When man first sinned against God in the garden of Eden, there was a fracturing of relationship.  Not only was the relationship between God and man fractured, but the relationship between man and man was fractured.  (Gen 3:16)  You might have expected that having been in the presence of God, man would still have some lingering goodness in Him, such that the effects of sin would take a while to set in.  What do we see though?  You don’t have to go far from where you’re at, just flip over one chapter to Genesis 4:8 (14 verses later).  The first two children born to Adam and Eve are Cain and Abel.  It doesn’t take long for sin to manifest itself.  Cain gets jealous of Abel, Cain kills Abel.

Believe it or not, there is no difference between each of us and Cain.  If anything things may have gotten worse.  We live in a culture where the exaltation of self is glorified where even giving is seen as a means to bring attention to one’s self.  Leviticus 19:9 – “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”  Now, if we’re honest with ourselves, this is a massive problem, because NONE of us fulfills this part of God’s law.  None of us loves our neighbor as ourselves, we don’t even love our “loved” ones that way.  We are born wicked to the core, where if societal constraints were removed we would rob, kill, and destroy in ways that would make Cain look like a saint.

God being rich in mercy did not leave us this way.  Christ entered the world to reconcile us to God, but in restoring that relationship, He also restored our ability to love one another.

Philippians 2:3-4 – “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Only those persons who know the fulness of Christ are free to love this way.  If you have any perceived “lack” in your life, you will always seek to fill that “need”.  However, if Jesus Christ is your ultimate treasure, and you truly believe on Him, then you have no real needs.  You are free to act out of fulness towards others, in the same way the fulness of the glory of God led Jesus to give Himself up on the cross.  What it means to “love” others will also change.  You will no longer seek merely to meet physical needs, but you will do everything, prayer, acts of kindness, exhortation, to bring people to God.  You will do all things to help them meet their greatest need, restoration with the King.

If you are a Christian, the gospel of Jesus Christ should compel you to love others; to desire their good along with your own.  When you love this way, there will be constant battles with your flesh, but know that these struggles are growing you closer to Christ.  Christ didn’t die to make converts, He died to redeem a people, a creation, and for their love for one another to reflect the glory of God.  Love the unloveable.  Love God, and love people.

Matthew 12:28-31 – “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam