“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.” John 14:21
During the ministry of the Lord Jesus, He was asked by a certain scribe which was the “first commandment of all.” The Lord responded: “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.” (Mark 12:29,30) Why is the first commandment, that one which God puts before mankind as the highest in importance and greatness for man to obey, and live by? And why is it that this matter of loving God had to be put in the form of a commandment, one which was totally beyond the capacity of man to achieve? The answer resides in Paul’s letter to the Galatian believers, for in that letter he writes of the purpose of the law of God: “Whereby the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24) How is the Law of God, specifically the Ten Commandments, our “schoolmaster” to bring us unto Christ?
When sinful man is placed face to face with the Law of God, he is confronted with certain realities, certain truths, the greatest of which is that this holiness that the Law represents is NOT in man. He can strive after it, do works in many shapes and forms to achieve it, but he falls short not only in the letter of the law, but in the nature of it. If we go back to Paul’s letter to the Romans we discover why this is so, for in that letter he writes of man’s basic spiritual condition before God: “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (3:10,11) Why is this so? Again, Paul answers our question, but his time in his letter to the Ephesians: “Even when we were dead in sins, (God) hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved.)” (2:5) So, we might ask ourselves, “What do these truths concerning the sinfulness of men, and mankind being spiritually dead to God, and the things of God, have to do with love? These truths, when used by the Holy Spirit, are those that drive us to Christ, or serve a schoolmaster to bring us to Him. Why? Because HE is love, and the only source of true, everlasting love. The love which God requires, and desires, is not that of the flesh, that which has its origin in sinful man, his abilities, concepts, and application. His love is as eternal and holy as He Himself is, for as John the Apostle put it, “…God IS love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.” (1 Jn. 4:16) By this verse the Lord makes the great distinction between the love of men and the love of the eternal God. The wondrous reality is this, that God has revealed, or manifested His love to mankind, “…because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” (4:9) Again, God reveals the difference between the love of God, and that of men: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (4:10)
After Jesus’ resurrection, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He confronted Peter, who had denied him three times, concerning the matter of love, by asking him if he loved Him. Peter was brought face to face with two loves, one which was of God and the other of himself. The source of love is God Himself. All heavenly love is found in Christ, experienced by the one who abides daily in Him, obeying His commandments.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to abide. In Jesus’ name, Amen.