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Loving Christ Passionately |
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by Ralph I. Tilley |
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The deepest, persistent need that I have as a Christian, is the need to experience a daily, passionate love for the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s it—period! I have no greater challenge. I have no deeper need. Nor did the first-century disciples. When Jesus located Simon Peter following His resurrection, the one question He raised with this defeated disciple had nothing to do with what Peter’s future ministerial statistical goals might be, or how many hours he would spend in cultivating sanctified, spiritual disciplines. Our Lord went to the very heart of Peter’s need, because He knows what constitutes a vital, authentic relationship with Himself. Thus Jesus asked, “Simon, do you love Me?”1 While a myriad of religious, worthwhile pursuits may captivate the attention of the twenty-first century Church and her adherents, there is only one fundamental question our Lord asks us in the midst of our flurry of activities: “Do you love Me—right now, this very moment—are you passionately in love with ME?” The indictment Jesus brought against the Ephesian Church was this: “you have left your first love.”2 This second generation church was comprised of many zealous, industrious members who were doctrinally sound, had no tolerance for wicked people, and enforced a rigid, external purity upon its members. But they were defective. They had lost something. They had left something. Jesus said that they had lost and left Someone—their first love—the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Himself Christianity is Christ! Have we forgotten that? As J. Sidlow Baxter once wrote: “The Christian focus-point is not what Jesus taught, nor even what Jesus wrought, though both His teaching and His atoning sacrifice are surpassingly sublime. The vital centre is Jesus Himself—the virgin-born God-Man, the sinless Exemplar, the vicarious Sin-bearer, the resurrected Saviour, the ascended Intercessor, the omni-present Indweller of His people, and the soon-returning Bridegroom of His Church.”3 To this all the apostles and passionate lovers of Christ would attest. Paul, who met the living Christ while on his way to persecute His followers, later wrote, “we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, . . .”4 Again he wrote, “that I may know Him . . .”5 And when this same apostle comes to write his last letter, he penned this dying testimony: “I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”6 The great hymn writers have likewise expressed their total absorption for Christ Himself. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus our blessed Redeemer! O for a thousand tongues to sing Jesus, Rose of Sharon, sweeter far to me Oh, how we need to walk with Christ as these hymn writers did, that we may be able to express our love and devotion for Christ as they did. Surrender to Christ Do these words express the heart-throb you have, dear reader, for Christ Himself? You and I won’t be able to love Christ precisely the same way the Apostle Paul, Fanny Crosby, Charles Wesley and Ida Guirey did, but we can each love Him with our all—all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. It doesn’t take special people to love Jesus, just a total surrender to Him—that’s the secret. You can’t love Jesus with your all until you’ve given to Him your all. Have you given Jesus your all? This is the love-test. And our measure of victory in Christ is determined by the measure of our surrender to Christ. There is no other way. Every believer from the first century to the present has faced this question: “Will you give Me your all?” Even the Old Covenant patriarchs faced this test. The patriarch Abraham was a torn man. God had called Him and he had followed. The fact is, he left everything: his homeland and his relatives in response to Yaweh’s call. But then the child of promise was born, Isaac. Abraham loved Isaac—too much. That was the problem. God wouldn’t take second place—and still won’t. God commands Abraham to give up his son—his only son. That which was precious and special, God demanded. Why? Because God’s gift to Abraham had become an idol. And God won’t tolerate idols in the hearts and lives of His people. We can’t love God with our all and love anything else or person with the same all. God must be supreme. Isaac must be laid on the altar. Abraham passed the test. The voice was heard from Heaven: “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”10 This truth—total surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ—cannot be emphasized enough. This is the key to every other lock in our spiritual pilgrimage. If we fail to pay the price in obtaining this key, we will park in Romans 7 instead of going on to Romans 8. And while the Romans 7 parking lot is full and overflowing with misguided, defeated Christians, the Romans 8 highway of holiness, though less traveled, is the choice location for every passionate lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. Surrender—total surrender to Jesus Christ—is the open secret to developing a loving, growing relationship with Christ Himself. Waning Love It could be there are those reading this article whose love for Christ has diminished. Possibly your love for Christ is not cold, but it is not as warm as it could or should be. I’m convinced this occurs in the lives of all God’s children from time to time. Because of a failure on our part to stoke the “fire”, our passion for Christ will wane. What can we do about that? Here’s what E. Stanley Jones, the great Methodist missionary statesman once did when faced with a diminished love for Christ within a short time following his conversion when he failed the Lord in a particular matter. I went to the class meeting—I'm grateful that I didn't stay away—went, but my (spiritual) music had gone. I had hung my harp on a weeping willow tree. As the others spoke of their joys and victories of the week, I sat there with the tears rolling down my cheeks. I was heartbroken. After the others had spoken, John Link, the class leader, said: “Now, Stanley, tell us what is the matter.” I told them I couldn't but would they please pray for me? Like one man they fell to their knees, and they lifted me back to the bosom of God by faith and love. When we got up from our knees, I was reconciled. The universe opened its arms and took me in again. The estrangement was gone. I took my harp from the willow tree and began to sing again.11 It could be that your love for Christ has grown dim because too many other things—even legitimate things— have pushed Christ to the perimeter of your life. The romance is gone. Your love for Jesus is faint. This happened to John Wesley White when he was pursuing a PhD degree at Oxford University. I heard him share his story many years ago in Boston. Spending agonizing hours a day, weeks on end, in preparing his doctoral thesis, he became spiritually drained. One day as he was driving along in the English countryside, he felt a dark cloud come over his spirit. He was troubled. It wouldn’t leave. Finally, he pulled off to the side of the road and parked. There John lifted his heart to the Lord. “Lord Jesus, what is it?” he prayed. And this was the Lord’s convicting reply: “John, you’re running on empty!” John agreed and vowed never to let it happen again. There by the roadside he made a covenant with His Lord to spend a minimum of two hours each day alone with Him. When I heard John tell the story many years after this incident, he said he had been faithful to keep that covenant. Are you running on “empty”, my friend? Have other things pushed the Lord Jesus to the edges of your daily routine? What place does Jesus occupy in your life? The Heart of the Matter Do we think that because we are busy for God, doing great things for God, performing mighty works in Jesus’ name that God is impressed? Is all of this a substitute for love or an expression of love for Jesus? Are we working for the church or for Jesus? Are we serving a denomination or Jesus? Are we working for a ministry or Jesus? One pastor wrote: I have been a pastor for fifteen years. That is not long, but as a pastor I have done many things on God's behalf. As He inspects my life I would like to tell Him how many times I have proclaimed His Word, how many people have been married, buried, helped, saved, and have grown in grace under my care. But He is not impressed. He moves past all of that and tests my heart. As He approaches your life, you might be tempted to stop Him and flash your business card. After all, it's not every day He gets a corporate executive on His team. He is not impressed. You may remind Him that you have taught Sunday school for forty-six years and that you are going to make it to fifty. He's not impressed. “But wait, Lord, my son is a missionary. I serve on the boards of two Christian organizations. I've stuck with my church through thick and thin.” He steps by all of that and goes right for the heart.12 And the “heart” of the matter is whether or not we are passionately in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. A passionate love for Christ solves and resolves all church tensions. The fact is, no tensions will ferment where Christ is loved passionately. A passionate love for Christ will settle the “besetting sin” problem plaguing many Christians. If we love Christ passionately no sin will rule over us. A passionate love for Christ will thrust the church out into the whitened harvest fields. For where Christ is loved passionately the lost are sought earnestly. A passionate love for Christ will rid our homes of the curse of divorce and heal our marriages. No couple who loves Christ passionately will enter a divorce court. A passionate love for Christ will give Christ’s followers a sense of modesty in dress, moderation in recreation, self-discipline in eating, honesty in speech, diligence in work, and faithfulness to all commitments. A passionate love for Christ will empower believers to worship God fervently, pray faithfully, and rejoice in the Lord habitually. A passionate love for Christ will motivate the people of God to gather for worship regularly, fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ warmly, support the cause of Christ cheerfully, and meditate upon the Word of God eagerly. A passionate love for Christ will enable us to detect instinctively when we have grieved and wounded the heart of Christ because of some momentary failure. I need more of this love. O Christ, give me more love for You—more of the same kind of love you have! The late Keith Green had a passionate love for the Lord Jesus Christ. But he, like every devout Christian, had to repeatedly confess his lack of a full, fervent love for the Lord. Can you identify with his words? My eyes are dry, Oh, what can be done, for an old heart like mine? Join with me now, dear reader, and let us pursue this journey together, a journey of loving the Lord Jesus Christ passionately. - Soli Deo Gloria -
All Scripture references are taken from the New American Standard Bible except as noted. 1. See John 21:12-25 |
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