledge of good and evil was ushered in, life in paradise came to an end.

Adam and Eve were deceived into believing that God did not have their best intentions at heart and they could have what Satan led them to believe was better. They bought the lie that a created thing would ultimately bring more fulfillment than the God who created it all — and, as always, Satan neglected to mention the consequences. He never shows us what we give up in return for stepping outside the boundaries God has put in place for our protection and well-being.

It's still the same story today. We allow Satan to sell us what we believe will bring us more fulfillment. We want to be the god of our own lives, the master of our own destiny. We begin to believe we know what's best as we grow closer to the world and farther from God. The world shows us how to obtain what we want on our own and we choose to walk away from the perfect love of our Creator, exchanging our relationship with God for a relationship with this world.

And let's not forget the fact that Satan is extremely good at what he does! 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us that, "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the good news. They don't understand this message about the glory of Jesus Christ, who is the exact likeness of God."

When mankind was given over to sin, the things of God and the purpose for which we were created became distorted. The natural desires given to us by God were deformed by the presence of evil. The things of God, the things that were suppose to be a natural part of a life lived in the perfection of His love, became unnatural to our sinful hearts — and our hearts are incredibly important to God. We know this, because His Word speaks of the heart over 900 times. It is the essence of who we are. Proverbs 4:23 tells us that everything we do flows from it.

Our creator is the only one who knows our hearts. You and I will never be able to see what someone else's heart bears or holds on to. We often have no idea what our own hearts are holding on to — but God does.

Many of us struggle with this one foundational truth — the Law of the Old Testament was never intended to save anyone, only to reveal how sinful we are and make us aware of our need for a Savior. God knew the Law could garner obedience, but His commands would be powerless to change our hearts. This is why His plan for mankind included Jesus.

God's commands alone will never be able to restore us to the relationship with our Creator that our soul longs for. Only Jesus can. It’s a heart issue that only Jesus can fix.

Jesus is the one who is able to turn our hearts back to desiring and seeking what they were created for — to be a reflection of God in this dark world. To be a reflection of His perfect love — a reflection of Jesus Christ.

Each of us must come to the realization that we need Jesus more than the empty promises of Satan and what this world has to offer. It is a personal understanding in the depths of our soul that we need Him and His grace and forgiveness more than anything else in life. It's not a foot on both sides of the line kind of thing.

Surrendering one's life to Jesus Christ does not include an option to live for Him one day and the world the next. If you think you hold the power to choose what’s best for you, you've placed your trust in the god of this world… in the god of popular opinion. This world will never understand salvation through grace because nothing about the ways of God makes sense in the context of earthly wisdom.

God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. 1 Corinthians 1:27

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Why would the God of the universe send His Son to earth to live among us and give his life to restore our relationship with Him? Because God is love. He is perfect love. He is the love our hearts are continually seeking after — a love that this world cannot comprehend.

This world gives us continual options for counterfeit love everyday. These relationships with things and people will always be broken by sin. We will never have the ability to love as God intended until we know and understand His love — His perfect love for us.

When the Holy Spirit draws an individual to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it's an all in kind of decision. He demands our whole heart because He gave everything to save us. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. 1 John 3:16

Jesus Christ is God's perfect love, unhindered.

Lord, I am so thankful for your perfect love! I surrender everything to you and place my faith in Jesus Christ and your love for me. Please work in my heart and life, drawing me closer to you as I seek to be a reflection of your perfect love to those around me this holiday season.